Re: Legalities of owning a company while working for another...

I am currently employed at a company and I am planning on starting my
own company while still working at my current company. The work that
will be involved in my company is very different from my current job
with no conflict of interest. But I want to learn about legalities and
protocals regarding owning your company while working for another to
make sure I observe all the protocals. Any pointer to references and
or general informal advice would be greatly appreciated.

General rule: Don't use your employer's resources (including your
time on the job, his phones, the department secretary, his copy
machine, or his employees' time) for your new business.

Don't talk about your business on his phone lines.

Don't steal his customer list (this applies even if he sells machine
tools and you do carpet cleaning). Don't go down his list and ask
them if they want their carpets cleaned.

Don't talk about your business to your co-workers while at work (if
you're going out to lunch with co-workers as a social occasion this
is perhaps an exception.)

Try to avoid having your customers call you or leave messages for
your business at your job. Have a phone number for your business
where they can leave messages, or reach someone. If your customers
call you at work, redirect them to that number. Don't return calls
to that number from work (even if it's from your personal cell phone
from your desk at work). Your cube-mate should not overhear more
about your new business than your job. If he's taking messages
about scheduling carpet-cleaning jobs for you and has become expert
in advising on carpet stains, you're way over the line.

You probably signed a non-disclosure agreement. Even if you didn't,
it's poor form to use trade secrets (if businesses are different,
probably useless anyway) or customer contacts from your employer.

Your employer expects you to be able to devote full attention to
your job. Don't show up at the job habitually late, sleep-deprived,
or exhausted because you are spending too much time on your business.
At this point you either need employees or you need to quit your
job to take care of your business.

It's probably best to avoid the conflict of interest of soliciting
your employer for the job of cleaning carpets at the office.

.

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