MUST FRANCHISE ATTORNEYS PICK SIDES?

May 18, 2009

Recently I could not resist jumping in on what turned into a debate on the right way to practice franchise law. Long story short, a colleague maintained that in franchising, attorneys have to "pick a side." The franchise lawyer/litigator claimed one could either represent franchisors, or one could represent franchisees–but never both without, apparently, being morally deficient.

As someone who spent the first 10 years of her practice representing exclusively… Continue reading

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Are You Ready to Franchise Your Business?

April 22, 2009

            Are people waiving money at you?  Love your business and want one of their own?  Ready to pay a nice big piece of change up front as an initial franchise fee? And keep on paying in royalties?

            Pretty hard to resist.  You’ve created a successful business that others want, and they want to pay you for the privilege.

            Why say no?  Should you say no?  There could… Continue reading

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Franchising, what is it and what’s the big deal?

March 5, 2009

So what’s the big deal? Whichever side of the franchise you might be on, buying or selling, if it’s a franchise and it’s not done right—as in complies with the law, there are both communication and legal problems ahead and the crash will certainly cost everyone money. Continue reading

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Should I work with a Franchise Broker?

February 17, 2009

As ever, my mantra for all things franchise is “do your homework” and be careful where you place your trust. There are some things you just do not want to delegate or shortcut. Continue reading

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A FRANCHISE IS WHAT “THEY” MAKE OF IT

February 17, 2009

Are you a risk taker? Willing to take a chance on a new concept, a new company? Do you need a mature, well proven business. How much are you willing to risk? Are you prepared to deal with the consequences of failure? Continue reading

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16 Reasons Lawyers Should Use Twitter

February 13, 2009

I think if more people would take an attorney’s advice about how to use Twitter they would improve their image 100%..OK, for the tweeters who post about a zillion posts a minute, it will improve your image a zillion %. Continue reading

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Problem Franchises: Delays Have Dangerous Ends

February 12, 2009

When business is good and the franchisor-franchisee relationship is positive, the contract doesn’t matter. If things goes south, it’s all you have. Too often franchisees are so caught up in the struggle to make their business profitable and keep it going, that they put off addressing core problems involving the franchise. They just cannot seem to find enough time to deal with difficult underlying issues. Continue reading

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Franchising Myths & Realities

February 9, 2009

Any business concept can be offered as a franchise, but a lot goes into a successful business. Franchises can offer a better chance for success only if it gives you more than you would have doing it on your own. Sometimes the only real value to buying a franchise is that it commits you to following through on the process of preparing and starting a business. Continue reading

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