Here at Permagard, we know few things are as frustrating as seeing someone you once trusted use your hard work and resources to compete against you. That is exactly the situation we found ourselves in recently when a former employee of Permagard decided to join a competitor of ours, despite having signed a non-compete agreement.

While this experience was challenging, it also taught us a great deal about the complexities of non-compete clauses, especially here in Florida. In this article, we will share what we have learned about them, in hopes that it can help fellow business owners protect their own companies.

When Trust Is Broken

Some years ago, we hired a person that became part of the Permagard Headquarters family. We welcomed them with open arms, showed them all about our business and how we operate, and began to see them as a friend and true confidant. After some time with us, this person retired after a lifelong career in aviation and left us on excellent terms.

Fast forwarding to just recently, we learned that this person began working for one of our competitors. We were quite shocked to hear this as this individual loved our product and would speak all the time about how they thought Permagard was the best aviation paint protection product in the industry. They were a seasoned expert in aviation and knew the importance of work ethics and good aviation practices. They were also perfectly aware that the terms of their employment at Permagard meant that they should not take our proprietary information and join our competitors in order to compete with us. Indeed, even though we had a fair non-compete agreement in place, one would have thought that a handshake, among what we thought were friends, would have been sufficient.

Lessons for Business Owners

Navigating daily business activities and challenges under normal conditions can be difficult. When you add this type of event to these challenges, it can be both jarring and disheartening. Our goal is to help our customers understand that even if this happens to you with one of your former employees, do not let it define or dictate the future of your business. In case this ever happens with your own business, remember to always keep your sensitive business information confidential and relayed to as few people as possible to avoid any potential damage to your business’s reputation.

The companies we have seen come and go in our industry have been countless. There is always someone looking to make the next “Big Bang” product that will take the industry by storm and spread like wildfire. In reality, it simply does not work like this in the aviation industry or paint protection industry. You have to grow your brand over time, engage effectively with your customers, focus on quality control, and stick to your brand’s values. Saying that, we love the challenges of navigating our wonderful industries and it is the main reason we have been in business for over 26 years.

Here’s What We Learned About Florida’s Non-Compete Laws

For our customers that are not familiar with non-compete agreements, they are clauses put into a contract on behalf of the company and are designed to safeguard a business’s interests by restricting former employees from working for our competitors or starting similar ventures for a set period of time. In our Permagard headquarters home state of Florida, these clauses are enforceable, but only if they meet specific legal criteria. For example, they must be reasonable in terms of duration, geography, and scope.

In conclusion, it is sad to see a seasoned aviation expert, who had become a friend of ours, finish their career on such a low note.

We would love to hear from any of our customers that may have encountered a similar situation to ours. Have you ever faced challenges with non-compete clauses? Please let us know and let us learn from each other!