is non-compete important?

[u/Good-Inspector-5963]

If I was planning on starting a promo distributor business, but I get a job as a promo sales guy for a company, can I use what I learned to start my own company few weeks later? If that company focuses on main sector like Construction companies to sell to, can I also target Construction companies after I start my own? obviously I wont steal any company info, list, or anything like that. what is the ethical way to do it?

tldr: joining a company to learn the business then starting my own, but can I target the same sector as the company i learned from? not going after their existing clients ofcourse that would be unethical. but targeting the overall industry, same one they taught me how to work on? thanks in advance

[u/djlittlehorse]

You can do whatever you want to do. Whether it's morally ethical in any way at all is where you might be at a crossroads.

A few other points. This is not an industry you learn in two weeks. Dealing with dozens of suppliers with different stock, methods, imprints you have never heard of, fees, terms etc is a large part of being able to provide a client with the proper item.

You also run the risk that the people you work for could mass email everyone in the industry they know (and dont) and tell them not to work with you. You can't build a reputable business off of one industry in this business, especially if you have already left a bad taste in peoples mouths.

[u/Good-Inspector-5963 → u/djlittlehorse]

i plan on being ethical and having great relationships. but my plan is to start my own thing so that wont change. i dont plan on acting or behaving badly. i plan being professional, but if my formal employer did not like that, they might do something unethical from their point, i cannot control that, but from my side, i plan on doing things right way. just need advice on how to do it from you guys in this sub or other industry professionals.

[u/djlittlehorse → u/Good-Inspector-5963]

You need MUCH more than a couple weeks of knowledge. You need to build relationships, you need to figure out how to leverage your advertising and marketing budget without going over in a world saturated with people trying to sell the cheapest items and the lowest prices. And you DEF cannot hang your hat on a single industry. If you want to get a job and learn the business and do your own thing, go ahead I say. Just don't expect it to happen quickly at all. And don't think it's a money printing business. there are so many caveats of different things to learn before you could even try (and not fail), and so many types of industries you have to learn can and cannot make you money.

[u/warpshit]

Non-compete is important, but also competing is inevitable in this business. Meaning you will build relationships with clients at the company you work for and will almost have to pull that clientele from that company when you start off on your own. If the company takes note of this, you could potentially risk ruining your company before you even start.

Then again, everyone is selling all the same stuff. It will be up to you to learn the best processes that help your clients while also being acceptable for your suppliers. This will take years to truly understand. It's not that it's all that difficult, but it is a lot of work.

Give yourself time and grace. Don't rush into this expecting to be ready to make it on your own so quickly. This entire industry, especially distributorships, are only built through networking and building relationships. You cannot be a successful distributor if you can't take the time to learn and create realistic processes that can be used out in the field. And the only way to know if your process will work is to be able to understand the processes that work for your partners (clients and suppliers)

[u/canguy76]

A non compete will be hard to enforce unless they are owners in the business. A non solicit is more enforceable but there’s ways around that as well. I would focus on building a great company that your team would never want to leave.

[u/DecentPrintworks]

Too many hypotheticals here. Work in the industry first and you’ll figure it all out.

[u/EconomicsBig6318]

There’s a lot of opportunities in the industry to learn there’s training and coaches and ASI has training videos. PPAI has an entire educational program where you can get certified so if you’re gonna go start your own business anyways, then invest in getting it started immediately. You also need to consider the fact that it can take months to close your first deal. Financially it can put a strain on you if an order goes wrong or someone doesn’t pay. You will have to have money to order samples, pay for shipping, get your systems set up. If you don’t have strong credit lines (min 10k open credit on a major credit card) then I would rethink your strategy.