Franchising & Licensing: Two Powerful Ways to Grow Your
Business in Any Economy
Franchising - The
Licensing Of Trademarks And Methods Of Doing
Business
Franchise is a method of doing business
by licensing trademarks. A recurring royalty fee being the
prime source of income, the advent of franchise business dates
back to the 1850s. The earliest example being the bars of New
South Wales, the agreements between these bars and the
breweries can be considered the foundation for modern franchise
businesses. Further examples of early franchises include the
telegraph system (operated by various railroad companies but
controlled by Western Union) and exclusive agreements between
automobile manufacturers and local dealers.
The term franchise holds multiple definitions. Encompassing
a plethora of varied business relationships, franchises
sometimes do not follow their legal definition per se, for
example, an appliance maintenance franchise. In this case,
though the after sales services are supposed to be done by the
manufacturer, they grant the license for maintenance to some
other party, thinning down further the dividing line between
outsourcing and franchising.
A franchise agreement is the first step
between the willing parties; the agreement binds the parties
together through contractual provisions, strengthening further
the arrangements of selling ones own products or services
through another person holding the license. The agreement also
specifies the area of operation under the franchise holder,
though the franchise provider usually denies a complete and
exclusive control of the franchise holder over that particular
territory. Franchise in the US abides by the jurisdiction
granted by the state and federal laws though there is no
federal registry of franchising or any federal filing
requirements for information. However, franchise holders are
required to have a Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (as per
the Federal Trade Commission rules); it helps in disclosing the
business transactions and purchases that remain involved. As of
now, the Financial Times declared that if sales by US franchise
businesses were translated into national product, they would
qualify as the 7th largest economy in the world.
Franchise-based restaurants opened gates for the wave of
franchise businesses since the 1930s. First came the
traditional sit-down restaurants (Howard Johnsons) and then
McDonalds in the 1950s rendering United States a franchise
business dominion to the point where proprietorship business
has become the exception rather than the rule.
Ryan Bombard writes about various franchising topics. For
more info visit: franchise
contracts and franchising
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