Commercial & Franchise Law
DC Strategy Lawyers is a commercial law firm assisting both Australian and International business clients, no matter how complex or diverse the business challenge. What makes us truly stand out is our unrivalled strength as a trusted advisor. Acting as your surrogate in-house lawyers, we balance the commercial implications of decisions with legal requirements and help you to obtain the best business outcome.
Since 1983, DC Strategy has forged its way to be a market leader in the franchising sector. DC Strategy Lawyers is a full service law firm, also highly regarded for our commercial contracts, trade marks, property and corporate service. We assist clients at all levels and stages of the business journey, be that start–up, scale-up, best practice operations and beyond.
How can we help you?
Our Approach
AUTHENTIC
You can trust what we promise and you can rely on us to deliver.
FAIR
We respect our team’s knowledge and our clients lived experiences
DEDICATED
We work as hard as our clients to drive your businesses
PASSIONATE
Why we do what we do matters immensely – to our clients and to us.
COMMERCIAL
We always frame our legal advice through a commercial lens.
Legal Services
Business Structuring and Governance
Corporate law relates to all parts of the lifecycle of a company, from formation to dissolution, and its people, such as shareholders, boards and employees. It can concern transactions in the company’s lifecycle, such as the forming of a new company through a sale, merger or acquisition, or attracting investors.
Our experienced lawyers can give you practical advice on what business structure will best suit your current situation, and how it can adapt to manage future development or growth. We will work to ensure the chosen structure maximises the potential and enterprise value of your business. We can assist in setting up the company and ensuring you have the correct Constitution and Shareholders Agreement to reflect the rights of the different shareholders and how the business should be governed. We are also able to assist in creating employee share schemes to motivate your staff and include them in the business’ growth and successes.
Supply and Distribution
After developing your franchise network, the next step is to establish your supply chain so that you can ensure uniformity of product quality and supply timelines across the network.
We achieve this by establishing a strategic supplier network with you; facilitating tender exercises to obtain best quality and value and implementing master contracts and statements of work with the individual franchisees.
Intellectual Property and Trade Marks
Your brand could be your most valuable asset and if protected, your Intellectual Property (IP) can help you stand out from the crowd. It drives your income and final profit and builds value in your business. Your business is unique and needs to be set apart from the rest. Your brand and ideas are what get you there. Our IP lawyers can help you, not only to identify, establish and protect your trademark, but also your ideas and design concepts, so as to protect you from imitators and ensure the value of your products and brand assets are retained.
Master Franchise Development
Many Australian entrepreneurs look to import a foreign-based franchise by securing a Master Franchise to develop the brand in Australia. We can assist you in getting started as a Master Franchisee in Australia.
Business and Corporate Structuring
Our experienced lawyers can give you practical advice on what business structure will best suit your current situation, and how it can adapt to manage future development. We will work to ensure the chosen structure maximises the potential and enterprise value of your business.
Buying and Selling Businesses
Our commercial insight, gained from our years of experience advising new start-ups and established businesses, means that we give you the level of legal advice that you need. Buying or selling a business is a big decision to make both in terms of the capital outlay and also the human investment. There are also many legal factors to consider, so these sorts of decisions are best made with professional advice and, with our knowledge on the ins and outs of selling, both franchises and stand-alone businesses, we can guide you through the risks and potential rewards from signing contracts and right through to settlement.
Property Law and Conveyancing
After purchasing an existing business, the acquisition of property is often one of the biggest financial commitments a business will make. Whether you’re leasing your first office, locating a distribution hub or managing a portfolio of sites, you can rely on our property lawyers to negotiate preferable terms and help you to understand any risk or liability to help you achieve your commercial goals.
Franchise Development
A team of Franchise experts are here for you
Every business is different. Our consulting experts will tailor each franchise program to suit your needs. We work closely to determine your expansion objectives, value proposition, and market opportunity. We know exactly what it takes to grow a business. Often clients come to us with a single location, and we help them grow into an international brand.
Franchise Law
Franchise Law Australia
Franchising is governed in Australia by Commonwealth legislation under the Australian Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA). The Franchising Regulations, known as the Franchising Code of Conduct (the Code), sit within the CCA and encompass the many interconnecting legal matters that could affect franchisors and franchisees.
Recent Franchises
"Franchising is a serious commitment and DCS guided us through our economic modeling, feasibility assessment, legal documentation, and lead generation work. They truly become an extension of your business as you seek to put everything in place to build a sustainable model that will generate returns for your new partners and your brand. DCS helped bring on our first franchisee and ensured he was the right steward for our brand. I can’t recommend DC Strategy highly enough!"
"Our journey with DC Strategy has been fantastic! From that initial strategic workshop to implementing our franchise program – there’s been lots of touch points. But if I think of one really great thing in our overall relationship and how DC Strategy continues to contribute to our success, it’s having them on our board."
"When DC Strategy came in to meet the board at the time, the noise was taken away. Once they had been convinced by the expert this is what you need to do and this is how you need to approach it and from thereon we never looked back. "
"The DC Strategy team draws upon its solid understanding of the franchise model to improve the performance of our organization. By tapping their knowledge, we have more quickly identified our opportunity areas and defined the action steps to capitalize on them. "
"We were comfortable with the consultancy because it was responsible for the growth and development of significant franchise systems and brands. Having a full-service firm ensures the consistency of information, advice and message from exiting franchisor and franchisee. "
"DC Recruitment helped take KX from 5 studios to 30 studios quickly. James and his team go above and beyond to provide great support and a vast range of franchise knowledge that is imperative for sustained growth. Their involvement allowed me to focus on growing and developing other key areas of the business knowing the recruitment was in good hands. I would recommend DC to any company trying to expand their network."
"Franck Provost wouldn’t be where it is in Australia today without all the consulting and legal advice from DC Strategy. "
" The team have been working with Thermawood Australia to promote the sales of our Thermawood Franchises across Australia. We have fortnightly video meetings as well as regular recap reports. We are always included in the planning and implementation of all marketing strategies and then advised on the outcome, their communication is exceptional. It is a pleasure to work with the entire DCS Lead Generation team. "
"DC Strategy took great care to understand our brand while developing our franchise system. They have worked closely with us to ensure we create a franchise system that reflects our passion in the Rosa Mexicano brand and their deep understanding of the franchise system made a significant contribution. I highly recommend them to anyone looking to establish a franchise network. "
Company Summary
38+ Years of Experience
+2,100 Franchise Locations
$2 Billion in Enterprise Value
For the past four decades, the team at DC Strategy has provided quality franchise consultation and legal counsel to our clients. We are advocates for the interests of our franchisor clients around the world. If you are considering purchasing a franchise, we provide personalised representation to help guide you through this process one step at a time.
Whether you’re in Australia, the United States, China, or some other country, we’ve got intermediaries near you with expertise in franchising within your sector. No other firm has appointed as many franchises as DC Strategy.
Getting Started
We are here to help you
We help businesses of all sizes, from large corporations to sole traders, through a diverse team and nearly 40 years of experience.
Contact Information
Call:
1300 682 657
Email:
online@dcstrategy.com
