623: What Happens If We Build Process and An Employee Leaves To Start Their Own Business With It?

We recently hosted an online Masterclass on how to build your entire business on one sheet of paper. Near the end of the Masterclass, a business owner lobbed this question into the chat window, “How do you ensure, your processes aren't stolen and replicated by employees who leave?” The short answer is, “you don’t.” Owning a business is risky, leading people is risky, serving customers and clients is risky, and bringing your product and service into an open market is risky. What are some things you can do to ensure that others don’t “steal” your proprietary process? First, legally it is always good to have each employee sign an employee agreement that has been drafted by a legal professional. Within that agreement, there can be language and clause that reflects the desire to maintain “trade secrets" and proprietary process.   Some would say that the agreement is as valuable as the paper it’s written on.  Maybe, however, you would rather have that signed in the rare case it would need to be referenced.   Second, this is all the more reason to work diligently to create a culture where each contractor and employee has bought into the mission and has a desire to add value instead of extracting value to take elsewhere.   Owners cannot take for granted that a job and a paycheck are good enough reasons to be engaged, and remain engaged. The fruit of culture is a direct result of the ingredients that you put into the culture.  While the vision that culture is leading towards is largely at the determination of the owner, the methods towards that vision can be a powerful way to engage the team and to build longevity with each person.   We all have a desire to leave our fingerprints of value-add to anything we do. The best way to ensure that no one takes your process is to create a place they never wish to leave. Finally, although the fear is real that someone could steal your process, the likelihood of their implementation is typically low. YouTube hosts completely free content on how to do just about anything in the world.  Want to build a sprinter van?  It’s there.  Want to start a bookkeeping company?  The answers are there. Truth is, our processes are actually not very proprietary.  Remember, “there is nothing new under the sun.”  Instead, there is implementation.  As Joe Calloway says, “vision without implementation is hallucination.” Someone may take your process, and yet it will be hard to implement. There is no competition to a well-run business in a needy and growing marketplace.   Build an unleavable culture, and you will be even more incentivized to share your process.