california: I have a small IT business in California and I need to hire independent contractors from time to time. Recently, one of the people I hired for a job went to my customer and told them he would do the same work I do for them, except he would do it cheaper. I've heard that non-compete agreements are illegal in California, so how am I supposed to protect my business?|||Charge less then the independent contractors.|||Quality work at competitive prices. Good old faction competition is good for your customers, so you must compete for their business. good luck|||As you are working with customers, it's good to educate them as to why you are the absolute best choice for them. When I'm hiring, I don't go for the cheapest thing, because cheapest definitely always isn't the best. I go for the job well done FIRST, then look at competive pricings. I'd shy away from independant contractors for a number of reasons: if they don't pay their taxes, I could be held responsible for it. (Check on that, I'm not 100% sure it's right.) I'm not into taking chances with my money. If there's an organization you can join that gives good reputation to your name - join it and put their logo on everything you do - invoices, etc. YOU are trustworthy. YOU do great work. YOU are in good standing legally. Any customer who's willing to go with someone who's a thief (like the contractor trying to steal your customer) isn't too smart, in my opinion. But sometimes people need to hear the obvious. If you've got any kind of newsletters - or even, again, if there's room for a good one-liner on your invoices - TELL them why they're SO smart for choosing you! Back that up with good sound work practices and then don't worry about the rest. Stuff is always out there, but like I said, a smart customer wouldn't go with a thief anyway - he wouldn't trust him. If you haven't done much marketing, do small things to keep clients, like offer special discounts to really good customers thanking them, etc. But you're probably already doing that. Best of wishes to you. cm