Is it possible to resell a franchise agreement? How to sell a franchise - instructions for pre-sale preparation and finding buyers. Franchise group employees

Recently, more and more small enterprises operating under a franchise scheme have appeared. “BizRating” talks about the nuances that a business owner operating under a franchise agreement should know if he decides to resell his franchise to another entrepreneur...

For most business owners, sooner or later there comes a time when they start thinking about selling. The motive for reselling a franchise can be either disappointment in this type of business, illness, relocation, or other reasons. In short, the sale of an existing business and the resale of a franchise have much in common.

However, there are also some nuances. Here are ten tips from American business brokers to help you resell an existing business franchise faster and easier:

1. Let the franchisor know you are planning a sale..

Most franchisors stipulate in their head agreement the rules regarding the possible resale of the franchise. In addition, franchisors have a number of their own criteria that the buyer must meet. Communicating your plans in advance will allow you to avoid unnecessary headaches later and save a lot of time.

2. Make sure your franchise is ready for sale.

To get a good price, the business must be in tip-top shape. Check the building and shop equipment. Also, make sure that you franchise agreement in order. Financial statements must be reliable and auditable, since the sale price is based on a profit that still needs to be proven to a potential buyer.

3. State the reason for reselling the franchise.

This will be one of the very first questions a potential buyer will ask. Since you are primarily selling your franchise opportunity, you should make sure that your reason for selling will not negatively influence a potential buyer's decision. Moving, retirement, illness of the owner are good reasons to sell. But bad (weak) sales or conflict (problems) with the franchisor are not the reasons that the buyer will like.

4. Determine the selling price of your franchise.

Make sure you price your business correctly. You don't want to underprice, but you don't want to overprice it either. And don't forget that the value of the business in terms of its emotional value to you may not correspond to what a similar franchise costs on the market. Be prepared to negotiate. Talk to your franchisor to find out how many franchises they have previously resold and what prices they have closed at. At the same time, keep in mind that pricing is primarily influenced by the location and the profit brought from this franchise.

5. Choose the appropriate selling method.

Before you start the process business sales As a franchisee, you should know what your options are. In some cases, the franchisor himself can provide assistance in sales. If this is not the case, then you will have to sell the business yourself or hire a good business broker. Learning the pros and cons of each method will help you choose the best one for you.

7. Define your ideal buyer.

Determine for yourself what you are looking for in a buyer in advance. Make sure to discuss with your franchisor the special knowledge that the buyer must have. Knowing what type of buyer you're looking for can save you a lot of time by quickly weeding out those who don't meet your qualifications.

8. Do not forget about the confidentiality of the sale.

Your employees, clients, suppliers should not question the owner's intentions sell business until the moment when the transaction is almost completed. Too many people believe that if a business is put up for sale, it is on the verge of bankruptcy. This can be detrimental to your business. Since the selling price depends on the current profit margin, it will be important demand confidentiality from brokers and potential buyers.

9. Prepare answers to possible questions in advance.

Scroll through in your head in advance the scheme according to which you will conduct the presentation of your business and further negotiations with the buyer. Know what you will show them and in what sequence, as well as how you will answer potential questions. The buyer will want to know why you are selling, data on your market, turnover, profit margins and much more. The better prepared you are, the easier it will be for you to sell a franchise. After each round of negotiations, analyze buyer behavior to further improve your commercial offer.

10. Draw up conditions for after-sales assistance for the new owner.

Offer as much assistance as possible to the buyer after the transaction closes. Help him establish a relationship with the franchisor. Sign a contract to manage the business for a certain time after the sale. Knowing that he will not be left alone with the business right away, the buyer will be more inclined to buy your business.

