How Franchise FastLane Helps Our Brands During FDD Refiling Season

At Franchise FastLane, we’re here to guide our franchisor partners and provide them with actionable advice. And one such area is of utmost importance. Every franchisor is aware that federal law requires their franchise disclosure documents (FDDs) to be refiled within 120 days of the end of their fiscal year. For many brands, that deadline is fast approaching, because if your fiscal year operates in conjunction with the calendar year, your FDD will expire on April 30, 2024. At Franchise FastLane, we’re well-versed in helping the brands in our portfolio refresh, recertify, and refile their FDDs. Our VP and director-level franchise development employees work with our brands and their legal teams to get financial figures – and other relevant deal points – up to date and in accordance with the most current policies and court rulings.

Franchise disclosure documents are also subject to state-by-state registration and filing requirements, each with specific deadlines. If there are any material changes in the information brands include, the revised FDD must reflect these updates. There are 23 items on every franchisor’s FDD, but the advice below addresses specific areas where Franchise FastLane places an emphasis during refiling season.

How to Sell Your Brand Story

One of the ways we help our franchisors revise their FDD has everything to do with the way the brand story is perceived. In essence, FDDs are legal documents, but that doesn’t mean it has to read like a boring legal document. We help our brands weave in interesting backstories that appeal to the candidates considering a franchise opportunity.

Emphasizing the Areas Candidates Care About the Most…

We at Franchise FastLane know all too well which areas of the FDD are the most important in attracting qualified franchisee candidates. Most will be very interested in how the Item 19 is presented, which reflects a brand’s financial performance representation and Item 7, which details the comprehensive investment required. It’s important to create a robust - and accurate - snapshot of the financial performance - one that inspires confidence in the business opportunity presented to candidates. Solid advice here can help avoid any mid-year material changes, which require amendments and the added cost of extra filing fees.

Aiming for Consistency Across the Board

Our team helps our brand partners make sure that all of the facts, figures, and claims put forth in the FDD align with what they’re featuring on their website and other brand collateral. Brands should understand that their story must accurately reflect all of the information listed in the FDD, including verbiage used for any tables, figures, spreadsheets, or graphics. To cite the Item 19 example again, this section of the FDD discloses the franchisor’s true earning potential and verifies the brand’s financial performance. Franchisors are expressly prohibited from making any exaggerated or alternate financial claims not specifically categorized in Item 19 of their FDD. Consistency will always be an extremely important consideration, as there should be no doubt or ambiguity for the candidates who review your disclosure document. This consistency also extends to the information featured on the franchisor’s website, as well as any coop marketing, advertising, and promotional materials.

Because every franchisor wants to present a truly unique business opportunity to candidates, it takes great care and laser-focused attention to detail to thoroughly update an FDD with accurate information. We guide our brand partners through a comprehensive checklist of updates, designed to help our franchisors get the job done right the first time. In addition, we also help our franchisors set up a process to monitor and track ongoing changes for the next round of FDD updates.

Are You Ready to Step Into Franchise Ownership?

Franchise FastLane is the No. 1 Franchise Sales Organization (FSO) in the country and our mission is to responsibly drive extraordinary growth for the chosen few. We have vetted over 100 brands and partnered with 25 brands that are ready to grow! To learn more about the brands we represent, explore our brands page today. If you are interested in learning more about the possibility of joining the FastLane or CarPool, please click here to submit an application. To keep up with all the latest happenings, make sure you follow us on LinkedIn, like us on Facebook, and check out our collection of photos on Instagram.

I feel like we are talking in two different tenses here. and I saw it a few times above as well it is hard to know are we speaking as we or are we doing this as a third person and using Franchise FastLane?