Starting your business can be very exciting and thrilling. You are looking forward to your ideas finally coming to life, and also thinking of all the money you will make. You can already see the beach house you will move into when you retire at 40, and you dream of taking exotic vacations all year round.
You and your colleague/“co-founder” have decided to resign, having prepared a thorough business plan for the next big thing in tech, and you can’t wait to hit it big in six months and bring all the other members of the department on board.
However, you may want to re-examine your current contract and analyse it in line with your plans, to enable you identify any restrictions, and prevent problems which could arise as you move on. . Key clauses to note are the following:
• Confidentiality – Have you developed your new venture using confidential information obtained in the course of your work?
• Non-compete – Is your new business in direct competition with that of your current employer?
• Non- solicitation – Perhaps your idea is brand new, but can you “solicit” your current employer’s employees, vendors, suppliers, clients and contact lists?
• Intellectual Property – Do IP rights to your current employer?
• Termination –This prescribes the appropriate way to leave the company, and penalties for non-compliance. Ensure you comply with it.
When in doubt, ask a lawyer. Ensure you do not burn bridges as you set out on your own.
Good luck.
Syntax Legal Practitioners 