Carefully Read Your Employment Contract (6/75)

Many employment contracts either forbid you from working on something on the side and/or your employer can claim ownership of anything you make while working for them (sometimes even off company time). However, just because your employment contract includes these clauses, doesn’t necessarily mean the end of your entrepreneurial dreams. The best advice is to change your employment contract to allow you to work on something on the side. The alternative is to not let the company know, but this is obviously is not recommended, especially if your business is very similar to your employer.

Contributors: Ian Wright from British Business Energy