What are the requirements for the person directly supervising and managing the Belocal Franchised Business?
Belocal Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
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We encourage but do not require an Owner to personally supervise the Franchised Business. We prefer to select franchisees who favor and appear committed to a "hands on" and well-informed approach to the business. The Franchised Business must be directly supervised and managed by a person, identified to us and accepted by us, who has both passed a background check and successfully completed our training program or for whom, based on his or her experience, we have waived this requirement. If an Owner is not willing to be the full-time operator of the Franchised Business, then you will be required to hire a manager acceptable to and approved by us, and any such manager(s) must successfully complete our training program and execute a confidentiality and non-solicitation agreement similar to the one that the Owners will execute. We do not require that your managers have any equity in the franchisee entity or receive any percentage of your Commissions. We strongly recommend that you devote a substantial amount of time to the Franchised Business, whether or not you hire a manager. Franchisees who do not devote their full time and efforts to the establishment and operation of the Franchised Business may generate lower advertising revenue and Commissions and lesser recognition in their areas than those franchisees who do devote their full efforts to the business.
We require all Principals to sign a Principals' Undertaking (attached to the Franchise Agreement as Attachment C), binding themselves individually to certain provisions of the Franchise Agreement, including the covenants against competition (Owners only) and solicitation and those restricting use of the Marks and disclosure of confidential information, restrictions on transfer, and dispute resolution procedures. The Principals must also guaranty amounts owed by the franchisee to us or our affiliates. We do not require an Owner's spouse to sign the Principals' Undertaking or otherwise personally guaranty the performance of the Franchise Agreement. At our request, you must have any other personnel who will have access to our confidential information, but whom we do not designate as a Principal, sign the Confidentiality Agreement and Ancillary Covenants Not to Solicit agreement attached to the Franchise Agreement as Attachment D-2. We have the right, in our sole discretion, to decrease the period of time or geographic scope of the covenants or eliminate the covenants altogether for any person who signs the Principals' Undertaking and the Confidentiality Agreement and Ancillary Covenants Not to Compete or Ancillary Covenants Not to Solicit agreements.
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ITEM 16. RESTRICTIONS ON WHAT THE FRANCHISEE MAY SELL
You must offer and sell all of the services and products that we require and only the services and products which we authorize for the System. You must not sell, offer to sell, or provide through the Franchised Business or otherwise any services and products that have not been approved by us in writing, and you must discontinue any services or products that we disapprove. There are no contractual limits on our right to make changes to the types of services and/or products that you must sell or are permitted to sell.
Source: Item 15 — OBLIGATION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ACTUAL OPERATION OF THE FRANCHISE BUSINESS (FDD pages 47–48)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Belocal's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the Franchised Business must be directly supervised and managed by a person identified to and accepted by Belocal. This person must pass a background check and successfully complete Belocal's training program. However, Belocal may waive the training requirement based on the person's experience. If the owner is not the full-time operator, they must hire a manager acceptable to and approved by Belocal. Any such manager must successfully complete Belocal's training program and execute a confidentiality and non-solicitation agreement. Belocal does not require managers to have equity in the franchisee entity or receive a percentage of commissions. Belocal strongly recommends that franchisees devote a substantial amount of time to the Franchised Business, whether or not they hire a manager, as franchisees who do not devote their full time and efforts may generate lower advertising revenue and commissions and lesser recognition in their areas.
Furthermore, the principal or operations manager named in Attachment E must personally supervise and devote full-time attention to the day-to-day operations and management of the Franchised Business. The franchisee must obtain Belocal's approval to use an operations manager and must obtain Belocal's acceptance of the specific person serving as the operations manager. The principal must complete any training that Belocal requires and execute the form of confidentiality, non-competition, and non-solicitation agreements that Belocal requires. The operations manager must complete any training that Belocal requires, pass a background check, and execute the form of confidentiality and non-solicitation agreements that Belocal requires. The franchisee must give Belocal advance written notice of any change to its designated operations manager.
In promoting the Publication, the franchisee, its principal(s), operations manager, and other representatives, must diligently promote the sale of, and stimulate interest in, advertising in the Publication that Franchisee manages, however Franchisee must not agree, represent, or warrant to any advertiser that such advertiser will have any exclusive advertising rights and/or protection from competing advertisers.