Franchise: A license that describes the relationship between the franchisor and franchisee including use of trademarks, fees, support and control.

Franchising: A method of distributing products or services.

Franchisor:  The company that provides a ready-made, established and tested business format, including name, corporate power, know-how, training and support from the franchisor.

Franchisee: Everyone who buys licenced rights to clone the whole business package from the franchisor in a specific territory for a specific period under the franchisor's name and system.

Franchise package: The elements of the business, reflecting the accumulation of his/her total operation in a form that can be transferred to franchisees. In the package the franchisor defines the structure of the business format and the nature of the relationship between franchisor and franchisees. This relationship is usually documented in the franchise agreement and the operating manual.

Business Format Franchising: In business format franchising, the franchisor prescribes for the franchisee a complete plan, or format, for managing and operating the establishment. The plan provides step-by-step procedures for major aspects of the business and, anticipating most management problems, provides a complete matrix for management decisions confronted by the franchisees.

Franchise agreement: Is a contract between a franchisor and franchiseewhich tells each party what each is supposed to do. 

Royalty: The regular payment made by the franchisee to the franchisor, usually based on a percentage of the franchisee’s gross sales.