Under the Southern Steer Multi-Unit Development Agreement, how can modifications be made to the agreement?
Southern_Steer Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
The Multi-Unit Developer acknowledges that (a) the terms, conditions and economics of the Franchise Agreement may be modified from time to time by the Franchisor, (b) any changes or modifications made to the Franchise Agreement in the future will not be applicable to any Franchise Agreement previously executed by the Multi-Unit Developer, and (c) the Multi-Unit Developer will be required to pay any additional Fees contained in any Franchise Agreement signed by the Multi-Unit Developer after the date of this Agreement.
Source: Item 5 — and 7 of the FDD, Section 3.1 of the Franchise Agreement and Section 4.1 of the Multi-Unit Development Agreement are hereby amended to state that payment of the initial franchise fee and development fee will be deferred until We have satisfied Our pre-opening obligations, and You have commenced business operations. (FDD pages 168–290)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to the 2025 Southern Steer Franchise Disclosure Document, the terms, conditions, and economics of the Franchise Agreement may be modified by Southern Steer from time to time. However, any changes or modifications made to the Franchise Agreement in the future will not apply to any Franchise Agreement previously executed by the Multi-Unit Developer. The Multi-Unit Developer will be required to pay any additional fees contained in any Franchise Agreement signed after the date of the Multi-Unit Development Agreement.
This means that while Southern Steer can change the terms of its standard Franchise Agreement, those changes only affect agreements signed after the changes are made. A Multi-Unit Developer's previously signed agreements remain under the original terms. However, the Multi-Unit Developer must pay any additional fees included in subsequently signed Franchise Agreements.
This clause protects the Multi-Unit Developer from unexpected changes to existing franchise agreements but also ensures that they will be subject to the current fee structure for any new Southern Steer franchises they open under the development agreement. Prospective franchisees should carefully consider the potential impact of future fee increases on their overall investment and profitability.