Let's get the basics down.
This questionnaire takes around 25 to 35 minutes. You can leave any item blank — we'll work through the gaps together in our sessions. Your progress is saved automatically.
If you intend to operate across both Eurozone and Sterling markets, complete this document in one currency. We will produce a converted version for each target market during the structuring phase.
Premises & build-out.
These figures feed your financial forecast and the investment section of your business plan. Give a low-to-high range for each — capturing both a lean and a premium location — so a prospective franchisee sees the full picture. Best estimates are fine where you don't have an exact figure; you can leave anything genuinely not applicable blank.
01 Premises
02 Fit-out & leasehold improvements
Painting, plumbing, electrical, carpentry, joinery and other trades.
03 Furniture, fixtures & equipment
Office equipment and supplies are captured separately below.
04 Software, IT & POS
Operations setup.
Inventory, insurance, signage, vehicles and the regulatory items needed to open the doors.
05 Initial inventory
Products, parts, consumables required to begin trading.
06 Insurance — initial down-payment
European cover typically includes Public Liability, Product Liability, Employer's Liability (statutory in the UK at £5m), Motor (where applicable), Professional Indemnity and Cyber Liability. The Legal Questionnaire captures the detailed cover list.
Range from lowest down-payment to bind cover, up to full annual premium:
07 Signage
08 Vehicles
09 Licences, permits & certifications
Financial setup & launch.
Working capital, training, opening marketing and the franchise fees themselves.
10 Dues, subscriptions & memberships
11 Professional fees
Solicitor / notary fees for entity incorporation and document review, accountant for company set-up and VAT registration. Notary fees apply in many EU jurisdictions.
12 Working capital
Cash reserve required while the business builds. A reasonable rule of thumb is three months of projected fixed operating expenses.
13 Market Introduction Programme (Grand Opening)
Required spend during the first three months. Low = minimum required; high = suggested spend.
14 Training expenses
Franchisee's cost of attending initial training: travel, accommodation, food, plus salaries of any staff who accompany them.
15 Initial franchise fee
We'll work through this with you. What amount do you have in mind?
16 Master franchise & multi-unit development fees
In Europe, master and multi-unit arrangements are heavily used to expand into new countries and language markets. The master franchisee or area developer typically pays a larger up-front fee in exchange for rights to a defined territory and an obligation to open a minimum number of units.
17 Other initial investment items
Franchisee pro-forma.
This models the projected cash flow and return on investment of your franchise unit. The figures here come straight from your existing business — you'll have most of them to hand. Where you're unsure, give your best estimate rather than leaving it blank; the more complete this is, the less back-and-forth later. Anything marked FMS suggestion is a recommended starting point you can adjust.
Revenues
In retail and food-service, revenue means sales excluding VAT. In service businesses, it's invoiced sales excluding VAT.
Why we ask this
Variable expenses
Costs that rise and fall with sales. Most come straight from your current accounts.
Why we ask about two advertising lines
Operating expenses (fixed, annual)
Annual costs incurred regardless of sales level. Pull these from your existing unit's accounts where you can.
Owner-operator compensation
Most franchise pro-formas build in an owner-operator (or manager) salary as a cost, so the projected return reflects a true picture after paying whoever runs the unit.
VAT note: in most EU member states, franchisor-to-franchisee royalties and marketing-fund contributions are subject to VAT (reverse charge for cross-border B2B). FMS Europe confirms treatment per market with your local accountant; the pro-forma is built net of VAT.
Where the numbers are landing for your franchise.
An indicative model based solely on the figures you've entered. The full pro-forma, including year 2–5 projections and royalty stress-testing, is built by FMS Europe from your prototype's actuals.
Brand & structure.
Trademarks, ownership, the ideal franchisee, and territory design for your franchise.
01 Trademarks
The Legal Questionnaire captures the detailed trademark position (EUIPO, UKIPO, national filings). These are the strategy questions.
If you intend to expand into French, German, Italian, Polish or other-language markets, we recommend a linguistic clearance check on the brand and any tag-lines before EUIPO filing.
02 Ownership structure
An IP-holding company structure can offer tax-planning advantages in some jurisdictions and protects IP from operational liability. FMS Europe and your tax adviser will work through the right structure for your situation.
03 Franchisee profile
Each answer helps us write marketing copy and prospect-qualification criteria.
04 Territory
Territory design in Europe is sensitive to population density, language regions, postal-code geography and (in some markets) NUTS units. We'll refine with you.
VBER note: absolute territorial protection (preventing passive sales into a franchisee's territory) is a hardcore restriction. We can design exclusivity that meets VBER — e.g. exclusive allocation with passive sales permitted.
Programmes & support.
How the system is delivered: training, term and renewal, field support, and supplier arrangements.
05 Training programme
Phase I — Initial training (at HQ)
Phase II — On-site training (at franchisee's location)
Refresher / annual update
06 Agreement term & renewal
These are areas where FMS brings the convention — you almost certainly haven't set franchise terms before, so we've pre-filled the European norms. Adjust anything that doesn't fit your plans.
Why this matters
FMS view: opinion is split. Some systems waive it to keep renewal friction-free; others (including most retail systems we build) charge a modest fee — typically €5,000–€10,000 — framed not as a toll but as the cost of refreshing the agreement, requalifying the unit and re-licensing the brand for a further term. Either is defensible. We'll discuss what suits your positioning.
Why have a refurbishment reserve?
06b Termination & post-term
Standard protections FMS builds into every agreement. Defaults shown; adjust if you have a specific preference.
07 Business support programme
08 Supplier programmes
VBER compliance: tied purchasing is generally permissible for items necessary to protect brand standard or know-how. Exclusive-purchase obligations longer than 5 years are normally not permitted. The Legal Questionnaire captures the disclosure side.
Economics & markets.
Royalties, advertising structure, target markets for the next 24 – 36 months, and the competitive landscape around your franchise.
09 Royalties
The royalty is your core recurring revenue as a franchisor. You may already have a figure in mind — if not, FMS will guide you. European benchmarks: 4–8% for retail and food-service, 6–10% for service businesses, almost always a percentage of gross sales excluding VAT.
Why a 12-month grace period
VAT on royalties: in most EU member states, royalties between a franchisor and franchisee are subject to VAT at the franchisor's local rate (reverse charge for cross-border supply within the EU). Royalty figures here are net of VAT.
10 Advertising
The principal advertising structures: Grand Opening (one-off), local advertising (paid by franchisee), co-operative advertising (regional pool), and system-wide advertising (funded by marketing-fund contribution).
GDPR note: any direct marketing using personal data (email lists, SMS, retargeting via uploaded audiences) is subject to GDPR. The Legal Questionnaire allocates controller / processor roles between franchisor and franchisee.
11 Markets & growth strategy
Which European markets would you most like to develop in over the next 24 – 36 months?
Not sure which to pick?
Why we don't ask you to map out year-by-year openings
12 Competitors
Top 5 direct competitors (any business model — franchised or not)
Top 5 franchise competitors (other franchise systems in your space)
Final sign-off.
The information above is, to the best of your knowledge, accurate. FMS Europe will use it to develop the strategic structure for the franchise system; follow-up discussion is expected.
By submitting this questionnaire, your responses are securely received by FMS Europe. An initial draft Pro-Forma (financial forecast) and Business Plan will be emailed to the address above.
Thank you, we've received it.
Your strategy questionnaire is now with the FMS Europe team. We're reviewing your responses and beginning work on your initial deliverables.