This is a great question because for many of us, especially when we are just launching our business, we are still working full-time. For three years my consulting business was a side hustle even though I was making six-figures! I still had a full-time obligation, and so if you are wondering, "Can I do my consulting business while working full-time?" The answer is yes. In fact, it’s absolutely!

When I started my consulting business, I was still a principal and remained working full-time for a while. So I just wanted to dispel that myth before we really dig into this because you can definitely have your consulting business while you're working full-time. I really love the importance of this question because it acknowledges that while working full-time you still need to be cognizant of any conflicting interests that may or may not pop up and if they do, how to navigate them. 

Let me preface with….I am not your HR department and I'm not a lawyer. I am just giving these general questions and tips as a starting point for you to begin to think through conflicts of interest and how they could impact your consulting business and clients. You should do your own due diligence with your employer so you can assess your own situation in context. 

JT Tip #1: Review Your Employment Contract

This is a great thing to do to get a baseline for how your employer defines conflict of interest. It’s best to review the contract and analyze the language that they use and how they define any type of additional work outside of your employment. 

And pay special attention to the language, because organizations and companies use different wording and jargon when defining conflicts of interest. So you want to get clarity around how it is defined by your employer and the language they use to describe it. 

JT Tip #2: Consider Some Questions

I came up with a few questions that can help you navigate and assess whether or not a project you take on actually is a conflict of interest because most of the time, there’s not really going to be someone monitoring your activities outside of work, waiting to see if what you’re doing is a conflict of interest. In reality, you’re going to have to assess the situation for yourself (which is why doing your own research is vital!).

1. Does the contract compete with your employer?

   If you take this contract, are you actually taking away business from your employer and their services? Another way to think of this question is to ask yourself this: If I had signed a non-compete clause with my employer, would taking this project violate that clause? 

   A non-compete clause is an agreement signed by an employee, basically stating that while you’re working with the company (or for a certain time period after leaving the company) you agree not to work on any projects that would be perceived as ‘direct competition’ with the company. It can also extend to you not being able to work with any other company/employer that have previously been or currently are direct competitors for your employer. 

   For example, if you if you are working for an organization that provides coaching to teachers and you build a really strong relationship with one of the teachers that's being coached through the program, and then you decide to fold them to your own personal business, that could potentially be a situation where you're actually taking business away from your organization. That's one of those sticky situations that could potentially be a conflict of interest and you want to check with your employee before signing the contract.

2. Does the contract influence your decision-making in your current role?

   A lot of examples that we see in school districts when it comes to conflict of interest, is if a board member or superintendent is consulting for, let's say, a curriculum company, and then it comes time for that district to choose their curriculum. 

   Well, there's a conflict of interest because if you’re already contracted by a curriculum company, there’s a possibility that your current project with them may influence your decision-making. People wouldn’t be able to trust that you’d be objective and neutral in the decision-making process because you’re being paid by a curriculum organization. 

   Even though you might say, "No, I could still be neutral," it doesn’t seem that way from an objective or outsiders viewpoint, because you’re being paid by another organization that you could potentially steer more money towards in exchange for more business from them and on and on and on…

3. Does the contract compromise your work and your full-time role?

   Let’s say you had a contract that required you to travel one week out of the month, and let's say you are a teacher or you're a principal. Traveling one week out of every month is going to compromise your full-time role because you wouldn’t be present one week out of the month.

   While you obviously want to boss up in your own business, you’ll want to work on balancing that drive with your current position, and your personal life (self-care is key!). 
   

Now, these are pretty broad and open questions, and I need y’all to know that I am giving these to you as guiding questions. You always want to do your own due diligence and research.

If you’re still unsure, you can always reach out to your own HR department and ask them "Hey, can you give me some examples of what conflict of interest might look like within the context of our organization?" and preferably have them provide it in writing. You're going to be in a position where you're going to have to make the judgment call yourself so you want to make sure you have as much information as possible before deciding. 

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