I.T. Consulting for my full time company's client, on the side
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Joined: Jun 2003
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From: Johnstown, PA
I.T. Consulting for my full time company's client, on the side
So a former employee of my current company (accounting industry) that I am with, contacted me regarding doing some I.T. consulting work for his new employer on the side.
The catch is, his new employer is a client of my current employer who does accounting work for them. Technically my current company does not offer I.T. consulting services to other companies, but I would largely in part be performing the same functions for this company that I do for my current company, just on nights and weekends. This consulting agreement would be under the understanding that my full time job would take precedence and that "emergencies" would not be responded to until after 4-5pm.
So with this conflict of interest in mind, I have submitted the idea of this consulting to one of the partners here at the firm. We will see what they say, although, what if they tell me not to do it? The money I will make from consulting per hour is more than twice what I make now, so I don't want to lose out on the opportunity, but I also don't want to lose my day job because this consulting gig is only about 20 hours a month for now.
What do you all think?
Thanks in advance!
-Dustin
The catch is, his new employer is a client of my current employer who does accounting work for them. Technically my current company does not offer I.T. consulting services to other companies, but I would largely in part be performing the same functions for this company that I do for my current company, just on nights and weekends. This consulting agreement would be under the understanding that my full time job would take precedence and that "emergencies" would not be responded to until after 4-5pm.
So with this conflict of interest in mind, I have submitted the idea of this consulting to one of the partners here at the firm. We will see what they say, although, what if they tell me not to do it? The money I will make from consulting per hour is more than twice what I make now, so I don't want to lose out on the opportunity, but I also don't want to lose my day job because this consulting gig is only about 20 hours a month for now.
What do you all think?
Thanks in advance!
-Dustin
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From: SJC
So a former employee of my current company (accounting industry) that I am with, contacted me regarding doing some I.T. consulting work for his new employer on the side.
The catch is, his new employer is a client of my current employer who does accounting work for them. Technically my current company does not offer I.T. consulting services to other companies, but I would largely in part be performing the same functions for this company that I do for my current company, just on nights and weekends. This consulting agreement would be under the understanding that my full time job would take precedence and that "emergencies" would not be responded to until after 4-5pm.
So with this conflict of interest in mind, I have submitted the idea of this consulting to one of the partners here at the firm. We will see what they say, although, what if they tell me not to do it? The money I will make from consulting per hour is more than twice what I make now, so I don't want to lose out on the opportunity, but I also don't want to lose my day job because this consulting gig is only about 20 hours a month for now.
What do you all think?
Thanks in advance!
-Dustin
The catch is, his new employer is a client of my current employer who does accounting work for them. Technically my current company does not offer I.T. consulting services to other companies, but I would largely in part be performing the same functions for this company that I do for my current company, just on nights and weekends. This consulting agreement would be under the understanding that my full time job would take precedence and that "emergencies" would not be responded to until after 4-5pm.
So with this conflict of interest in mind, I have submitted the idea of this consulting to one of the partners here at the firm. We will see what they say, although, what if they tell me not to do it? The money I will make from consulting per hour is more than twice what I make now, so I don't want to lose out on the opportunity, but I also don't want to lose my day job because this consulting gig is only about 20 hours a month for now.
What do you all think?
Thanks in advance!
-Dustin
You'll also want to mind your Ps and Qs with using resources (network, office supplies, etc.).
Lastly, the real stinkeroo is if it's in the same industry. That's typically a real no-no, as you're helping the competition. If it's similar work, but for a different industry, have at it (IMHO).
-UnkieTrunkie
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 2,140
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From: Johnstown, PA
Originally Posted by Dizings2k' timestamp='1374074500' post='22671188
So a former employee of my current company (accounting industry) that I am with, contacted me regarding doing some I.T. consulting work for his new employer on the side.
The catch is, his new employer is a client of my current employer who does accounting work for them. Technically my current company does not offer I.T. consulting services to other companies, but I would largely in part be performing the same functions for this company that I do for my current company, just on nights and weekends. This consulting agreement would be under the understanding that my full time job would take precedence and that "emergencies" would not be responded to until after 4-5pm.
So with this conflict of interest in mind, I have submitted the idea of this consulting to one of the partners here at the firm. We will see what they say, although, what if they tell me not to do it? The money I will make from consulting per hour is more than twice what I make now, so I don't want to lose out on the opportunity, but I also don't want to lose my day job because this consulting gig is only about 20 hours a month for now.
What do you all think?
Thanks in advance!
-Dustin
The catch is, his new employer is a client of my current employer who does accounting work for them. Technically my current company does not offer I.T. consulting services to other companies, but I would largely in part be performing the same functions for this company that I do for my current company, just on nights and weekends. This consulting agreement would be under the understanding that my full time job would take precedence and that "emergencies" would not be responded to until after 4-5pm.
