Franchiser

Download and classify Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDD's).

Franchiser is free software designed for academics to be able to analyze FDD's.

The tool downloads FDD's from California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation.

Sources

Only supported source is docqnet.dfpi.ca.gov.

Can easily be ported to support others, feel free to submit a PR.

• docqnet.dfpi.ca.gov
• securities.sos.in.gov
• cards.web.commerce.state.mn.us
• apps.dfi.wi.gov

Requirements

• node
• playwright
• python 3.12.2
• PyPDF2 3.0.1

Python Notes

Virtual Environment

If you are not familiar with python, it is recommended to use a python virtual environment.

Here is how to enable/disable the python virtual environment.

venv\Scripts\activate
deactivate

How Franchiser Works

Franchiser uses Playwright script 'franchiser.js' to download FDD documents from docqnet.dfpi.ca.gov.

It stores the downloaded FDD's in the RawData folder.

If needed you can prepend the FDD's with the year they are from using the python script 'franchiser.py'.

How to Use It

Step 1

• Create a JavaScript array of franchises you want to search for named franchises.
• You can also use the provided in franchises_one.js, franchises_two.js, etc.
• Put your franchises array in franchiser.js, replacing the franchises array there.

Franchises Example

const franchises = ['Example Franchise 1', 'Example Franchise 2'];

Step 2

Use franchiser.js to download FDD's.

Step 3

Use franchiser.py to populate filenames with the Issuance Date, if needed.