Use Noncompete Agreements To Help Protect Your Business From

Q: One of my former employees has started a competing business and is calling my clients and trying to steal their business from me. Do I have any legal recourse against him? -- Brad J.
A: I hate to break this to you, Brad, but unless this former employee signed a noncompete agreement while on your payroll, there is probably very little you can do to stop him from wooing your customers. You should discuss the situation with your attorney, but unless this person is also breaking the law in some other way (using stolen trade secrets, for example) your attorney will probably concur with me.
Renegade former employees riding the free enterprise wave is one reason noncompete agreements are gaining in popularity among employers who hope to use them to help protect their business from competitive threats launched by former employees. Many employers are now demanding that key employees sign noncompetes as a stipulation of employment. While signing noncompetes usually doesn t sit well with employees who view them as potential roadblocks to their upwardly mobile career path, many businesses will not hire a key employee without his or her signature on the dotted line.
A noncompete agreement is a formal contract between you and your employees in which they promise not to use information or contacts pertinent to your business in a competing situation. In other words, they agree not to take everything they learn working for you and put it to use for someone else. This could mean going to work for a competitor or starting a competing business of their own.
While not popular with employees, noncompete agreements are a good way for employers to keep key employees on the payroll and protect the company s proprietary information. That said, do not go overboard with noncompetes: not every employee should be required to sign one. If an employee does not have access to sensitive information, customer or accounting data, or is integral to the overall success of your business, there is no need to have them sign a noncompete. The janitor, for example, poses very little threat to your business if he gets a job with a competitor. Your sales manager, on the other hand, can devastate your business by hooking his wagon to a competing horse.
Which employees should sign noncompete agreements? While the prerequisites vary from business to business, the following is a good general list. The term "employees" represents executive level, management, supervisory, and non-management personnel relative to that example:
- Employees involved in research or product development. - Employees involved in the design, fabrication, engineering, and manufacturing process. - Employees who service products made and sold by your company. - Sales and service employees who have regular contact with customers or sensitive customer information. - Employees with access to sensitive business information or trade secrets. - Most importantly, employees who have sufficient information about your business that would allow them to start a competing business.
Most business experts agree that noncompete agreements are generally a good way to protect your business. The downside is that noncompete agreements are often difficult to enforce and in some states, may not be enforceable at all. Many state courts have ruled that noncompete agreements are too restrictive on an employee s right to earn a living.
In California, for instance, noncompetes are generally only enforceable in connection with the sale of a business and not for employees. In Alabama, noncompetes are generally enforceable in only two contexts: the sale of a business and in connection with employment - but even then the enforcement requires that there be a valid interest worthy of protection.
Some states require that the noncompete be signed at the beginning of the employment relationship and will only consider the enforcement of a noncompete signed after the initial employment date if the signing of the noncompete was accompanied by a promotion, raise in pay, or other event that elevated the employee to a more important role within the company.
To be enforceable, noncompete agreements must be reasonable on three accounts: Time, geography and scope. Regarding time, you can t restrict someone from competing with you forever, so one to three years is the accepted time period for most noncompetes.
As to geography, you can enforce restriction in the general area where you conduct business, but you can not enforce the restriction beyond those boundaries. And for scope, the agreement can restrict certain actions on the part of the employee, but can t be so generally restrictive that the employee won t be able to earn a living working in the same industry in a noncompetitive position.
One interesting thing to note: noncompete agreements are not enforceable against certain "professionals," like doctors, CPAs, and lawyers (who do you think writes all those noncompetes).
At this point, Brad, the best thing you can do is contact your attorney to see if you have other grounds for suit, then contact your customers and let them know what s going on.
Explain the situation regarding the former employee, but do so calmly and resist the urge to tell them what you really think of this guy. Showing your anger to the customer is not going to help you keep their business .
Reaffirm your relationship with the client, tell him how much you value his business, remind him of your track record and level of service, then ask one simple question: What can I do to make sure your business stays with me?
Here s to your success!
Tim Knox tim@dropshipwholesale.net For information on starting your own online or eBay business, visit http://www.dropshipwholesale.net



