If you're not really careful with how you hire the expert technical staff on your payroll, you could end up training and nurturing a future competitor. In this article, you'll learn how to minimize your risk.

Consider this example:

Your firm (ABC Consulting) hires a technical person and pays for their Microsoft, Cisco, or Citrix training. This person gets really skilled and get lots of great field experience.

Now, one day the employee wakes up says, You know what? I don't think I want to work for ABC Consulting anymore. I'm going to start my own consulting company out of my spare bedroom. And take 'my' clients with me.

Be Prepared for Potential Disasters

That's one reason you shouldn't rely on just one salesperson or just one technical person to carry the entire weight of your company. Figure out a way to be more actively involved in the sales process and service delivery process. Even if you're not the main person who does the work all the time and even if you don't have the strongest skills, having some finger in the pie will be very important for keeping your prized client accounts loyal and healthy.

Don't Forget To Have Technical Staff Sign Contracts

Make sure that you've covered your bases by having technical staff sign documents such as non-compete clauses and non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) when you hire people (talk with your attorney about these). Keep your eyes open and have a plan so that you can deal with these issues before they become business crises.

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