EXHIBIT 10.3 AREA REPRESENTATIVE AGREEMENTFranchise Agreement |
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EXHIBIT 10.3
REZcity.com
REZcity Plus
A Division of Rezconnect
Technologies, Inc.
AREA REPRESENTATIVE AGREEMENT
EXHIBIT C TO THE
OFFERING CIRCULAR
THIS CONTRACT IS SUBJECT
TO ARBITRATION
---------------------------------------
<PAGE>
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
I.
GRANT...................................................................2
II. DEVELOPMENT
TERRITORY...................................................2
III. DEVELOPMENT FEE AND SCHEDULE............................................3
IV.
TERM....................................................................5
V. PAYMENTS TO AREA
REPRESENTATIVE.........................................6
VI. TRAINING AND OPERATING ASSISTANCE.......................................8
VII. AREA REPRESENTATIVE'S
OBLIGATIONS.......................................9
VIII. USE OF SYSTEM AND
MARKS................................................12
IX. RELATIONSHIP OF THE PARTIES............................................13
X.
INSURANCE..............................................................14
XI. TRANSFERABILITY OF
INTEREST............................................16
XII. RESTRICTIONS CONCERNING COMPETITIVE
BUSINESSES.........................18
XIII. DEFAULT AND
TERMINATION................................................19
XIV. RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE PARTIES UPON
EXPIRATION OR TERMINATION...21
XV. FRANCHISOR'S REMEDIES UPON TERMINATION OR
EXPIRATION...................22
XVI.
NOTICES................................................................22
XVII. ENTIRE
AGREEMENT.......................................................23
XVIII.
APPLICABLE LAW.........................................................23
XIX. SETTLEMENT OF
DISPUTES.................................................24
XX. COST OF ENFORCEMENT OR
DEFENSE.........................................25
XXI. SEVERABILITY AND
CONSTRUCTION..........................................25
XXII.
DEFINITIONS............................................................26
XXIII.
CAVEAT.................................................................26
XXIV.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS........................................................26
EXHIBITS
--------
A. MAP
OF DEVELOPMENT TERRITORY
B.
GUARANTY AND ASSUMPTION OF OBLIGATIONS
<PAGE>
28
RezCity.com
REZcity Plus
A Division of RezConnect
Technologies, Inc.
AREA REPRESENTATIVE
AGREEMENT
This Area Representative Agreement (this "Agreement"), made this ____
day
of ___________, 20___ by and
dbetween RezConnect Technologies,
Inc., a
company operating
under the laws of the State of New York, and
having its
principal
place of business at 560 Sylvan Avenue,
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
07632 (hereinafter referred
to as "RezCity.com" or
"Franchisor"), and
______________________,
an individual/partnership/corporation/limited
liability
company established in the State of ____________,
whose principal address is
__________________________________________________ (hereinafter
referred to as
"Area
Representative").
W I T N E S S E T H:
WHEREAS, Franchisor has developed a system ("System"), identified by
the
Mark "RezCity.com" relating to the establishment, development and operation
of a
business specializing in the sale of Internet based marketing tools such as
banner advertisements on the home page and calendar pages of the
REZcity.com
website, content licensing, creating websites with unlimited pages
featuring a
shopping
cart order system and other forms of Internet Advertising. In addition
to the
services described, the
franchisee can elect to operate a
consignment
business online and
provide and auction model through the eBAY Marketplace.