Now the franchise is registered to me as an individual with the following wording:
Alexei

Hello Alexey. A franchise agreement (under the Civil Code of the Russian Federation for a commercial concession) with an individual can be concluded in accordance with " Article 1027. Commercial concession agreement [Civil Code of the Russian Federation] [Chapter 54] [Article 1027]3. Parties to a commercial concession agreement can be commercial organizations and citizens registered as individual entrepreneurs." In addition, such an agreement is subject to mandatory state registration on the basis of Article 1028. Form and registration of a commercial concession agreement " [Civil Code of the Russian Federation] [Chapter 54] [Article 1028] 1. A commercial concession agreement must be concluded in writing. Failure to comply with the written form of the agreement entails its invalidity. Such an agreement is considered void.2. Granting the right to use in the entrepreneurial activity of a user a set of exclusive rights belonging to the copyright holder under a commercial concession agreement is subject to state registration with the federal executive body for intellectual property. If the requirement for state registration is not met, the grant of the right to use is considered failed." Thus, even if a franchise agreement had been concluded with an individual entrepreneur but not registered in the prescribed manner, the granting of rights under such an agreement would not have taken place. In YOUR case, since the commercial concession (franchise) agreement was concluded with an individual, which, contrary to the law, is void, not concluded and There is nothing to convey to YOU in this case.

I want to conclude some kind of agreement between me (an individual) and the legal entity of the buyer, in order to: 1) Transfer my rights to use the franchise to the buyer 2) Show the tax office that I paid a lump sum contribution of 100 rubles and transferred these rights for 100 rubles, and does not have to pay personal income tax. Question: 1) Working scheme? 2) Which agreement should be used?
Alexei

Since the franchise (commercial concession) agreement between YOU and the franchise owner is not actually valid, YOU cannot transfer the franchise agreement to a buyer - another person. The buyer will enter into his own agreement with the franchise owner. Based on all of the above, the scheme YOU propose, in my opinion, is not working and not What kind of agreement on the transfer of a franchise between YOU and the buyer is not possible. To talk with the tax office, in my opinion, YOU need to have the franchise agreement invalidated and void in court. Otherwise, the tax office will demand personal income tax on the grounds of Article 209. Object of taxation [Tax Code of the Russian Federation] [Chapter 23] [Article 209]The object of taxation is income received by taxpayers:1) from sources in the Russian Federation and (or) from sources outside the Russian Federation - for individuals who are tax residents of the Russian Federation;2) from sources in the Russian Federation - for individuals who are not tax residents of the Russian Federation."

Regulatory documents are given according to the right system Garant.

In his new article, Ruslan Gadelyanov answers the question of whether it is possible to sell franchises without having a single open outlet. How will the buyer look at this? What should you pay attention to when choosing a franchise if you want to become a partner? Read below.

I’ll answer right away: you can work this way!

This model is suitable for “light” business (retail trade, services), but is not suitable for large-scale and manufacturing companies.

A good example of a franchise is McDonald's. A sought-after product, excellent support department, enormous marketing support. They sell the franchise only to worthy and strong partners whom they choose themselves.

So, selling a franchise of a non-existent operating outlet is quite possible. Any business is a copy of a successful business. If you copied the business and changed the name, then this model can be sold as a franchise. But you need to take into account that selling such a franchise will be more difficult than a working model with an open outlet.

Let's look at what a management company (MC) should pay attention to when selling its franchise:

Business should be interesting;

The business must be profitable;

Beautiful packaging;

High quality support.

What potential partners should pay attention to when purchasing a franchise:

Is the business suitable for your interests?

Does profitability meet your expectations;

Marketing;

High-quality support;

Entrepreneur experience.

As I said, I have worked in many areas of franchising - packaging, sales, support, trademark registration, logistics assistance, legal and accounting consulting, marketing and much more. Based on my experience, I believe that there is a clear boundary between markets - retail, wholesale, And franchising. Entrepreneurs usually have certain abilities in their field. And, I believe, this is how it should be: it is difficult to become a good accounting specialist and be responsible at the same time. Therefore, the scheme I proposed will work in practice. I’ll show you how to do this with an example.

