How to Start The Great Frame Up Franchise in 7 Steps: Checklist

The 2026 FDD and the official franchise page do not publish a minimum net worth, liquid-capital amount, credit score, education level, residency rule, or mandatory framing-industry experience. Franchise Concepts, Inc. screens the candidate, but meeting any informal financial or experience expectations does not guarantee approval.

The official page says franchisees have come from varied business and framing backgrounds. Treat that as marketing context, not a contractual promise that experience is irrelevant. Ask the franchise seller to identify the current application, background, credit, entity, and financial-document requirements in writing before providing sensitive information.

The documents support eight major stages. Inquiry and screening are distinct from award and signing; site approval is distinct from lease approval; training completion is distinct from final readiness; and third-party permits or construction remain outside the franchisor’s control.

The periods below use different triggers and must not be added together as one opening calculation. They show where the franchisee needs a timely submission, where Franchise Concepts, Inc. has a stated response period, and where a third party can still extend the critical path.

The franchisee finds the site, but Franchise Concepts, Inc. controls written site and lease approval. An original store is generally 800–2,000 square feet; a showroom is generally 800–1,200 square feet. Typical criteria include adequate parking, high visibility, acceptable neighboring tenants, and a market serving at least 15,000 households.

Site approval does not itself approve the lease, create broad territorial exclusivity, approve construction plans, or guarantee permits. The lease must include the disclosed use restriction, franchisor access and information rights, a lease-assumption option after default or termination, a 30-day landlord notice window for that option, limits on amendment or assignment, and the specified post-term landlord covenant.

The franchisee and one other person must complete the initial program to the franchisor’s satisfaction before opening. The schedule contains 78 classroom hours derived from the listed modules, including 43 hours of framing instruction, and is conducted over 10 consecutive days in St. Peters, Missouri.

The initial fee covers instruction and required materials for two people; the franchisee pays travel, lodging, meals, wages and other out-of-pocket expenses. The training must be scheduled at least four weeks before opening. A store manager may attend, or the franchisee may train the manager after completing the program, but Item 15 still requires direct on-premises supervision by a manager who has successfully completed company training.

Before opening, the franchisee must also have approved equipment and inventory, the required point-of-sale and art-catalog systems, a training laptop for the original-store path, signage, insurance, permits, utilities, staffing, and grand-opening marketing arrangements. Franchisor-provided on-site assistance is discretionary, and Article IV.B describes opening assistance as optional rather than guaranteed.

The formats are not interchangeable. A showroom is disclosed for an existing The Great Frame Up franchisee and relies on off-premises framing at the main store. The Market Unit Addendum is a development commitment for one full store plus two showrooms, not a general right to open unlimited units.

For each MUA showroom, after site approval the franchisee must execute the then-current Franchise Agreement within 20 days after receiving the then-current FDD. If a scheduled showroom is not opened on time, the MUA provides a 30-day written notice and cure opportunity; failure then permits forfeiture of that showroom’s non-refundable fee and release of the area for another offer.

The largest contractual risks are signing or paying too early, failing to secure an acceptable site, missing MUA development dates, failing training, or proceeding with an unapproved lease, supplier, product, plan or location. Approval failures are generally curable for 30 days under Article XIII.C, but the underlying opening delay may remain.

A prospective franchisee should review the FTC’s franchise-buying guidance, the FTC Franchise Rule page, and the applicable state addenda. These sources explain disclosure safeguards; they do not interpret the buyer’s contract or calculate a buyer-specific signing date.

The opening date should be set only after the buyer can document the format, signatures, site, lease, construction, training and third-party approvals that actually control readiness.

The official corporate contact page can be used to verify the responsible franchise-development contact, while the official brand background page confirms the consumer brand context. Neither page changes the Franchise Agreement.

The verified path is candidate screening, FDD review, approval and signing, site and lease approval, plans and buildout, approved systems and inventory, mandatory training, readiness verification, and opening. The total period is an official typical estimate rather than a deadline. The most important applicant-controlled dependency is securing an approvable site and lease; the largest outside dependency is landlord, permitting and construction timing.

The key contract issue to resolve is how the Franchise Agreement’s 30-day Designated Premises language operates with Item 11’s one-year site-agreement window, plus who must sign the full-time-management undertaking. For an MUA developer, the full-store and showroom deadlines, 20-day post-FDD signing requirement, cure period, fee forfeiture and territory release must be tracked separately.