Ask what the setup fee actually includes
Get the list in writing, item by item. Equipment, freezers, display counter, signage, interior fit-out, opening stock, POS system, uniforms. Anything described vaguely in the meeting becomes your cost after signing, and it is never a small number.
Territory rights are the single most important clause
Ask two questions: is the territory exclusive, and how large is it. A franchise with no territory protection can be undercut by a second branch of the same brand opening two kilometres away, and you will have no recourse.
Get it defined geographically in the agreement, not described verbally. “We would never do that” is not a clause.
Understand how supply is priced
In most food franchises you buy inventory from the brand. Ask how that price is set, whether it is fixed for a period, and how much notice you get before it changes. A supply price that can move without warning changes your margin without your consent.
Ask about the quiet months
Every food category has a season. Ice cream slows in winter, particularly in northern Punjab and KP. Tea and bakery do the opposite. Any projection built on twelve identical months is not a projection, and a brand that will not discuss its slow season is telling you something.
Talk to existing franchisees, the ones you find yourself
The brand will happily introduce you to its happiest operators. Find two or three others on your own, walk in, and ask them directly about supply delays, support response times and whether the numbers matched what they were shown.
This is the single most useful hour of research you will do, and almost nobody does it.
Be sceptical of guaranteed returns
Nobody can promise you a profit, because nobody else is choosing your location or running your counter day to day. Location decides most of the outcome: footfall, visibility, parking, and whether you are on a street where families walk in the evening.
A brand leading with a guaranteed monthly figure is telling you about its sales approach, not about your opportunity.
Check what happens if it does not work
Exit terms are the least discussed and most important part of the agreement. Can you sell the franchise? Does the brand have first refusal? What happens to the equipment? Read this section twice.
Melado runs a central production model with exclusive city rights in smaller cities. The details are on the franchise page.