Documents and territories
Territory requests: how availability is checked
A brand may or may not have room for you where you want to open. How a territory request works, the four statuses, and why there is no live map.
1 minute readThe Franchise Disclosure Document is the one document every buyer must receive. The 23 items, the ones that decide most deals, and how it arrives in your document room.
Updated Sep 26 · 2 minute read
The Franchise Disclosure Document, the FDD, is the document a franchisor must give you before you buy. The FTC Franchise Rule requires it, sets its 23 items, and requires that you have it at least 14 calendar days before you sign a binding agreement or pay any money.
When a brand is ready to disclose, your coach releases its FDD to your document room. You acknowledge receipt before you first open it; the date is recorded, because that date starts the 14 day clock. You read it in your browser. Download is allowed when the brand permits it.
All 23 items matter. These are the ones buyers and their coaches spend the most time on.
Item 5: initial fees. What you pay the franchisor to start.
Item 6: other fees. Royalties, marketing fund contributions, technology fees, transfer fees. Add them up as a percentage of revenue.
Item 7: estimated initial investment. The table behind the investment range on the brand page. What it costs to open walks through it.
Item 11: franchisor's assistance. Training, site selection, opening support, and the operations manual's table of contents.
Item 12: territory. Whether you get a protected territory and what "protected" means for this brand.
Item 19: financial performance representations. Only if the brand chooses to make them. Read the footnotes; the sample and the definitions matter as much as the figures.
Item 20: outlets and franchisee information. How many units opened, closed and transferred over three years, and the contact list of current and former owners you will call on validation.
Item 21: financial statements. The franchisor's audited accounts. A franchisor in poor health is your problem too.
The exhibits. The franchise agreement you will sign is here. Read it with a franchise lawyer.
Once straight through, then again with a list of questions for the brand, for owners and for your lawyer. Your coach reads every FDD in the catalog and flags the pages that matter for you; those flags show in the viewer.
FDDs are public records in states that register franchises. Wisconsin, Minnesota and California run searchable databases. Franchise Outfit checks the catalog's figures against these filings, which is why a brand page can say a figure is checked rather than merely reported.
A brand may or may not have room for you where you want to open. How a territory request works, the four statuses, and why there is no live map.
1 minute readFrom the match survey to the day you sign, the same four steps in the same order. What happens in each one, who does what, and how long it tends to take.
2 minute readThe match survey takes about 8 minutes. Your coach reviews every match before you see it.
Take the match surveyAbout 8 minutes. No cost, no obligation.
A franchise coach, a checked catalog of brands, and one place for every document and message.