Set the rules for master franchise expansion

It is usually the right document where one party is being given broader rights over a territory than an ordinary franchisee, often including the ability to develop the region and grant sub-franchises. That creates a more layered relationship than a standard franchise model. The agreement needs to deal with control, revenue flow, brand consistency and responsibility for network performance. If those issues are not recorded properly, the franchisor and master franchisee can end up with very different expectations about authority, support and commercial return.

These agreements commonly deal with the territory being granted, exclusivity, development obligations, the right to appoint sub-franchisees, fee and royalty arrangements, training, reporting, operational standards, use of intellectual property, audit rights, default events and termination. They may also address what documents the master franchisee must use with sub-franchisees and how much approval the franchisor retains over that process. The exact drafting depends on the structure of the network, but the agreement usually needs to allocate both commercial benefit and operational responsibility very clearly.

Useful details include whether the master franchisee will only develop outlets or also recruit sub-franchisees, how revenue is shared, what support the franchisor will provide, and how much control must be retained over branding, systems and approvals. Cross-border elements, existing franchise documents and any local operational differences can also affect the drafting. In many matters, the key tailoring work is not just about adding clauses. It is about making sure the master franchise agreement fits with the wider franchise structure and does not create inconsistent obligations.

Usually not. A template may cover basic headings, but master franchise arrangements often involve layered rights and obligations that need more careful treatment than a standard franchise document. For example, a generic form may not properly address approval rights over sub-franchisees, fee sharing, reporting lines, defaults at different levels of the network, or the consequences if development targets are missed. Where one agreement is expected to support expansion across a territory, tailored drafting is often more practical than trying to retrofit a broad template later.

Once engaged, we will gather the core details of the proposed structure, including the territory, commercial model, any sub-franchising rights and the level of control expected by the franchisor. If you already have related franchise documents, we may need those to check alignment. We then prepare or review the agreement and raise any major issues that need decisions before final wording is settled. Timing depends on complexity and responsiveness. If you later need negotiation support or broader rollout advice, that would be a separate scope from this drafting service.

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 Master Franchise Agreement service, pricing starts from $2,000.00.

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.