So with this conflict of interest in mind, I have submitted the idea of this consulting to one of the partners here at the firm. We will see what they say, although, what if they tell me not to do it? The money I will make from consulting per hour is more than twice what I make now, so I don't want to lose out on the opportunity, but I also don't want to lose my day job because this consulting gig is only about 20 hours a month for now.
What do you all think?
Thanks in advance!
-Dustin
You'll also want to mind your Ps and Qs with using resources (network, office supplies, etc.).
Lastly, the real stinkeroo is if it's in the same industry. That's typically a real no-no, as you're helping the competition. If it's similar work, but for a different industry, have at it (IMHO).
-UnkieTrunkie
The company that is interested in my consulting is in a completely different industry than my accounting firm. I just feel the catch is, they are our client.
I have no intentions of using my full time job's time, or resources for any reason to aid my consulting work.
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From: SJC
-UnkieTrunkie
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2003
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From: Johnstown, PA
Yes, they are our client, however they are NOT in our industry, NOT a competitor and we do NOT offer I.T. services, so my question is why should my current company be allowed to put their hand in MY pocket for services they don't offer?! Especially when I'm not doing this on company time and/or not affecting my work here.
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Joined: Sep 2004
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From: SJC
Yes, they are our client, however they are NOT in our industry, NOT a competitor and we do NOT offer I.T. services, so my question is why should my current company be allowed to put their hand in MY pocket for services they don't offer?! Especially when I'm not doing this on company time and/or not affecting my work here.
-UnkieTrunkie
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 2,140
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From: Johnstown, PA
Originally Posted by Dizings2k' timestamp='1374077795' post='22671326
Yes, they are our client, however they are NOT in our industry, NOT a competitor and we do NOT offer I.T. services, so my question is why should my current company be allowed to put their hand in MY pocket for services they don't offer?! Especially when I'm not doing this on company time and/or not affecting my work here.
-UnkieTrunkie
Please expand on "how it appears", I'm not sure I know what you mean by that.
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From: SJC
to you, your work shouldn't be prying into your free time, and your client is happy to have contracted you.
to your employer, they're happy that you're helping a client, and not using the employer's resources to do so.
to your client, they're happy to have contracted you, from a company they trust.
What if everything goes wrong?
to you, you don't care; you weren't hustling on your employer's dime, and while angry, you've got an isolated and contained situation with your client.
to your client, they're not happy you didn't deliver the goods (services). To rectify this, they want more out of you, which may cut into your employer's time. Even then, they know you're employed, which makes them second-guess their business with them.
to your employer, they're not happy you've made them unhappy. In order to rectify the situation, you may have to do some work above and beyond what was originally contracted to the client, and then you're not divvying up your time in such way as to make them happy.
What if there's an issue between the client and your employer, that has nothing to do with you?
This is the issue to really worry about. You may be privy to your client's financial records, and although you're only the IT guy, they are material to your employer's work. The same can be said in reverse. If you hold material knowledge of both parties, and there's any issues, you're the guy that may have knowledge of both, which leaves you open to any number of legal issues.
The chances of this all are low, but, if any parties are unhappy, you could open yourself up to issues. At $300/hour, at least talk to a lawyer to make sure your contracts leave you absolved of malfeasance of the other two parties. It's not a conflict of interest; but you want to make sure it is definitely that way in writing from the get-go.
-UnkieTrunkie
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 2,140
Likes: 162
From: Johnstown, PA
Originally Posted by Dizings2k' timestamp='1374078521' post='22671367
Please expand on "how it appears", I'm not sure I know what you mean by that.
to you, your work shouldn't be prying into your free time, and your client is happy to have contracted you.
to your employer, they're happy that you're helping a client, and not using the employer's resources to do so.
to your client, they're happy to have contracted you, from a company they trust.
What if everything goes wrong?
to you, you don't care; you weren't hustling on your employer's dime, and while angry, you've got an isolated and contained situation with your client.
to your client, they're not happy you didn't deliver the goods (services). To rectify this, they want more out of you, which may cut into your employer's time. Even then, they know you're employed, which makes them second-guess their business with them.
to your employer, they're not happy you've made them unhappy. In order to rectify the situation, you may have to do some work above and beyond what was originally contracted to the client, and then you're not divvying up your time in such way as to make them happy.
What if there's an issue between the client and your employer, that has nothing to do with you?
This is the issue to really worry about. You may be privy to your client's financial records, and although you're only the IT guy, they are material to your employer's work. The same can be said in reverse. If you hold material knowledge of both parties, and there's any issues, you're the guy that may have knowledge of both, which leaves you open to any number of legal issues.
The chances of this all are low, but, if any parties are unhappy, you could open yourself up to issues. At $300/hour, at least talk to a lawyer to make sure your contracts leave you absolved of malfeasance of the other two parties. It's not a conflict of interest; but you want to make sure it is definitely that way in writing from the get-go.
-UnkieTrunkie
I see. And yes, when the partners respond to my inquiry about consulting, should they approve I will want it in writing.
Thank you for the thorough explanation!
