Insights
How trade service businesses and franchise systems actually work.
Longer guides that sit behind the franchising section. No statistics anyone cannot source, no figures about what an operator might earn, and nothing here is an offer.
The agreement
Area development agreement: what it commits you to
Area development agreement: why the schedule is the operative clause, what a missed deadline puts at risk, and where the seven day rule reaches this document.
Read this: Area development agreement: what it commits you to
The agreement
Franchise renewal: what happens at the end of a term
Franchise renewal often means signing the current agreement, not continuing the old one. What Item 17 must tell you, and when a new disclosure document is owed.
Read this: Franchise renewal: what happens at the end of a term
The definition
Franchise vs license: what legally separates them
Franchise vs license: the three elements that decide it, why the name on the document is irrelevant, and the current payment threshold with the date it carries.
Read this: Franchise vs license: what legally separates them
Becoming a franchisor
How to franchise a business: what the law requires
How to franchise a business in the order the obligations bite: the three part test, the disclosure document, the audit, and registration before any offer.
Read this: How to franchise a business: what the law requires
Scale
Master franchise: what you actually become
Master franchise: the right to sub-franchise an area makes you a franchisor under the federal rule, with disclosure obligations of your own.
Read this: Master franchise: what you actually become
Reading to decide rather than to browse?
An inquiry reaches a person who can answer directly. No Franchise Disclosure Document has been issued, so there is nothing to apply for.
The process
Buying an existing franchise: what changes
Buying an existing franchise often comes with no disclosure document, and one specific act by the franchisor changes that. What to read in its place.
Read this: Buying an existing franchise: what changes
Scale
Multi unit franchise: the three ways it happens
Multi unit franchise ownership arrives by three different contracts with three different obligations, and one of them changes what the rule requires of you.
Read this: Multi unit franchise: the three ways it happens
Disclosure
Item 19: what a franchisor may and may not say
Item 19 is the only place a franchisor may publish financial performance, and a franchisor with a blank one is forbidden to publish figures anywhere else.
Read this: Item 19: what a franchisor may and may not say
Registration
Franchise registration states: how to check one
Franchise registration states: why the counts disagree, what the statutes actually make unlawful, and the state that needs a filing while appearing on no list.
Read this: Franchise registration states: how to check one
The agreement
Franchise agreement: what is actually in one
Franchise agreement: what each part of the contract does, the 14 day and seven day waiting periods, and where the disclosure stops and the obligation starts.
Read this: Franchise agreement: what is actually in one
The agreement
Franchise termination: how an agreement ends
Franchise termination is governed by the contract and by state law, not by the federal rule. The three ways an agreement ends, and what survives it.
Read this: Franchise termination: how an agreement ends
Disclosure
What a Franchise Disclosure Document is, and how to read one
The document a franchisor must give you before it can sell you a franchise, what is inside it, and how to work through it without a lawyer standing over your shoulder.
Read this: What a Franchise Disclosure Document is, and how to read one
Reading to decide rather than to browse?
An inquiry reaches a person who can answer directly. No Franchise Disclosure Document has been issued, so there is nothing to apply for.
Disclosure
Inside an FDD: the items a first-time buyer should read first
A disclosure document is long and uniformly formatted, which makes everything look equally important. It is not. Here is a reading order.
Read this: Inside an FDD: the items a first-time buyer should read first
Disclosure
Where every fee in a franchise system is disclosed
Franchise systems carry more than one fee, and they are disclosed in specific places. This is where to look, and why published averages are not worth much.
Read this: Where every fee in a franchise system is disclosed
Due diligence
How to check a franchisor before you sign
Practical due diligence on a franchise system, including how to handle the success and failure rate claims that circulate in this category.
Read this: How to check a franchisor before you sign
Fees
What a franchise royalty is, and how it is calculated
The ongoing payment at the centre of every franchise relationship: what it buys, what it is calculated on, and why the basis matters more than the percentage.
Read this: What a franchise royalty is, and how it is calculated
Trade economics
What makes skilled trade service businesses suited to franchise systems
Skilled trade service work is local, not discretionary, and already governed by external standards. Those three properties are what make it fit a franchise system, and they explain what a system can and cannot fix.
Read this: What makes skilled trade service businesses suited to franchise systems
Operators
What veteran operators bring to trade service businesses
Military experience maps onto trade service operations in specific, describable ways: procedure, training pipelines, maintenance discipline, and accountability to a standard. It also has real limits worth naming.
Read this: What veteran operators bring to trade service businesses
Franchise systems
How a franchise brand system works
A generic explanation of the four parts of a franchise brand system, brand, playbook, technology, and territory, what each one is for, and how they depend on each other.
Read this: How a franchise brand system works
Fees
What it costs to buy a franchise, and why nobody can tell you first
Cost is the first question everyone asks and the one no franchisor can answer before delivering a disclosure document. This explains the rule and why it protects you.
Read this: What it costs to buy a franchise, and why nobody can tell you first
Fees
Buying a franchise without much capital, honestly
The financing routes that exist, the ones that are oversold, and the questions to ask before treating a low entry cost as an advantage.
Read this: Buying a franchise without much capital, honestly
The category
Home services franchise: what the category actually is
Home services franchising explained for someone encountering it for the first time: what the franchisor supplies, what the operator does, and how the category differs from food or retail franchising.
Read this: Home services franchise: what the category actually is
The category
Inside an electrician franchise: what the category involves
What an electrical franchise consists of, how licensing works alongside it, and what a franchisor can and cannot do for a licensed trade.
Read this: Inside an electrician franchise: what the category involves
The agreement
What franchise territory means, and what to ask about yours
Territory is one of the most negotiated and least understood parts of a franchise agreement. What the terms mean and which questions matter.
Read this: What franchise territory means, and what to ask about yours
The category
What to look for in a home services franchise
A comparison framework for trade service franchise systems that does not rely on brand recognition or entry cost.
Read this: What to look for in a home services franchise
The process
How to buy a franchise: the actual sequence
The real order of events from first enquiry to signing, what happens at each stage, and where the decision points genuinely are.
Read this: How to buy a franchise: the actual sequence
Operators
Franchising for veterans: what helps, and what is just marketing
Veteran franchise programmes, incentives, and claims, separated into the ones that are real and the ones that are positioning.
Read this: Franchising for veterans: what helps, and what is just marketing
The agreement
What a franchisor owes an operator, and what it does not
The obligations that run from franchisor to franchisee, how to tell a commitment from a discretion, and the things a franchise cannot do for you.
Read this: What a franchisor owes an operator, and what it does not
The company
Building Wattsmith Electric: the first brand
How Craftline Brands built and operated Wattsmith Electric before developing a franchise programme around it, and why that order was deliberate.
Read this: Building Wattsmith Electric: the first brand
Why this section exists
Information, published before there is anything to sell.
Craftline is developing its franchise programme and no Franchise Disclosure Document has been issued. Until one is, there is nothing to offer and no terms to discuss. What can be done honestly in the meantime is to set out how this kind of business works, so that anyone who eventually reads a real disclosure document arrives already understanding the structure and can tell a good one from a bad one.
Still working out whether this suits you?
That is the right question to be asking, and it is the one an inquiry is for. You will get a straight answer, including a no.