(Herein referred to as "REZcity Plus Franchise") We also provide tolls such
as
real-time reservations, confirmations and
appointment scheduling,
business-to-consumer
negotiating of retail products and services. Other services
include
search engine submission and domain name site registration. All of these
services
are designed to be sold to small to medium sized businesses, community
organizations and
not-for-profit
organizations. Our travel
services feature
online
24/7 reservations/bookings for
Airlines, Hotels, Cars, Limos, Tours and
Cruise
products with over 55 book able engines; and
WHEREAS, the
distinguishing
characteristics of the System include,
without
limitation, the RezCity.com home page
located at http://www.rezcity.com
featuring "city
guides" for over fifty three
thousand (53,000) cities and
communities; the
proprietary Internet marketing
package which includes the
Services,
the RezCity.com Confidential Operations Manual ("Manual"); methods
for
recruiting, hiring and training employees;
inventory, cost controls, record
keeping, all of
which may be changed,
improved and further
developed by
Franchisor
from time to time; and
WHEREAS, Franchisor
is the owner of the right, title and
interest,
together with
all the goodwill connected
thereto, in and to the trademark
"RezCity.com"
and "RezConnect.com" and other
trademarks, domain names, service
marks
and trade dress, associated
logos, commercial symbols,
trade names,
trademarks, service
marks and trade
dress as are now,
or in the future,
designated
as an integral part of the System (the "Mark[s]"); and
WHEREAS, Franchisor is willing to grant Area Representative the right
to
serve as a special agent enabling Area
Representative to locate and
recruit
potential
franchisees known as "Individual Franchisees" as well as
"REZcity Plus
Franchisees" and to provide support
services to Individual Franchisees
and
REZcity Plus
Franchises within the
geographical area under
the terms and
conditions
contained in this Agreement; and
WHEREAS, Area
Representative desires to act as a special agent for
Franchisor within the geographical area enabling Area Representative to offer
franchises
for, and to develop, support, and provide
services to, Individual
<PAGE>
Franchises
and REZcity Plus Franchises within the
geographical under the terms
and
conditions contained in this Agreement; and
WHEREAS, Area
Representative understands and
acknowledges the
importance
of Franchisor's high and uniform standards of quality, operations and
service and the
necessity of operating
the Franchised Business
in strict
conformity
with Franchisor's standards and specifications; and
WHEREAS, Franchisor
is the licensee of certain
proprietary software
from 411web.com,
Inc., with the right to
sub-license the software
to its
franchisees;
and
WHEREAS, Franchisor
expressly disclaims the
making of and
Area
Representative acknowledges
that it has not received
nor relied upon
any
warranty or
guarantee, express or implied,
as to the revenues, profits or
success of
the business venture
contemplated by this
Agreement. Area
Representative acknowledges
that it has read this Agreement
and Franchisor's
Uniform Franchise
Offering Circular and
that it has no
knowledge of any
representation
by Franchisor or its officers, directors, shareholders, employees
or
agents that are contrary to the statements
made in Franchisor's Uniform
Franchise
Offering Circular or to the terms hereof.
NOW,
THEREFORE, the parties, in
consideration of the undertakings and
commitments
of each party to the other set forth in this Agreement, hereby agree
as
follows:
I. GRANT
-----
A
Franchisor hereby grants to
Area Representative, subject to
the
terms and conditions hereof, a license
to offer, negotiate, establish and
develop
RezCity.com Individual Franchises and REZcity Plus Franchises within the
territory
hereinafter described. The Area Representative shall recruit persons
and
entities to act as franchisees within the
Development Territory and will
perform initial
training and supervise the
development and operations
of
Individual Franchises
and REZcity Plus
Franchises within the
Development
Territory
in compliance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement.
B
In consideration of the
payments received and the
mutual
covenants contained
in this Agreement,
Franchisor hereby grants
to Area
Representative, and Area
Representative hereby accepts,
a license for the
Development Territory hereinafter described.
Franchisor hereby grants to Area
Representative, and Area Representative hereby accepts the right, license and
privilege
of using "RezCity.com," "REZconnect.com,"
"HaggleWithUs.com" and other
Marks
of Franchisor solely
and only upon and in
connection with activities
authorized
under this Agreement, including the
right to sublicense the Marks to
Individual
Franchisees in the Development Territory hereinafter described. Area
Representative agrees not to make or authorize any use,
direct or indirect, of
the Marks for any
other purpose or in any
other way. Area
Representative
acknowledges that
Franchisor may grant other licenses for the use of the Marks
or
utilize the Marks in any manner whatsoever
subject to the provisions of this
Agreement.
II. DEVELOPMENT TERRITORY
---------------------
The Development Territory of the Area
Representative Franchise granted
shall
be as described on Exhibit A (hereinafter
the "Development Territory").
During
this Agreement term, Franchisor will not establish or license any
other
area representatives to act as a special agent to
provide sales or support
services
to franchisees within the
Development Territory; provided,
however,
that
Franchisor shall retain the right:
2
<PAGE>
A
to establish Individual
Franchises and REZcity
Plus
Franchises, at any location inside and outside of the
Development Territory, as
Franchisor,
in its sole discretion, deems
appropriate; provided, however, that
Franchisor shall not
establish nor grant territorial
rights to any business
providing
Internet advertising services, online auction services and any other
services
which may conflict with any territorial
rights previously granted by
its
Area Representative to Individual Franchisees;
B
to establish additional area representatives outside of the
Development
Territory as Franchisor deems appropriate in its sole discretion;
C
to specifically approve
the grant of
any RezCity.com
Individual
Franchises or REZcity Plus Franchises.
