Supporting your first franchise: what to promise after opening in Slovenia

When a successful business prepares to launch its first franchise, much of the attention goes towards opening day. But the real test of the relationship comes later: when the franchisee needs help with an everyday problem and the founder has no time for a phone call. A franchise network needs predictable support, not personal favours. Before signing, define what help you will provide, who will deliver it and how both parties will check that the agreement is being honoured.

1. Describe support as specific services

A promise of ‘ongoing business support’ does not tell a prospective franchisee enough. They might interpret it as unlimited availability, help with every staffing decision or even a guarantee that you will resolve all their business problems. For an established business still developing its franchise model, this ambiguity poses a significant risk.

List the recurring needs of the future outlet. Start with the issues that managers of your company-owned outlets handle today: explaining procedures, resolving ordering problems, using business systems, organising work and running joint promotions. Then distinguish between providing help and making decisions that remain the responsibility of the independent franchisee.

For each type of support, specify:

• scope: which questions it covers;
• provider: which role within the company is responsible;
• request channel: where the franchisee should send their query;
• availability: the days and hours when help is available;
• outcome: whether they will receive an explanation, a recommendation, technical assistance or a visit.

Instead of saying ‘we help you run the business’, for example, you could commit to regular reviews of business challenges and a written summary of agreed actions. Also make clear what support does not include, such as individual tax advice, legal representation or managing the franchisee’s employees.

2. Align your promises with the contract and Slovenian law

Slovenia has no specific franchising act, and franchise agreements are not separately defined as a contract type in legislation. Contractual obligations are governed primarily by the Slovenian Obligations Code (Obligacijski zakonik, OZ). The parties are free to structure their relationship, provided it does not conflict with the constitution, mandatory legal provisions or moral principles. The absence of a specific franchising act therefore does not mean an absence of legal rules.

Define the scope of support in the contract or in an annex clearly incorporated into it. Franchise agreements usually also contain licensing elements, and the OZ requires licence agreements to be in writing. Support arrangements should therefore also be documented in writing and be consistent with the agreement as a whole.

Distinguish included support from additional services. For an additional site visit, for example, specify who can request it, how the price is approved and who pays the travel expenses. Before placing the request, the franchisee must know whether the help is included under the contract or is a chargeable service.

Also agree how repeated failures to provide support will be handled: who should receive written notice, how the circumstances will be investigated and how a reasonable deadline for remedying shortcomings will be set. Ask a lawyer to check that these provisions comply with the OZ and are consistent with the other contractual rights. Do not present support as a guarantee of turnover or profit unless you are genuinely making that commitment.

3. Set response times without promising impossible resolutions

The time to first response is not the same as the time to resolution. An adviser may be able to answer a question about a procedure immediately, while resolving an outage in external software depends on a third party. The contract should preserve this distinction rather than cover every situation with a promise of an ‘immediate fix’.

Categorise requests by their impact on the business. A critical incident might involve a key system going down, while a routine request might seek clarification of instructions. For each category, define the reporting channel, the person responsible and their availability. If the outlet operates at weekends, check specifically what help you can actually provide then.

Use a shared email address or a system for logging support requests, rather than relying solely on the founder’s personal phone number. Record the date of the request, a description of the problem, the response, the next step and the outcome. Designate someone to cover absences and establish a handover process for cases where the first point of contact lacks the necessary expertise.

When collecting supporting evidence, request only the data you need. If a screenshot contains personal data relating to customers or employees, comply with the General Data Protection Regulation and Slovenia’s Personal Data Protection Act (ZVOP-2). Wherever possible, ask the person submitting the request to obscure that data before sending it.

4. Test your team’s capacity before making your first offer

A list of services does not prove that you can deliver them. Before selling your first franchise, have your team trial the planned process using requests from a company-owned outlet. The aim is not to retest the entire business concept, but to test the support function: does the request reach the right person, and does the answer enable the recipient to take the next step?

Record the time spent, recurring questions and reliance on the founder. Assess what would happen if several requests arrived at once or a key team member was absent. If only one person knows the answers, your support function is not yet ready.

After opening, regularly review outstanding requests, the usefulness of responses and the reasons why problems recur. Use feedback to improve the help you provide, not merely to measure how quickly requests are closed.

Practical takeaway: before making your first offer, prepare a list of support services, assign responsible people and cover for absences, and test the request process. Promise only the support for which you have the people, time and a clear method of delivery.