Choosing your first franchisee in Belgium

Running a successful business does not mean every interested entrepreneur will be a suitable franchisee. Your first partner must be able to put your business model into practice, make independent decisions and give honest feedback. This lays the foundations for a healthy franchise community. A careful selection process helps you look beyond enthusiasm or available capital, without committing candidates prematurely.

1. Turn your day-to-day operations into a candidate profile

Start not with a recruitment advert, but with the work the franchisee will actually do. Will they need to serve customers every day, manage staff, build local business relationships or primarily organise the outlet? The answer determines the profile you need.

Distinguish between three types of requirements:

• Necessary from the outset: for example, management experience if the outlet will open with a team already in place.
• Learnable during training: such as your till system, product knowledge and standard working methods.
• Essential for the partnership: honouring commitments, raising problems openly and respecting quality standards.

Describe each requirement in terms of observable behaviour. ‘Entrepreneurial’ is vague; ‘can explain how they would approach local customers and track results’ can be assessed. Avoid creating a profile that mainly mirrors your own personality.

Also establish what you, as the franchisor, need to provide. If you are looking for someone without experience in staff scheduling, your training must be able to bridge that gap. Selection and support need to work together.

2. Recruit with an honest picture of the partnership

Use a short information page or brochure explaining what the franchise offers, the franchisee’s role and how the selection process works. Make it clear that this is an opportunity to run an independent business, not a job with a guaranteed income.

Be open about your stage of development. If you do not yet have any franchisees, do not present your own outlet as evidence of a widely successful network. Explain what has already been proven in practice and what you will still need to refine with your first partner.

Suitable candidates may come from your professional network, business associations or targeted networking events for entrepreneurs. A loyal customer or strong employee may be interested, but should undergo the same assessment as other candidates.

At the initial application stage, ask only for relevant information: motivation, experience, preferred region, availability and a broad indication of funding options. Do not collect extensive personal information straight away. Explain how you use personal data, restrict access and set an appropriate retention period in line with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

3. Assess skills and financial resilience

Use the same core questions and assessment criteria for every candidate. This makes decisions easier to compare and prevents an impressive presentation from carrying more weight than suitability.

Ask about specific situations: when has the candidate had to help an unhappy customer, address an issue with an employee or turn around a disappointing month? Then ask what they did and what the outcome was.

Supplement the interview with a practical case study. For example, ask the candidate to discuss a fictional staff rota or respond to a quality issue. Assess not just their answer, but also the questions they ask. Do they understand when to act independently and when to consult you?

Discuss their financial capacity too. Look beyond the initial franchise fee: investment costs, working capital, financing costs and personal expenses can all put pressure on the start-up phase. Ask the candidate to draw up their own financial plan with an independent adviser, including a scenario with slower sales growth.

Share realistic information, but do not guarantee returns. Always make clear which figures come from your existing business and which assumptions still need to be tested for the new location.

4. Build Belgium’s statutory reflection period into your selection process

Belgium has no separate law governing franchise agreements as a whole. However, specific pre-contractual rules apply to commercial partnership agreements under Book X, Title 2 of the Belgian Code of Economic Law, Articles X.26 to X.34. Franchise agreements generally fall within these rules.

Under Article X.27, the candidate must receive the draft agreement and the separate pre-contractual information document, known locally as the PID, at least one month before the agreement is concluded. Ensure that the documents are provided on an accessible, durable medium and keep a record of when they were supplied.

During this statutory period, as a general rule, no commitments may be entered into and no fees, sums of money or security may be requested or paid. Do not use a reservation payment to secure a candidate’s commitment in advance. There is a statutory exception for confidentiality; have any non-disclosure agreement checked by a lawyer.

General contract law, rules on unfair terms between businesses and competition law also require attention. Have your selection process and contractual documents reviewed by a Belgian lawyer. The European Code of Ethics for Franchising is a self-regulatory framework, not a substitute for the law.

5. Make the final decision mutual

Bring your findings together in a short assessment note: strengths, areas of concern, training needs and any conditions still to be met. Record why you are proceeding, postponing or rejecting the application.

Give the candidate room to assess you too. Who provides support? How are problems followed up? Which decisions remain local? A healthy franchise community starts with clear expectations on both sides.

Practical conclusion: choose not the first candidate willing to sign, but the partner who demonstrably fits the day-to-day operations, financial responsibilities and working relationship. Use consistent criteria and respect the statutory reflection period.