Such approval shall be within
the
sole discretion of Franchisor;
D
to establish or license additional area representatives within
the Development
Territory if Area Representative fails to
comply with the
Development
Schedule contained in Paragraph IV. of this Agreement; and
E
to contract with
sales organizations and
other "Sales
Consultant(s)" to allow the Sales Consultants and its sales force to engage in
the
sale of Internet advertising including the Services; provided, however, that
Sales
Consultants shall not be licensed to utilize the RezCity.com trademark as
its principal
trade name under which it operates,
but may be permitted to
identify
itself as a "RezCity.com
Authorized Dealer" provided
further that the
Area Representative shall receive a commission based upon the
sale of Services
by each
Sales Consultant occurring
in Area Representative's Development
Territory
in accordance with Section V.
III. DEVELOPMENT FEE AND SCHEDULE
----------------------------
A........As consideration for
the license granted
herein, Area
Representative
shall pay to Franchisor, upon execution
of this Agreement, a fee
of _____________________________ DOLLARS ($_________) ("Development
Fee"). The
Development
Fee is fully earned and nonrefundable for the granting of the rights
as Area
Representative for the Development Territory.
At
Franchisor's option, the initial fees for an Area Representative
Franchise shall
be 10% of the
sum of the Franchise
Fees for Individual
Franchises that
the Area Representative has
available in the Development
Schedule
in this Agreement. Franchisor
anticipates that the Development Fee for
an
Area Representative will range from $30,000 to $500,000. Franchisor
will
permit
Area Represenstative to pay 50% of the gross revenues
earned from its
territory
whether from franchise sales or product or service commissions that it
receives.
If at the end of three (3) years there
remains a balance due on the
Sales
Agreement, Area Representative has the right to pay the balance in full
and
retain the remaining territory or return
the unsold territory to Franchisor
without
further obligation.
In
order to calculate the Area
Representative Fee, multiply the number of towns
or
cities within the designated geographic area by the minimum initial franchise
fee of
$1,500 and then add to that total the amount of additional fees in excess
of this minimum,
which is calculated by
multiplying $0.06 by the number
of
people
in each of the towns or cities that are above 25,000 in population. Then
add
this extra surcharge to the total revenue potential and multiply this amount
by 10%
with the minimum Area Representative Fee
being $30,000. For example, if
the
designated geographic area has 300 towns or cities as shown in the
REZcity
data
base on-line, then the basic fee would be $450,000 (300 X $1500). If 100 of
those
towns or cities contained a population
in excess of 25,000 for a total of
1,000,000
collectively in excess , then that amount would be multiplied by $0.06
per person,
adding that result of $60,000 ($0.06 X
1,000,000) to the base
revenue
of $60,000, arriving at a gross fee potential
of $500,000. That amount
would
then be multiplied by 10%, resulting in an initial Area Representative Fee
of
$51,000, but since the minimum initial
Area Representative Fee is $30,000,
3
<PAGE>
Area Representative would be pay the minimum or $30,000 in
this example. The
Franchisor
then would permit the Area
Representative to pay the balance
of the
fee
($21,000) over three years by permitting
Franchsior to deduct 50% off all
fees
that it pays to Area Representative ,
until the amount is paid in full. If
Area Representative does not pay the balance
within the three year period, Area
Representative shall
have the right to pay the balance
in full and retain the
remaining territory or return the unsold territory to
Franchisor and have no
further
obligations.
B
The Development Fee is in addition to the Individual Franchise
fee required
pursuant to any
Individual Franchise Agreement
which Area
Representative
executes. Nothing in this Agreement prohibits Area Representative
from owning an
Individual RezCity.com Franchised
Business or REZcity Plus
Franchised Business as long as all of the requirements
for owning an Individual
RezCity.com Franchised
Business or REZcity Plus Franchise
Business are met.
Should
Area Representative receive Franchisor's
approval to develop and operate
one (1)
or more RezCity.com Individual
Franchised Businesses in the Development
Territory, such
development shall be commenced
only upon Franchisor's prior
written approval
and Area Representative shall
pay to Franchisor
the
then-current Individual
Franchise Fee for each such additional
franchise, in
addition to the
Development Fee as provided
in Paragraph III.A.
of this
Agreement.
C
The Area Representative acknowledges
and agrees that a
material provision of this Agreement is that the
following number of Individual
Franchisees must
be opened and
continuously operating in the
Development
Territory during the term of this Agreement in
accordance with the following
Development
Schedule ("Development Schedule"):
As an Area Representative, you
will, in turn,
receive 40% of the
initial
Franchise Fee ("Sales Commission") paid by each Individual Franchisee
in
your Development
Territory within 30 days after
such Fees are received by
Franchisor.
