set up new bussiness

zx44

Anybody know -
Can I start my own bussiness without knowledge of my current boss? I have good job at the moment but I need more money. That's why I want to start my own company (and work on saturdays and sundays without his knowledge) So If I start - is that any way he let know about is (for example: Revenue let him know or something)

seamus

Yeah, there should be nothing stopping you from setting up your own business, unless you have a contract which states that you can't.

A couple of things you need to watch out for:
- Don't do work for clients of your existing company. It's a conflict of interests at best.
- Don't do work in the same industry as your existing job - i.e. don't compete with them. It'll get you fired at best, hauled into court at worst.
- Don't do work for yourself while you're in your current place of work or on company property (e.g. a laptop). They could theoretically claim ownership and therefore payment of the work.

ArthurDent

What Seamus says and read your contract - not only may there be a "non-compete" clause but you may have signed one that says you must get permission from your boss for ANY other paid work (I know one of the colleges I worked for had one of these clauses - not sure how enforceable they are in reality tho')

zx44

Actually I haven't signed anything. I get a simple letter of offer (with basic information like solary, termination period, duration of vacation etc.)

Yeah, the problem is that the industry is the same...

Does employer has any possibility to view my details in Revenue. Will it be any information which let him know that I run my own bussiness (for example different tax rates, bands etc.)

ArthurDent

zx44 wrote: »

Actually I haven't signed anything. I get a simple letter of offer (with basic information like solary, termination period, duration of vacation etc.)

Yeah, the problem is that the industry is the same...

Does employer has any possibility to view my details in Revenue. Will it be any information which let him know that I run my own bussiness (for example different tax rates, bands etc.)

hmm doubt it - but Ireland is a very small place and certain industries are even smaller - everyone knows the players...so if you're "moonlighting" or poaching customers it really won't be viewed too kindly and if you want to stay in the industry it can be hard if someone is bad mouthing you. I'd think long and hard about working in the same industry with possibly the same clients/customers outside working hours -you could be storing up a whole world of pain for yourself .....

zx44

Yeah... Good advices. I'll leave it as it is. Cheers.

nesf

zx44 wrote: »

Anybody know -
Can I start my own bussiness without knowledge of my current boss? I have good job at the moment but I need more money. That's why I want to start my own company (and work on saturdays and sundays without his knowledge) So If I start - is that any way he let know about is (for example: Revenue let him know or something)

It just comes down to the industry you are in really. If it's business to business work then it'll be extremely hard not to get noticed unless you've really good contacts with the companies you'll be doing work for and they're willing to not to mention to your main employer that you're doing some work for them on the side. Ethically it's grey, but welcome to running your own business tbh.

The biggest issue is where you are in the main company. If you are in sales, handle customer accounts or similar then it's very hard to justify that it's not a conflict of interest. If you are a techie and don't handle clients then it's less of an issue.


I wouldn't go into it unless you've the capacity and ability to turn the weekend job into a full time gig and be more of a pain in their side after them firing you than when you're just doing a little work on the side and they're capturing most of the value of your abilities/work.

AARRRGH

I set up a small hobby website in the same industry as the company I worked for. Six months after leaving my job, and still running the hobby website, my former employer took legal action against me. This was fairly baffling, as I had left on good terms, and it was a totally over the top reaction.

I had access to a lot of legal resources, so I kicked their ass, but you may not be so lucky!

My advice to you is you should be really upfront with your employer if intend to follow through with your business idea. It's unlikely they'll be happy with it... and if you get any kind of client overlap they'll more than likely take legal action. You're probably better off not doing the business idea, spend a year or two learning their business model, then leave and set up your own business...

zx44

dublindude wrote: »

I set up a small hobby website in the same industry as the company I worked for. Six months after leaving my job, and still running the hobby website, my former employer took legal action against me. This was fairly baffling, as I had left on good terms, and it was a totally over the top reaction.

I had access to a lot of legal resources, so I kicked their ass, but you may not be so lucky!

My advice to you is you should be really upfront with your employer if intend to follow through with your business idea. It's unlikely they'll be happy with it... and if you get any kind of client overlap they'll more than likely take legal action. You're probably better off not doing the business idea, spend a year or two learning their business model, then leave and set up your own business...

Thanks for good advice. That is exactly what I want to do.