A new national business names registration system commences on 28 May 2012.
The national register of business names will replace the existing state and territory registers.
The new system will be administered by Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
Benefits of the new national register
The national register will offer some advantages to Queensland business owners:
It is quite common for Franchise Agreements to contain clauses which have a significant effect on the way in which the sale contract should be drafted. If a contract for the sale of a Franchised business is signed without first reading the Franchise Agreement and checking any requirements, then it may be difficult to unravel the resulting mess.
There is a lengthy list of things that need to be checked. If steps are not taken to ensure compliance, then it is likely that any sale contract will be in conflict with the Franchise Agreement. This problem can be difficult to resolve because the sale contract may oblige the seller to do one thing and the Franchise Agreement may prohibit the doing of that same thing.
You cannot own a business name!
So what do you own after registration of your business name? It may surprise you that, you own nothing.
"That contract's not worth the paper its written on". I understand that this is how people may feel, when they have taken the time to make a contract, yet a dispute arises anyway. Nevertheless this statement is rarely true, where a contract is properly drafted.
The point of a contract is to provide the parties to the contract, with a starting point, in case there is a disagreement. It is not the case that a White Knight will ride in, to put things right, when the terms of the contract are broken. If the agreement is properly drafted there will be a good number of matters on which it is more difficult to have an argument. Yet there will remain scope for an argument and it is up to you to enforce your rights. You will see below there are things that you can do to make a dispute less likely.
Most transactions whether for the sale of property or a business include at least two or three important dates. These dates are:
1. The date that the contract is signed by the parties to that contract
2. The date that special conditions are satisfied
3. The date that the contract reaches settlement or completion. The completion date and the settlement date are different words, used to describe the same thing.
Which of these dates do authorities rely upon when determining the date of the sale?
The cost of preparing legal documentation to turn a business into a franchised system is between $8000 and $20,000 plus GST . This cost may be recovered by the sale of franchises. Once the template documents are prepared the franchisee should pay the franchisor's costs to prepare and issue the documents, as well as the cost of negotiations. We set up franchise systems for clients throughout Australia. Please contact us for an instant quote. The task of preparing this documentation is a routine legal engagement for us however it is a lengthy process where each step in the process must be respected. We can usually provide draft franchise documentation within 2 weeks of receiving instructions.