The questions everyone asks first.

That’s what the free Franchise Readiness Assessment establishes. Broadly, a business is ready when it can be systemised and documented, when the margins support both a franchisee and a royalty, when there’s proven demand beyond one good location, and when the brand is protectable. Trading profitably isn’t the same as being franchisable — plenty of excellent businesses aren’t, usually because they depend on the owner personally.

It depends entirely on what your business already has in place. A company with documented systems, a registered trademark and a settled brand needs far less work than one starting from nothing. We quote per component — documentation, agreement, trademark, training, rollout — so you can see what each item costs and take them in the order that suits your cash flow. The assessment is free, and you’ll get an honest indication of scope before you commit to anything.

From assessment to being ready to sign a first franchisee, several months is realistic for most businesses. Documentation takes the longest, because it requires time inside your operation to write properly. Trademark registration runs in parallel but has its own timeline at CIPC and can’t be accelerated. Anyone promising a complete franchise package in a few weeks is selling you a template.

A structured evaluation of whether your business can be replicated — systems, margins, brand, demand, supply chain and your own readiness for the role change franchising involves. It takes about an hour, in person in Durban or on Zoom anywhere in South Africa. It’s free, there’s no obligation, and you get a straight answer: ready, not ready, or ready with conditions.

Yes, and we use one. Your franchise agreement is drafted by a qualified attorney experienced in franchise law, working to commercial terms we agree with you first. That’s different from a consultant adapting a template — which is unfortunately common, and which tends to become apparent at exactly the moment you need the agreement to work.

A disclosure document sets out the material facts about your franchise for a prospective franchisee. Under the Consumer Protection Act it must be provided at least 14 days before a franchise agreement is signed. It isn’t optional, and getting it wrong carries real consequences — so it’s prepared properly as part of your documentation pack.

Before you licence the name to anyone, yes. Trading under a name for years doesn’t make it legally yours — registration does. Franchising an unregistered mark means your whole model rests on something you may not own, and a franchisee’s attorney will ask. We run an availability search early, because if the name isn’t free you want to know before the signage goes up.