Getting started: what to ask a franchisor before you sign

The franchise agreement is not the place to discover what you did not ask. These are the questions that most often go unasked, and most often matter later.

Ask for the trading performance of the three most recent openings, not the estate average. New sites carry the current cost base; the average carries sites signed under old rents.

Ask what happens if the site underperforms. Specifically: what support arrives, who pays for it, and at what point the franchisor can terminate.

Ask to speak to a franchisee who left. Franchisors will offer their best operators. The more useful conversation is with someone who exited, and why.

Ask what is mandated and what is advisory - on suppliers, on refurbishment cycles, on opening hours. The answer determines how much of the P&L you actually control.