What does 'in print' mean in the context of Belocal's Reporting Publications?
Belocal Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
This historical financial performance representation relates to Commission payments we paid from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 ("Reporting Period") to 84 BeLocal Publications that were in print as of June 30, 2024 and that had been in print for a full year ("Reporting Publications") and to 88 franchisees who were active franchisees for the Reporting Period ("Reporting Franchisees"). By "in print," we mean that the publication that had been in print for at least one year under the franchisee's management. By "active franchisee" we mean actively involved in in-print activities for at least one Publication for the entirety of the Reporting Period.
Source: Item 19 — FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE REPRESENTATIONS (FDD pages 55–59)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Belocal's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the term 'in print' as it relates to the financial performance data of its publications, has a specific meaning. Belocal defines 'in print' to mean that the publication has been in print for at least one year under the franchisee's management. This definition is important because Belocal only includes data from publications meeting this criterion in its financial performance representations.
This means that the financial performance data presented in Item 19 of the FDD is based on publications that have been operating for at least a year under the same franchisee. Belocal excludes data from publications that have not been in print for a full year, as well as those managed by franchisees using a different commission formula or by its affiliate. This ensures that the financial figures provided are considered more reliable, as they are based on a longer operational period.
For a prospective Belocal franchisee, this definition is crucial in understanding the context of the financial performance data. It indicates that the reported commission payments and net profits are derived from established publications with at least one year of operational history under the same management. This allows potential franchisees to assess the potential financial performance of a Belocal publication based on the performance of similar, established operations, rather than new or short-term ventures.