Before you sign a management agreement, have you stress-tested it?
This piece was originally shared on LinkedIn in response to recurring conversations with founders and leadership teams around this topic.
I’m publishing it here as part of an ongoing body of thinking around restaurant strategy, market entry, and operational decision-making.
Having been on the negotiating side of these deals, I know where the pressure points sit.
The offer often sounds straightforward and the headline terms are attractive. Look at it carefully, and a long list of questions opens up:
A food safety violation in year two. Who is liable?
The customer database. Who has access, and are you handing it to a partner who might one day be a competitor?
Social media accounts. Who owns them if the relationship breaks down?
I've also seen founders sold hybrid structures that don't add up. At that point it's worth asking what you're signing up to.
A management agreement can be the right structure. It can also be the most expensive lesson a brand learns. The terms need stress-testing long before the papers are signed.
Next week: franchise, and why doing it yourself first can be the smartest move you make.
Since first sharing this, I’ve seen the same issue surface repeatedly — particularly with businesses entering new markets or scaling too quickly. The underlying challenge is rarely strategy itself, but how early decisions constrain execution later.
Andrew Jobes is the founder of Jobes & Co., a Dubai-based advisory working with restaurant and hospitality businesses across the Middle East and international markets.