Own example

I recently started packaging two businesses. These businesses are not new on the market; I copied them from existing business models that have already proven themselves. They are actually workers and bring profit to management companies and partners. But I know that they have problems with the support department. Without thinking for a long time, I realized that it was possible to build a franchise network according to their model, but with good support.

Franchising today is one of the most common and accessible forms of business development. Having launched one brand, in a fairly short time the owner has the opportunity to expand it and distribute it throughout the country, using a franchise as a way of transferring rights to the brand. But how to sell a franchise? How to make it in demand among budding entrepreneurs? After all, why do this?

Benefit

Cooperation in this form is beneficial to both brand owners and franchisees who purchase rights. The former receive, firstly, a lump sum payment (a one-time payment that is made to buyers to “enter” the franchise). Secondly, the owner receives regular monthly payments from the buyer, which can be presented either as a certain (fixed in advance) amount or as a percentage of the franchisee’s income. Thirdly, through a franchise, the business owner gets the opportunity to expand his brand and distribute it. Initially, these may be additional retail outlets in your city, and in the future – a ready-made business throughout the country. And in general, the popularity and prevalence of a franchise makes it possible to increase sales for a business, attracting new customers and increasing profits. Therefore, the growing popularity of a particular brand is a benefit for both business owners and buyers of rights to it. What does it mean to sell a franchise? This is to give other businessmen the opportunity to start their own business using the business model you have established. Of course, not without reward for you.

Where to begin?

Suppose you are the owner of a grocery store that is quite successful under a certain brand. You soon realized that the business model you had established was quite successful, and therefore you decided to develop this area by attracting partners. You have chosen a franchise as a form of cooperation. Where do you need to start selling your brand? Roughly speaking, the question arises: “How to sell a franchise?” We will answer it in this article.

First of all, think through all the details of how you will cooperate with your customers (franchisees) and under what conditions. Determine how attractive your business may seem to them; Find out how much you can charge partners for working under your logo in a way that gives them the opportunity to earn money too. Decide on the terms of cooperation. To do this, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with how other sellers organize a franchise: read contracts, look through brand books, instructions, etc. All this will give you some idea of how business processes work in this area and where you should go to offer your services on the market.

Promote a franchise

Once you have a ready-made concept in your hands, you can think about how to sell the franchise. In general, this procedure is similar to the processes that arise when promoting any product on the market. In particular, first you need to promote your brand, then present it profitably, and then make a sale.

With promotion everything is simple. Referring to our example, if your store has been in business for many years and still generates high enough profits, this will be the best advertisement for your brand. As you understand, the main indicator of the quality of a franchise is its profitability.

You can submit your concept of transferring rights to use the brand by creating a public offer to everyone, which consists of creating your own store under your brand. You can attract people by describing all the benefits of your brand, as well as advertising it in terms of profitability and recognition in the eyes of customers. Plus, you need to take care of distributing your offer: for example, submit an advertisement for the sale of rights to work under the TM on specialized sites that have franchise catalogs. At the same time, you will need to describe how your store is beneficial, which means the franchise buyer’s store will be profitable, and also describe the terms of cooperation (lump sum, royalty amount, requirements for the buyer and the total approximate amount of investment to start the business).

Franchisee support

You not only need to know how to sell a franchise, you need to think about one more important point - helping the franchisee. The fact is that your success also depends on whether things work out for your buyer or not. If the enterprise is successful, your partner will take care of expanding the business, and the royalty amounts will increase. At the same time, there will be others who want to start their own business. You will also have new ways to sell franchises.

In order for your buyer to succeed, you need to provide him with support. It consists of both developing instructions and pointing out errors. Figure out what you will advise the buyer, preferably before selling the franchise.

Further development

Finally, take care of the further promotion of your brand. Place more advertisements on the Internet, start an advertising campaign. Come up with some special “trick” of your brand! In general, if you are looking for how to sell a business franchise, use your own creativity - and the solution will come!

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