Is there any legal difference between a franchise resale and a new franchise?

If you take on a new franchise you will have to pay the franchisor’s initial fee for the provision of the initial training, initial stock, equipment, a launch and promotion package, advice on premises and/or the provision of a vehicle. You will then have to build up the franchise business from scratch.  The second alternative is to buy an existing franchise business. As with taking a franchise directly from the franchisor, you will still have to be approved by the franchisor and the franchisor will have to provide you with initial training, but the big difference is that you will obtain an existing business with existing customers, contacts and cash flow.  You will have to pay more for this than if you were to take the franchise directly from the franchisor because you are acquiring an existing business, which provided it has traded profitably, has value. From a legal perspective, not only do you have to enter into the franchise agreement, but you also have to enter into a business purchase agreement, which can be quite complicated.