Talk through a franchise restructure before you roll it out

This session is aimed at a proposed change to an existing franchise setup, rather than broad franchise support across every part of the network. We can discuss issues such as changing fee models, adjusting control mechanisms, updating brand rules, shifting responsibilities between parties, or reworking how the arrangement is documented. We will usually review the structure you have now and the change you want to make, then talk through the main legal risks, pressure points and sensible next steps. It is a one-off advice service, not ongoing project management.

This consultation is commonly useful for franchisors planning growth, consolidation or operational changes, and for franchisees who have been asked to move into a revised structure and want legal input before agreeing. It can also help where a business is changing how fees are charged, how brand standards are enforced, or how control sits across locations. If the restructure affects multiple documents or several parties at once, the consultation can help identify whether a larger piece of legal work is likely to be needed next.

Broader work is often needed where the restructure affects several documents at once or changes the commercial balance of the franchise relationship. For example, if you are altering fees, tightening operational control, changing brand use rights, or moving responsibilities between entities, you may need more than a single advice session. Related documents might need to be updated so they are consistent with the new arrangement. This consultation helps identify those gaps early, but it is not a substitute for full document drafting, network-wide rollout support, or ongoing representation.

Yes. The legal questions can overlap, but the focus of the advice will differ depending on your role. A franchisor may want to understand how to implement structural change while preserving brand control and commercial flexibility. A franchisee may want to understand whether a proposed restructure shifts fees, obligations or operational control in a way that changes the deal materially. In either case, the consultation is aimed at the specific restructure issue you want assessed, rather than general franchising support across unrelated matters.

After the consultation, you should have a clearer view of the legal issues raised by the restructure and what work, if any, should happen next. In some cases, the next step may be updating franchise documents, revising an IP licence, or checking whether disclosure materials and operational documents still line up with the new model. In other cases, the advice may be that the proposed change creates avoidable risk and should be narrowed or documented differently. If broader implementation work is needed, we can outline separate options.

Just submit an enquiry via this page or click the 'get started' button on our website to submit an enquiry. After you've submitted an enquiry, one of our legal consultants will review your enquiry within 1 business day and get in touch to get a better idea of exactly what you are looking for.

Then your legal consultant will send through an email with a bit more information about the services you need, along with a fixed fee quote setting out costs, scope of the service and timing. Have a read through it, and if you're happy with the scope, you can accept and sign our engagement letter online - easy!

Once you've formally accepted, we'll connect you with a specialist lawyer and they will work with you to complete your project. They will contact you by email or phone if they need to get in touch.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the Franchise Restructure Advice service, pricing starts from $200.00.

After you enquire, a legal consultant will confirm what is included, the expected timing and whether any extra work is needed before you engage us.

We operate completely online, which means we can help you wherever you are in New Zealand. We have office spaces in Sydney, and in Melbourne, but our use of technology allows our team members to work remotely from around the world. Our legal team are mostly based in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. We also have a London office for Sprintlaw UK.

Our legal team is made up of experienced lawyers, who are specialists in various areas of law and hold an Australian legal practising certificate. None of our Sprintlaw lawyers are New Zealand qualified lawyers and they do not currently hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

They provide legal services working remotely from Australia via our 'legal consultancy' model, through which (under section 6 and section 35 of the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006) our Australian legal team are permitted to provide legal services to New Zealand businesses provided they do not provide services in certain 'reserved' areas of law. You can read our FAQ page to learn a bit more about our 'legal consultancy' model.

Given the strong similarities between Australian and New Zealand law, and the areas of law in which we practice (being small business and startup law), we do not view the fact that our lawyers have not qualified in New Zealand as having any substantive impact on the quality of our service. We are committed to ensuring that we provide high quality, affordable legal services to all our New Zealand clients.

Our legal team have all trained at leading firms, but have left the traditional corporate law world to join us on our mission to create a new and better way of delivering legal services. They have specialist expertise in technology law, intellectual property law, contract drafting and review, corporate law and commercial law.