Here at FranchiseHelp we’re constantly asked about the opportunity to buy a
franchise. Unfortunately I’m going to have to tell you something that might
disappoint you. You can’t “buy” a franchise. In reality you are engaging in a
“leasing” transaction rather than a “purchasing” transaction. Why is it a
lease? In any franchise deal, the franchisee receives the assets up front, but
only for a period of time - the term of the franchise agreement. The term of
the agreement may run for five to ten years, or in some cases it may run for
as little as a year or two. At the end of the day the renewals of these
agreements are at the option of the franchisor, and the reasons for not
renewing an agreement should be completely spelled out in the Franchise
Disclosure Document (FDD) and franchise agreement.