Have you ever noticed that franchise companies have employees at the franchised outlets, who wear the exact same uniform, even when you orientate completely different state. Did you know that many franchise companies have dress codes and stipulations about apparel in their confidential operations manual, which are the same for many countries. In other words the McDonald's uniform in Venezuela could be the same exact uniform, which is worn in Hawaii. Interesting isn't?

There is a good reason for this it has to do with consistency and brand name image. Each franchisor needs to consider this advantage that can be used in franchising. It is for that reason that most companies address this issue in their confidential operations manual, the initial training and even in the original franchise agreement and disclosure documents. In fact, in my company we put a clause in the franchise agreement to address apparel issues in our company;

3.10 Apparel

Franchisee and its employees must wear shirts, jackets or other approved apparel with The Car Wash Guys logo as designated by Franchisor when performing Services for the Franchised Business. In the event Franchisee operated any business(es)other than the Franchised Business or other franchises offered by Franchisor to the extent expressly permitted in Section 3.3, the personnel employed in such other business(es) must wear apparel that does not feature any of the marks or color schemes of the Franchised Business.

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Although our company is a small franchise system operated only a couple dozen states, we still felt it was necessary to address this issue. All franchise companies should consider this no matter their size. A competent franchise attorney can best help franchise in executives determine the best legal strategies to insure consistency of uniform apparel. Consider this in 2006.