FDD Schema
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Item 1: The Franchisor, and any Parents, Predecessors, and Affiliates

Information about the franchisor, its parents, predecessors, and affiliates, as well as a description of the franchise offered, market overview, competition overview, and relevant laws and regulations.

Schema Information

  • $id: https://fddschema.org/schema/v1.0/items/item01-franchisor.json
  • Type: object

Properties

franchisor REQUIRED #

Type: object

Information about the franchisor offering the franchise.

Franchisor Information

Property Type Required Description
legalName string ✓ The legal name of the franchisor
Examples: "ABC Franchising, Inc."
legalEntityType string ✓ The legal structure of the franchisor
Examples: "corporation", "LLC", "partnership"
dbaNames array[string] — Any names the franchisor intends to use to conduct business (Doing business as names)
Examples: "ABC Fast Food"
principalAddress Postal Address ✓
formationDate string (date) ✓ Date the franchisor was legally formed
Examples: "2020-01-20"
formationState string ✓ The U.S. state or foreign country where the franchisor was legally formed
Examples: "Delaware", "California", "Canada"
businessOperationStartDate string (date) — Date the business itself began operating
Examples: "2020-02-15"
franchisingStartDate string (date) — Date the franchisor began offering franchises
Examples: "2020-03-01"
otherLinesOfBusiness object ✓ Franchisor's prior business experience in lines of business in the industry of the franchise offered.

See Postal Address

Properties of otherLinesOfBusiness

Franchisor's prior business experience in lines of business in the industry of the franchise offered.

Property Type Required Description
hasOtherLinesOfBusinessToDisclose boolean ✓ Indicates whether the franchisor has other lines of business to disclose
linesOfBusiness array[object] * List of other lines of business to be disclosed

Constraints

  • If hasOtherLinesOfBusinessToDisclose is True, then linesOfBusiness is required

Properties of each item in linesOfBusiness

Property Type Required Description
description string ✓ Description of the line of business
businessOperationStartDate string (date) * The date the franchisor began operating this line of business
Examples: "2020-01-01"
businessOperationEndDate string (date) — The date the franchisor ended operating this line of business
Examples: "2022-01-01"
franchisingStartDate string (date) * The date the franchisor began offering franchises in this line of business
Examples: "2020-06-01"
franchisingEndDate string (date) — The date the franchisor ended offering franchises in this line of business
Examples: "2022-06-01"
numberOfFranchisesSold integer * The total number of franchises sold in this line of business

Constraints

  • If businessOperationEndDate is provided, then businessOperationStartDate is required
  • If franchisingEndDate is provided, then franchisingStartDate is required
  • If franchisingStartDate is provided, then numberOfFranchisesSold is required

parents REQUIRED #

Type: object

Information about any parent companies of the franchisor.

Parent Companies

Property Type Required Description
hasParentsToDisclose boolean ✓ Indicates whether the franchisor has parent companies to disclose
parents array[object] * List of parent companies

Constraints

  • If hasParentsToDisclose is True, then parents is required

Properties of each item in parents

Property Type Required Description
@type "fdd:Parent" —
legalName string ✓ The legal name of the parent company
Examples: "XYZ Holdings, LLC"
principalAddress Postal Address ✓

predecessors REQUIRED #

Type: object

Information about any predecessors of the franchisor.

Predecessors

Property Type Required Description
hasPredecessorsToDisclose boolean ✓ Indicates whether the franchisor has predecessors to disclose
predecessors array[object] * List of predecessor companies

Constraints

  • If hasPredecessorsToDisclose is True, then predecessors is required

Properties of each item in predecessors

Property Type Required Description
@type "fdd:Predecessor" —
legalName string ✓ The legal name of the predecessor company
Examples: "AAA Franchising, Inc."
dbaNames array[string] — Any names the predecessor conducted business under (Doing business as names)
principalAddress Postal Address ✓
otherLinesOfBusiness object ✓ Predecessor's prior business experience in lines of business in the industry of the franchise offered, including the length of time the predecessor operated and offered those franchises.

affiliates REQUIRED #

Type: object

Information about any affiliates of the franchisor.

Affiliates

Property Type Required Description
hasAffiliatesToDisclose boolean ✓ Indicates whether the franchisor has affiliates to disclose
affiliates array[object] * List of affiliate companies

Constraints

  • If hasAffiliatesToDisclose is True, then affiliates is required

Properties of each item in affiliates

Property Type Required Description
@type "fdd:Affiliate" —
legalName string ✓ The legal name of the affiliate company
Examples: "DEF Services, LLC"
dbaNames array[string] — Any names the affiliate conducts business under (Doing business as names)
principalAddress Postal Address ✓
relationshipDescription string ✓ Description of the relationship between the franchisor and the affiliate
Examples: "Sister company under common ownership providing support services to franchisees."
otherLinesOfBusiness object ✓ Affiliate's prior business experience in lines of business in the industry of the franchise offered, including the length of time the affiliate operated and offered those franchises.

descriptionOfFranchiseOffered REQUIRED #

Type: string

Plain-language description of the business the franchisee will operate.

marketOverview REQUIRED #

Type: string

Overview of the market in which the franchisor and its franchisees will operate.

competitionOverview REQUIRED #

Type: string

Description of the franchisor's competition in the market.

lawsAndRegulations REQUIRED #

Type: string

Laws and regulations specific to the industry in which the franchise business operates. Excluding general business laws and regulations that apply to all businesses.