Have the filing read properly before you sign

What you get

• Every figure in Items 5, 6 and 7 checked against the filing and set beside its category peers, so you can see whether the numbers are normal or unusual for what you are buying.
• Item 19 read in full — whether an earnings claim exists at all, which units it covers, and what it quietly excludes.
• Item 20 outlet history reconciled year by year: openings, closures, terminations, non-renewals and transfers, and what the trend says about owner retention.
• Items 3 and 4 — litigation and bankruptcy history, including whether suits were brought by franchisees rather than against them.
• The clauses buyers most often discover late: territory exclusions in Item 12, renewal and transfer terms in Item 17, required-purchase margins in Item 8.
• A written list of the specific questions to put to the franchisor and to existing owners, drawn from what this filing does not answer.
• The Item 20 contact list for owners who left in the last year, with a note on what to ask them.

What it is not

• Legal advice, or an opinion on whether any clause is enforceable where you live. That needs a franchise lawyer admitted in your state, and you should hire one regardless of this review.
• A recommendation to buy or not buy. We tell you what the document says and what it leaves out; the decision stays yours.
• Any contact with the franchisor. They are not told a review was ordered.
• Negotiation, or drafting of any kind.

Do this first — it is free

Most of what a buyer needs is already on this site and costs nothing. Work through these before you pay anyone, including us. If they answer your question, you do not need a review.