In addition, Area
Representative will receive a 10% commission on the
net
revenue earned on billings from the sale
of Products and Services and other
Internet advertising
including REZcity Plus auction
sales which occurs within
the
Development Territory excluding revenues
that the franchisee earns from the
on-line
travel agency located on the local portal.
Under the
terms of the
Area Representative Agreement,
the
Development
Fee is fully earned and non-refundable under any circumstances.
Except as stated above, the initial
fees are uniform to all franchisees
under
this offering.
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
<S> <C>
<C>
------------------------------------
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
Number
of Franchises
Cumulative Number of
Required
to be Opened and
Franchises Required to be
Continuously
Operating for Opened
and Continuously
Business
in the Development
Operating for Business in the
Year Territory during the
Year Development Territory
------------------------------------
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
After the 3rd 20% of the Towns must be sold 20% of the towns
sold or 20% of the
or 20% of the
total franchise fee
total franchise fee
potential as
potential as described
in the described
in the addendum
of the
addendum of the
agreement agreement
------------------------------------
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
4
<PAGE>
------------------------------------
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
Number
of Franchises
Cumulative Number of
Required
to be Opened and
Franchises Required to be
Continuously Operating for Opened and Continuously
Business
in the Development Operating for Business in the
Year Territory during the
Year Development
Territory
------------------------------------
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
After the 5th 20% of the Towns must be sold 40% of the Towns must be sold
or revenue
earned or revenue
earned
------------------------------------
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
After the 10th 20% of the Towns must be sold
or 60% of the towns must be sold or
20% of the
total franchise fee 60% of the
total franchise fee
potential
as described in the potential as described
in the
agreement
agreement
------------------------------------
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
</TABLE>
The year period shall be determined
from the date of this Agreement, so
that
the first year of the development
schedule set forth above shall be twelve
(12)
months from the date this Agreement is executed.
D. The Area Representative represents
that it has conducted its own
independent
investigation and analysis of the prospects for the establishment of
Individual Franchises
and REZcity Plus
Franchises within the
Development
Territory, approves of the foregoing development
schedule as being reasonable
and
viable and recognizes that failure to
achieve the results described in the
foregoing Development Schedule constitutes a material
breach of this Agreement,
and in
that event, Franchisor shall have the right to terminate this
Agreement
as provided
herein. Termination of this
Agreement as a result of the Area
Representative's failure to meet the Development Schedule set
forth above shall
not affect the
Individual Franchise Agreements
of the franchisees who are
operating Individual
Franchises in the Development
Territory; however, upon
termination, all rights granted to the Area Representative
under this Agreement
shall
forthwith revert to Franchisor.
IV. TERM
----
This
Agreement shall be effective
and binding from the date of its
execution, and the term of this license
shall continue for ten
(10) years
thereafter, unless
sooner terminated as herein provided.
At the end of said
term,
Area Representative may renew its license for one successive term
of ten
(10)
years as a Area Representative:
A.
At least sixty (60)days prior to expiration of the term, executes
the form of Area
Representative Agreement then in use by Franchisor,
which
agreement
may contain terms materially different from those in this Agreement;
provided
that Area Representative shall not be required to pay a new Development
Fee and
the Development Territory will not be altered;
B.
Has substantially complied with all provisions of this Agreement
during
the initial term, including
the payment on a timely basis of
all fees
due;
C.
I s not in default
or under notification of breach of
this
Agreement
at the time it gives notice of intent to renew;
D.
Executes a general release, in a form satisfactory to Franchisor,
of
any and
all claims against
Franchisor and its
affiliates, and their
respective
shareholders, officers, directors, employees, and agents, arising out
of or
relating to this Agreement; and
E.
Has agreed on a new Development Schedule for the additional term.
5
<PAGE>
V. PAYMENTS TO AREA REPRESENTATIVE
-------------------------------
A.
During the term of this
Agreement, Area Representative shall be
paid
a commission, as set
forth in this Section, based on a
percentage of
initial franchise fees paid by Individual or REZcity
Plus Franchisees for the
purchase
of Individual Franchises or REZcity Plus Franchises("Sales Services
Commission") to
be located within
the Development Territory,
subject to
fulfillment
of the following conditions:
1. Individual and REZcity Plus Franchisee executes a Franchise
Agreement with
Franchisor, and an initial franchise fee has been paid to and
actually
received by Franchisor (Franchisor shall not be deemed to have received
any
fees paid into escrow, if applicable,
until such fees actually have
been
remitted
to Franchisor);
2. The sale for which the initial franchise
fee has been paid
is not a resale of any existing Individual or REZcity