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Online Jobs - Useful Tips

There are certain rules and tips, which must be applied before it can become successful doing work on the Internet. There is a lot of freelancing sites in business, and you can find them easily, making the search using a search engine. Make sure you select only those freelancing sites that have credibility and legitimate jobs, which could be found and done. There is a chance that if you do not select the right to the site, they can make you do a job and do not pay you. In cost and design the web site can help you make a choice between credible and not credible Web site, where no credible web site will be developed with minimal bad functions.
Once freelancing site you have chosen for you to do your account registered to receive it. Remember that the registration process should be completely free otherwise you might decide not credible Web site, where you could lose your money. A freelancing site with a good reputation will not charge a fee for the registration process, instead they would like to see many, and many people attend them and obtaining registered so that their business can flourish, as you get a job through their websites, they receive a commission on it. the idea is similar to that in the brokerage firm, where to buy or sell shares in the company, you must pay a percentage basis commission.
While they get themselves registered with the freelancing on the site, be sure to present themselves in a very attractive and professional approach when submitting your bio-data. This is because people will see your profile, in order to judge your ability to work before taking to you. Therefore, make sure that you allocate your strengths. It will help you a lot in getting you need to work easily.
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5 Mistakes to Avoid When Selling Your Home

1) Pricing Your Property Too High
Every seller wants to sell their home at the highest price. Ironically, many sellers often believe that listing their home at an excessively high price will bring in prospective buyers in droves. Actually, this mistake often has the opposite effect by driving away pre-qualified prospective buyers to other homes in your neighborhood that are more appropriately and competitively priced. With so much real estate data on the internet now readily available, savvy buyers can often guesstimate how much your home should sell for and thus will make offers on homes that sell at their expected price and market value. As a result, overpriced properties tend to take an unusually long time to sell and they end being sold with drastic price cuts and/or concessions. You will want to avoid low-ball agents who under-price your home for a quick commission or overly amenable realtors who say yes to your too high pricing request in order to get your listing while your home languishes on the market.
2) Mistaking a Recent Refinance Appraisal for Market Value
Often, sellers who have had a recent refinancing appraisal believe that their home is currently the same value as the appraisal s estimate of the value of their property. Often, this is not the case, as lenders estimate the value of the property at a higher price in order to encourage refinancing. The market value of your home could actually be lower even with a difference of three months since the appraisal was completed and especially in a volatile real estate market. Your best bet is to ask your realtor for a comparative market analysis that shows the most recent information regarding property sales in your community and neighborhood. Even then the price has to be adjusted for the condition of your home and available amenities. This detailed analysis will give you a factually accurate estimate of your property value.
3) Forgetting to Showcase Your Home to Appeal to the Buyer
In spite of how this mistake seems like common sense and could be easily avoided, it is amazing to see how often sellers neglect this. When attempting to sell your home to buyers, try to keep in mind that even before you list your home and set out the yard sale sign, you should develop an objective view of your home as a product. The more appealing you make your house (the product) to the general public by cleaning it, repairing things that need to be fixed and making it presentable, the more likely you will get an offer you will be pleased with. A poorly, maintained home will lower the selling price of your property. In this day and age of instant coffee, instant internet access and everything else, most buyers don t want to spend the time repairing anything. If it isn t working properly, it usually ends up costing more at the negotiating table than at the hardware store. Today s buyer usually just wants to move in and get on with their day-to-day business. If they have to spend time in repairing, they will subconsciously factor in more than the actual cost at the negotiating table.
In addition, as more and more realtors are using virtual tours and/or photos of the interior of your home on their internet websites, you need to declutter and store personal items so your home s pictures truly showcase your house. Your objective is to allow your buyers to see themselves living in your house and not showcasing junior s artwork on the refrigerator or dirty dishes in the sink.
4) Assuming All Buyers Are the Same and Selling to Looky-Loos
Although not all buyers are pre-qualified, those that are usually mean to do business. They have done their financial homework, know what they can afford and will usually ask their agents to show them homes within their price range. When their realtor requests to show them your home, they usually request the showing in order to evaluate whether your home fits their needs and would be more likely to make an offer if your house is the right match. Your realtor should usually find out a prospective buyer s savings, credit rating and purchasing power in general.
Most other prospective buyers who show interest really are a good six to nine months away from buying. They are more interested in seeing what s on the market and available in the neighborhood as opposed to making a serious offer.
5) Limiting the Marketing and Advertising of the Property to Solely Traditional Methods
Your realtor should employ a variety of marketing techniques from traditional yard sale signs, to MLS (multiple listing service) listings as well as internet websites. Agents who are innovative and offer as many new technology methods of attracting home buyers will measurably outperform those that use methods of the past. The often predicted technology wave of the future is here now, most professional realtors who realize the sweeping changes that are affecting the real estate industry are making it a priority to adapt to these progressive strategies that add value and service to their sellers!
for mroe information visit http://www.nefcortez.com virgil letha



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