Launching a Franchise in Taiwan: Defining Head Office Support Commitments and Service Standards

Steady trading at existing outlets does not necessarily mean that head office is ready to support other operators. Once a business starts franchising, requests for site advice, staff training, system troubleshooting and operational guidance may all arrive at once. Building a dependable franchise network takes more than a founder who is always available by phone. Before recruitment begins, the promise that “head office will help” should be turned into service commitments with a defined scope, named responsibilities and records of delivery.

1. Break “support at every stage” down into specific deliverables

Start by listing who actually handles problems at your company-owned outlets. If store managers ask the founder about ordering, staffing or customer complaints every day, this hidden workload represents a future support cost for head office. It should not be treated as a free, unlimited resource.

Prepare a head office support schedule organised by stage of the franchise relationship:

• Preparing to open: Site assessment advice, equipment recommendations, checks on opening preparations and help with system configuration.
• Around the opening: Training, competency assessments, on-site support and follow-up where opening standards have not been met.
• Day-to-day operations: Ordering queries, system fault reports, quality improvements and reviews of operating data.
• Major incidents: A reporting and co-ordination contact for events such as supply disruptions, food safety incidents or data breaches.

For each service, specify what will be delivered, how it will be provided, which role is responsible and what evidence will confirm completion. For example, “help with site selection” might mean submitting an assessment report. It does not mean guaranteeing approval of a lease, still less guaranteeing that the location will be profitable.

Also state what the franchisee must contribute. For head office to advise on staff rotas, an outlet may first need to supply working hours, sales figures and staff availability. Setting out both parties’ responsibilities together makes it easier to distinguish between delays caused by inadequate support and those caused by missing information.

2. Base service standards on staffing capacity

Recruitment staff should not promise service standards first and then leave the operations team to work out how to meet them. Start by estimating how much training, on-site support and travel time each new outlet will require during its opening phase. Then calculate how many outlets the existing team can support at the same time.

Do not assess capacity solely on average workloads. Two outlets opening on the same day, a support adviser taking leave or a supplier suddenly running out of stock can all cause demand to peak. Alongside the main person responsible, appoint backup staff and define the circumstances that would trigger a pause in scheduling new openings.

When setting deadlines, distinguish between three stages:

• Acknowledgement: Letting the franchisee know that the request has been received and providing a case reference or contact point.
• Initial response: An appropriate member of staff reviewing the situation and proposing the next steps.
• Resolution: The problem has been resolved, or both parties have agreed on an acceptable alternative arrangement.

For problems involving external systems, logistics providers or repair contractors, head office may not be able to guarantee a resolution time. It can, however, commit to a frequency for progress updates. “Referred to the supplier” should not be treated as completion of the support request.

For example, a point-of-sale system outage should not have the same priority as a routine request for display advice. Head office can classify issues by safety risk, whether trading can continue and the extent of the impact, then set service hours, reporting channels and escalation procedures for each category. All deadlines should reflect an assessment of actual capacity rather than simply copying another brand’s standards.

3. Align support commitments with Taiwan’s legal and contractual requirements

Taiwan does not have a single, dedicated franchise statute, but this does not mean franchise arrangements are free from specific rules. The Fair Trade Commission has issued its Disposal Directions (Guidelines) on the Business Practices of Franchisors to address franchise practices involving the Fair Trade Act. Under these guidelines, the content and method of operational assistance, training and guidance provided by head office form part of the important transaction information to be disclosed before signing.

Claims such as “free training forever” or “a dedicated adviser on site throughout” therefore cannot simply appear in recruitment presentations and then disappear entirely from the contract. Concealing important information or making inaccurate statements may raise issues under the Fair Trade Act. Whether support commitments have been fulfilled, and any liability for breach or damages, must also be assessed under the contract, the Civil Code and other applicable provisions.

The guidelines also require the prospective franchisee to be given at least five days, or a reasonable period determined according to the circumstances of the case, to review the contract before signing. In principle, the contract must be delivered within 30 days of signing. Support schedules should be supplied for review alongside the main agreement, rather than introducing restrictions after signature.

In practice, the service schedule can be attached to the contract and should explain at least:

• Which support services are included in the agreed fees, and which require a separate quotation and consent.
• Which personnel are covered by training, and how catch-up sessions, training for new staff and reassessments will be arranged.
• The conditions for remote and on-site services, where services will be delivered and who pays travel costs.
• How failures to provide services as agreed will be notified, made good, challenged and dealt with through dispute procedures.

Do not rely on a blanket statement that “head office may make changes at any time”. Reductions in service scope or new charges should be subject to clear notification and agreement procedures, reviewed by a lawyer familiar with franchise arrangements in Taiwan.

4. Use service records to check whether head office is meeting its obligations

Support work scattered across private messaging accounts is often difficult to trace when staff change. Head office should maintain shared service records covering the date a request was raised, the type of issue, the person responsible, the agreed next step, completion status and the franchisee’s confirmation. Where employee or customer personal data is involved, it must also be handled in accordance with Taiwan’s Personal Data Protection Act. Convenience is not a reason to collect excessive information or share it indiscriminately.

Reviews of service performance should go beyond counting replies. More useful measures include whether the same problems keep recurring, whether promised on-site support has actually been provided and why cases have been reopened. If several outlets repeatedly report the same issue, the answer may be to improve systems, supply arrangements or training, rather than asking each outlet to adapt on its own.

When head office fails to meet its commitments, it should proactively explain the impact, offer alternative support and provide a revised completion date. If the contract provides remedies, apply them as agreed and keep records. The fact that an outlet ultimately remained open does not prove that head office fulfilled all its obligations.

Practical takeaway: Before launching a franchise offer, choose the three support services most commonly promised and specify the deliverables, responsible person, deadlines and action to be taken if delivery falls short. If even these three services cannot be delivered consistently, strengthen head office’s capacity before expanding the franchise network.