Q: One of my former employees has started a competing business and is calling my clients and trying to steal their business from me. Do I have any legal recourse against him? -- Brad J.

A: I hate to break this to you, Brad, but unless this former employee signed a noncompete agreement while on your payroll, there is probably very little you can do to stop him from wooing your customers. You should discuss situation with your attorney, but unless this person is also breaking law in some other way (using stolen trade secrets, for example) your attorney will probably concur with me.

Renegade former employees riding free enterprise wave is one reason noncompete agreements are gaining in popularity among employers who hope to use them to help protect their business from competitive threats launched by former employees. Many employers are now demanding that key employees sign noncompetes as a stipulation of employment. While signing noncompetes usually doesn't sit well with employees who view them as potential roadblocks to their upwardly mobile career path, many businesses will not hire a key employee without his or her signature on dotted line.

A noncompete agreement is a formal contract between you and your employees in which they promise not to use information or contacts pertinent to your business in a competing situation. In other words, they agree not to take everything they learn working for you and put it to use for someone else. This could mean going to work for a competitor or starting a competing business of their own.

While not popular with employees, noncompete agreements are a good way for employers to keep key employees on payroll and protect company's proprietary information. That said, do not go overboard with noncompetes: not every employee should be required to sign one. If an employee does not have access to sensitive information, customer or accounting data, or is integral to overall success of your business, there is no need to have them sign a noncompete. The janitor, for example, poses very little threat to your business if he gets a job with a competitor. Your sales manager, on other hand, can devastate your business by hooking his wagon to a competing horse.

Which employees should sign noncompete agreements? While prerequisites vary from business to business, following is a good general list. The term "employees" represents executive level, management, supervisory, and non-management personnel relative to that example:

Since this is my first column of 2004, I thought we'd spend a few minutes talking about those well-intentioned, though seldom kept promises we call New Year's Resolutions.

In addition to "This year I will lose weight!" and "This year I will stop smoking!" and ever popular "This year I will stop watching reality TV!" one of more common resolutions made by many folks this time of year is "This year I will start my own business!"

I call it "The American Dream Resolution," and like most New Year's resolutions it is a proclamation of intent that is often made, but seldom carried out (at least in an effective manner).

Before you jump off ledge into entrepreneurial abyss in 2004, here's a little test to help you decide if this truly is a resolution you are qualified to make or if you should just stick to "This year I will lose weight..."

Give yourself 10 points for each "Yes" answer and a big ZERO for each "No."

1. Can you delegate without micromanaging? Running a business requires performance of dozens of simultaneous tasks and it's foolish to try to handle them all yourself. You must surround yourself with partners and employees whom you can trust to perform these tasks as you would yourself. If you can't dish out responsibility without worrying over result, add a zero to your score.

2. Are you self motivated and disciplined? If you do not have wherewithal to bounce out of bed each day without your spouse drenching you with cold water, chances are you don't have self motivation or discipline required to be an entrepreneur. Business demands that you take action based solely on your own volition. You have to motivate yourself to pick up phone and make sales calls. You have to motivate yourself to get in car and visit customers. You have to do a hundred things every day that will not get done unless you make yourself do them.

3. Are you afraid of a little hard work? Starting a business is easy, right? WRONG! If you think working for someone else is hard work, try starting your own business. You will be required to give every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears you can muster. You will have to work long hours and be on call 24/7, at least in beginning. If mere thought of hard work makes you tired, congratulations, here's your zero.

4. Are your personal relationships strong enough to withstand starting a business? The first question I ask anyone who tells me they want to start a business is: "What does your spouse think?" When you start a business you may have to spend more time away from family than you like. The business may also put a strain on you financially. You will have enough obstacles in your way without having to worry if you have support of your family and those closest to you