I want to start my own business, but I signed my employer’s noncompete agreement

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Workplace advice: You might not need to break your noncompete agreement; it might not be worth the paper it’s printed on. But you may face other challenges.

I was so stoked when the premier firm in my area of professional services hired me that I did something I’ve wanted to do for a long time: I told my former manager what I thought of her. She ordered me to leave her company immediately. No problem -- I had a new job to go to.

I also had my entire future mapped out. I’d work for my new employer for a year, learn everything I could, and then start my business. I told all my friends my new job was the ideal steppingstone. On my first day when I went through orientation, my new manager handed me an employment agreement that included a noncompete agreement. It was a complete shock. I’d never seen one before.

I must have sat in silence for a few minutes because the manager asked if I had a problem. I shook my head “no” and signed it. I had no other choice. Two weeks earlier when I interviewed, I’d been asked the standard “How long do you anticipate staying at this job if hired?” question. I answered what I’ve always told interviewers: “I hope to hold this job for a very long time, and perhaps work my way up within the firm.

Except I don’t. I want to start my business within a year. But this noncompete says I can’t until a year after I separate unless I base my business at least 50 miles from Anchorage. How much legal trouble will I find myself in if I start my business? Can I break the noncompete? Will the fact I had no recourse help? Or that they didn’t advise me of the noncompete when they offered me the job?You might not need to break the noncompete; it might not be worth the paper it’s printed on.

 

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