company directories: Why non-solicitation agreements are better than non-competes

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Why non-solicitation agreements are better than non-competes

There are many reasons why traditional non-compete agreements have been commonly used, and many reasons why the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is not wrong in taking steps to stop their use.

I’ve owned my business for over 38 years. I do everything I can to protect my business and our client list, and I do not agree that former employees should use their relationship with our customers as a starting place when deciding to go out on their own.

On the other hand, I went out on my own to start my pest control business, and I understand how difficult that is. I also see the allure of “letting your old customers find you” and making the switch from the old company to yours.

Losing ground

The FTC’s new stance is to make sure professional pest control firms, in particular, do not have language that includes “unfair or anticompetitive non-competition agreements.” In other words, do not have your employees sign agreements restricting them from opening their own pest control business in direct competition with you. If they go into business in your market as a competitor, you are no longer able to stop or restrict them from doing so. In actuality, though, I think many pest control firms have not been able to enforce a non-compete agreement anyway.

What is more of a problem, really, is keeping a former employee from getting a job with another pest control company in your area and then contacting your customers and getting them to switch over to their new company. This also can lead to companies “poaching” your employees in hopes of using their contacts to steal your customers — all while instructing the customers to leave you for reasons other than because they were following your ex-employee.

Fight back, but fight fair

How can you protect your company from poaching? Simple: Drop the non-compete agreements and have everyone sign a “non-solicitation/confidentiality” agreement. This contract will allow you to protect your customer base far better than a non-compete agreement ever would.

Every business has the right to have and protect proprietary information. These are trade secrets and practices like treatment protocols (if they are something only you have figured out), business practices and — wait for it — client lists.

You may be losing the ability to stop someone from going into business that is in direct competition with you, but if all your employees sign a non-solicitation and confidentiality agreement, you will be able to keep them from using your trade secrets, which also includes the names, addresses and phone numbers of your clients.

This contract may not be as forceful as the old non-compete agreements, but it will give you the ability to keep former employees from soliciting your clients and from using any trade secrets you have established. As an aside, the trade secrets portion is difficult to prove that what you do and how you do it is really a secret. If you formulated your own materials or techniques in controlling pests, wouldn’t you protect that with a patent?

You can protect your business and continue to grow in this industry without resorting to stealing customers. After all, our biggest competitor is still the do-it-yourselfer.