Franchising in Portugal: creating an operations manual

A business may run well because its founder knows how to handle everything from memory. To grow through a franchise network, that knowledge needs to be passed on without relying on the founder’s daily presence. An operations manual turns accumulated experience into instructions that other teams can follow. It should not be a collection of good intentions: it should explain how to carry out, check and correct work, while respecting each franchisee’s legal independence.

1. Turn recurring tasks into clear procedures

Start with the activities that have the greatest impact on customer experience, safety and results. Observe how work is actually done, interview the people doing it and collect the forms already in use. Avoid describing an ideal operation that your own team cannot yet deliver.

Organise the content around the lifecycle and routines of an outlet: preparing to open, daily operations, customer service, purchasing, stock management, cleaning, complaints and closing. Add procedures specific to the business, such as food storage or equipment maintenance, where relevant.

Every procedure should answer the same questions:

• What is its purpose, and when does it apply?
• Who carries it out, and who checks it?
• What materials, access permissions or information are needed?
• What are the steps and acceptance criteria?
• What record confirms that it has been completed?
• What should staff do if something falls short of the standard, and when should they ask for support?

For example, ‘handle complaints promptly’ is not a sufficient instruction. A usable procedure identifies where complaints are logged, what information to collect, who is responsible for responding and which situations require the franchisor’s involvement. It does not, of course, replace legal obligations relating to Portugal’s Livro de Reclamações (complaints book) and consumer protection.

2. Separate mandatory standards from guidance

Not everything the founder prefers needs to be compulsory. Distinguish between elements that are essential to a shared identity and choices that can be left to the franchisee.

You can organise each document into three categories:

• Mandatory standard: a quality, brand presentation or safety requirement that the outlet must meet.
• Recommended procedure: a method that has proved useful, but allows an approved alternative or an equivalent outcome.
• Support tool: a checklist, communication template or example of how to organise work.

This distinction prevents disputes and makes monitoring easier. It also helps preserve the franchisee’s business independence: the manual should not blur the line between overseeing the network and directly managing another company’s employees.

Define measurable indicators without inventing one-size-fits-all targets. If you set an internal deadline for responding to enquiries, explain how it is measured and who follows up on missed deadlines. Clearly identify whether a deadline is a legal requirement or simply a network standard.

Have any rules on resale prices, exclusive suppliers or sales restrictions legally reviewed. Including them in the manual does not exempt them from Portuguese and EU competition rules.

3. Align the manual with the agreement and Portuguese law

Portugal has no specific law governing franchise agreements, nor a dedicated register of franchisors. Applicable rules include the Portuguese Civil Code, the rules on standard contract terms where relevant, and competition law. Sector-specific legal requirements also continue to apply.

The freedom of contract provided for in Article 405 of the Civil Code allows the parties to structure their relationship, but does not remove their duties of good faith. Article 227 is relevant during negotiations: do not present a manual as complete and ready to use if it has yet to be developed.

The agreement should identify the manual, explain how it is made available and establish its relationship with the other contractual obligations. It should also cover confidentiality, authorised access, updates and what happens to copies once the relationship ends.

Avoid a clause allowing any obligation to be changed simply by updating the manual. Changes that require substantial investment or alter essential terms need specific assessment, appropriate communication and, depending on the agreement and the nature of the change, agreement between the parties.

The European Code of Ethics for Franchising is a self-regulatory reference for the sector, not a Portuguese law of general application. Its guidance does not replace a legal review of the agreement and related documents.

4. Test usability and control versions

Before making the manual available to the network, ask someone who was not involved in drafting it to carry out a task using only its instructions. Record any questions, missing steps and ambiguous terms. The aim is to test the document, not the person’s ability to improvise.

Then link each procedure to the relevant training. Reading instructions is not the same as knowing how to carry them out: demonstrations, exercises and practical observation help confirm learning.

Maintain a single reference source, with role-based access. Each document should identify its owner, version, effective date and a summary of changes. Archive previous versions and keep a record of how changes have been communicated. Where necessary, confirm that training has been completed before requiring the new procedure to be followed.

Practical takeaway: start with critical procedures, test their clarity and align them with the agreement. A useful manual enables people to work consistently, recognise when standards are not being met and know when to ask for help.