Can a franchisor restrict me from competing after the franchisee/franchisor relationship ends?

Your franchisor may restrict you from competing with the franchise business after your franchise agreement has ended, but only if the restrictions are reasonable.  These type of restrictions are fairly common in franchise agreements and the reasoning for your franchisor wishing to include such restrictions is that it is likely to have provided you with confidential information, know-how and goodwill which they will want to protect.  The restriction is likely to take the form of a restrictive covenant, which is an agreement between two or more parties that one of the parties will not do something. Such restrictive covenants are only enforceable if they are considered reasonable and not contrary to the public interest.  In a franchise agreement a franchisee will typically be prevented from carrying on a business that competes with its franchisor’s business and from approaching its customers and employees after the franchise agreement has expired. When considering the reasonableness of such a restraint, the courts will look at the geography, duration and the subject of the clause.  In general, the geographical area of the covenant should be limited to the territory your franchise business operates in. The duration of the covenant should usually be for no longer than 12 months, although it can be reasonable for a franchisor to restrict the use of confidential information indefinitely.