Has anyone on this board had one of their workers leave the company and
attempt to take some of the customers with them? I had to let go of one
of our guys recently after it was discovered that he violated his non-compete
agreement. It’s a long story which I’ll be glad to tell in a separate post.
What i’d like to know is: What can I say to my customers to warn them about
this guy? They’ve seen him for the last year or so and so he actually has
managed to turn my customers from us to him. It’s an awful situation that some
of my customers have informed me that they don’t want to be involved in. Some
have even already stopped their service. What can I say to my clients so that
I can warn them without losing them?
Most are not. But I think if it can be shown that the guy was specifically targeting current clients of Appearances WC, then a court would enforce it. At least, that’s my understanding.
If you paid him well in the first place then he wouldn’t be doing this. And it’s called the capitalist system. If there was so competition then none of us would have a business. Competition makes us better. If your customers are going to his services then you do not have loyal customers or he is offering something you are not or do not have that they like
I disagree, the customers are used to seeing his face and doing business with him. He could just be telling them they are doing business under a new name (his new business name) and the customers would not even know what is really going on.
And as far as paying them well goes, he most likely has the “employee mentality” that he should be getting 100% of the job because he is doing 100% of the work. So paying him a generous wage/ percent would still not solve the problem, he won’t be happy until he is getting all the money…
Wouldn’t worry about it. Irritating? Yes but he will now experience the ‘joys’ of running his own business with all the expenses involved. My take would be to send out a letter to your database explaining that your employee has ‘moved on’ (don’t bag him, the clients may actually like him), their service however will continue unbroken as you have assigned one of your other trusted employees to continue the normal excellent service. Now if they say that “Jack” is still doing the job then simply reinforce that he no longer works for you, is not covered by your public liability and other business insurances. Wish them all the best. Then send a business card with a covering letter explaining that should they be unhappy or feel neglected any time in the future, to not hesitate to give you a call.
From personal experience I have to reassure you that this is the best option, even when all you really want to do is get out the baseball bat and/or sue him from Alaska to Hawaii. Don’t waste your energy. Just get out there and replace the few clients who may go with him.
I’d do the letter. Then if that doesn’t work, and your In a state where a non compete is unenforceable(which from my understanding if not worded perfectly is never gonna hold up in court… And again how much work would a guy have to take, obviously underbid cause I’m guessing he knew your pricing, to actually have it be worth it to go to court?)
Go market and sell and go get new work.
The situation sucks. I worked for a guy for years before I opened my own company. Even though I think the guy is a tool, I don’t touch his work. Partly cause its super underbid storefront, but mostly out of respect.
Lions share maintenance cleans windows, gutters, decks, sidewalks, graffiti, roofs, siding, and plenty of other things I can’t think of cause it’s 230am. My point is every building, home, structure, ect. Has ALL of these.
Work is there to sell, let this bozo keep it.
Judging by your ex employees tendencies he’s not the brightest bulb on the tree. Let him underbid work and screw up jobs and figure out the hard way what its like to run a business. Stat has gotta be something like 10% of employees who quit one companies and start their own companies fail. Hell, maybe he makes it, if so pat him on the back. But unless you can enforce that non compete, let it go and go get better work.
We have had the same thing happen to us over the years. We had guys start commercial and residential routes both. We had and still have a non-compete. As stated beforehand you can pursue that road but it will be hard to get anything from it. As far as the real risk to your business, its minimal. If you run a solid company those guys may steal a few jobs but in the end it won’t be anything. They have to make a viable business of their own and as you know it isn’t easy. Of the 4 guys I know of who made a serious go of it only one is still in the business. He was actually a decent guy that broke the covenant but didn’t steal work. He just pursued work in our counties. We have grown every year we have been in business. With employees leaving and stealing work, guys crashing trucks, stealing from us, not showing up for work, and a down economy you can still make it. Move on to the next challenge. Get more work and tighten up the care of your employees as you can. It’s a low wage entry level job for a lot of people with poor life skills. You are going to get a lot of bad apples if you get big enough and hire enough. We have had as many as 22 employees at a time - keep moving on. Pay better when you can but that won’t change a reality of what people do. A guy that will steal will do it because he lacks character, not money.
Nice points, everyone. I’ve had two guys leave over the years and start their own wc businesses. One went around to at least some of my residential clients and some commercial. The other as far as I’ve ever determined, respected the fact that I trained and taught him, and didn’t target customers he knew I had at that time.
I’m from the ‘old school’ where I believe a non-compete whether crafted legally or not, is ultimately saying that you promise to adhere to what you gave your signature to. Breaking that breaks a far higher principle than whether it can stand in a court of man or not.
“Better is it that you vow not than that you vow and do not pay”.
In the big picture, I’d say from experience- learn what you can from this about yourself and your own business and as others say, move on.
I would say you could probably do something about it because the guy had specific knowledge about your accounts… names / prices / contacts etc. You would need to prove that he is specifically targeting your accounts.
Would I do anything about it? [B]NO
[/B]
The time / $ / stress will not be worth any desired end result you have in mind. This will stall your mental thinking while it goes on and stop any progress in your life. I know your angry but time will heal that.
But thats just me. Just get out there and keep hustling. Stay ahead of him.
I know it is fustrating to see a former employee run off and start his own business doing just what you do. I can relate to this because I had an employee do the same thing but here is what happened. He went out and purchased some gear and went to work. Yes he did go to some of my customers who knew him and he gave them a lowball price and yes he did get some of the jobs. The problem was that he gave such low prices that he was overwhelmed with work and he burned out. It looks easy to some employees of a business until they have to deal with the everyday workings of a business. Now he is working at a car wash in town getting much less pay then he was getting working for me. The moral of the story is as fast as they go into business is as fast as they go out of business.
I agree with Chris. And there is such a thing called a “NON SOLICIT” agreement. Meaning, for a period of time after employment stops at a company you are not allowed to solicit your former companies clients. That is enforceable. A non compete means nothing. Non solicit means everything.
Also - asking for full disclosure in writing from a former employee who intends to become a competitor is also legal. As is asking for full disclosure in writing from a former employee who intends to take a job with a competitor.
All these things keep you protected and give you a heads up (in case youre asleep behind the wheel) that it’s time to step it up a notch and stay ahead of someone who is hungry for work.
while i can agree with a lot of people here saying to ignore it, to just let your customers know hes moved on, yadda yadda yadda… All thats fine, but thats a lot easier to suggest to some one over an internet forum, than to actually do.
One of the reasons we are all business owners is because we are competitive-- atleast in my case. I dont like losing. I dont like giving up. I dont like being “cheated.”
I would have planned to CRUSH this kid. Let him find out how tough running a business can be, especially when youve got to deal with punks trying to steal your customers…
Having said that, i would have jumped on WCR steaming, writing up a thread just as you did, then had a dozen people give some pretty good insight… I would calm down a bit, think on it for a few days, consider some peoples advice, let my emotions settle a little bit, then plan out exactly what my best move would be.
For me, heres what i would do.
[B]Use his noncompete form[/B]. If he’s hoping to make his company legit, and may actually become a threat of competition, he is finding out he has more expenses than he anticipated. As he is getting hit with expenses he didnt see coming, now you throw another wrench in. Send him a copy of his signed non compete form, as well as a cease and desist letter. You can find an example or template online, edit it up to look as professional as you can. He will at the very least have soem additional stress. He may pay to consult with a lawyer (take some money out of his pocket that wont go toward his start up)
then go ahead and do the other stuff people have mentioned, but i would at least throw something his way that detour him a little bit from intentionally taking your business.
