Review of the UFOC or the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular Is step one toward owning your own profitable franchise
By Fran
Filed under Franchise Articles
Every industry is loaded down with weird acronyms. To become a guru of franchising, be sure you know all about the the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular or the UFOC for short. It is one of the “must do” hoops to jump through before you can strike it rich franchising a business.
There is no dodging this step in your noble journey toward franchising. The franchise offering circular is a step on that journey worth dawdling on a bit. The franchise offering circular is a physical document that will show up on your doorstep from the company selling the franchise to you. This is not junk mail so jump all over the franchise offering circular. It is chock full of information that you need to know.
If you ever made a document your Bible, the franchise offering circular is one you should know inside and out. The law requires that every detail about what will happen when that franchise transaction hits the books has to be spelled out in the franchise offering circular. That means that who you have to salute is in there and how you can expect to be saluted is in there too.
The franchise offering circular must be written in language that people speak.
Don’t run into the closet and hide from the franchise offering circular. It is one of those franchise agreements that can clear up any deep dark mysteries that may be lingering in your head about buying that franchise. The franchise offering circular will spell out in precise language exactly what you can expect from the franchisor. It also lays out in no uncertain terms what is expected of you.
Probably the tidbits of information that can change your life the most in the franchise offering circular are the financial details about the transaction and the cost of running the franchise once the doors are open. This is “need to know” stuff because the franchise offering circular can be used to get financing and to lay out your budget so the bean counters in your company can make sure they have their ducks in a row.
You should be chomping at the bit to get your mitts on that franchise offering circular. If the franchisor stalls out on providing you with a very detailed franchise offering circular, it is time to look for a better franchisor. There are twenty one different kinds of disclosures in the franchise offering circular and every one of them is important.
The franchise offering circular is a legal document so don’t be afraid to get your own legal eagles to look at it. But the law requires that the franchise offering circular be written in language that regular human beings can read instead of a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo. So make sure you get it, know it and love it when the time comes to exchange the franchise offering circular. You will be glad you did.
