Side-Hustle Conflict Disclosure Protocol
Permit outside work while protecting company-created systems
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 94%
Define a written side-hustle policy that permits unrelated outside work but introduces a disclosure checkpoint when that work overlaps with company-created intellectual property, systems, customers, or services. The purpose is not to claim every skill a worker possesses or to prohibit entrepreneurship. It is to prevent a person from learning an internally developed system and immediately repackaging it for a competitor or separate offer. Once an overlap is disclosed, the company and worker can discuss boundaries, confidentiality, ownership, customer conflicts, and practical safeguards. The resulting protocol protects the organization's investment while replacing vague suspicion with a transparent decision process. Because enforceability varies, qualified counsel should tailor the clause to the relevant jurisdiction and working relationship.
Origin
Jasmine Star described the side-hustle clause used with employees and contractors who see Social Curator's internal systems. Extracted from The Jasmine Star Show.
Core principles
- 01Outside businesses need not be prohibited categorically
- 02Conflict depends on overlap with company work and systems
- 03Disclosure enables discussion before harm occurs
- 04The investment required to create a system deserves protection
How to run it
- 1
Define the protected investment
List the internal systems, confidential information, intellectual property, and relationships the business has developed.
Pro tip Describe concrete assets rather than relying only on phrases such as secret sauce.
Watch out Overbroad claims may be unfair, unenforceable, or damaging to trust.
- 2
Permit unrelated outside work
State clearly that team members may pursue side hustles that do not conflict with protected business interests.
Pro tip Use examples to distinguish benign work from likely overlap.
Watch out A blanket ban may create unnecessary resentment and legal risk.
- 3
Set the overlap test
Identify when outside work touches the company's products, systems, competitors, customers, or intellectual property.
Pro tip Frame uncertainty itself as a reason to disclose.
Watch out Do not leave key terms so vague that workers cannot recognize a conflict.
- 4
Require early disclosure
Ask the worker to disclose potential overlap before launching, sharing, or monetizing the outside work.
Pro tip Provide a named person and simple disclosure channel.
Watch out Disclosure after commercialization may come too late to prevent harm.
- 5
Agree on safeguards
Discuss the overlap and document boundaries involving confidentiality, ownership, customers, timing, or permitted use.
Pro tip Seek a narrow solution that allows the outside project where possible.
Watch out Informal verbal expectations can be remembered differently later.
- 6
Review legally
Have employment counsel adapt the clause to local law and to employee or contractor status.
Pro tip Review the policy when roles or business models change.
Watch out Do not treat one clause as universally enforceable.
In the wild
Jasmine permits team members to build their own businesses but requires disclosure if a side hustle overlaps with systems her team spent nine to twelve months creating. The parties can then establish protocols before those systems are leveraged elsewhere.
→ Outside entrepreneurship remains possible while the company's time and resource investment receives explicit protection.
A contractor wants to sell a workflow resembling the agency's internal campaign process. The contractor discloses the idea, and both parties document which generic knowledge may be used and which confidential templates, client data, and internal automation must remain private.
→ The contractor can pursue a narrowed offer without appropriating protected company assets.
Common mistakes
Banning every side hustle
A blanket prohibition treats harmless entrepreneurship as misconduct and may extend beyond legitimate business needs.
Protecting an undefined secret sauce
Workers cannot follow a policy if the relevant systems, information, and conflicts are never identified.
Waiting for a dispute
The protocol works best when disclosure and boundary-setting happen before outside work is commercialized.
Is it for you?
Best for
This is best for businesses that give employees or contractors access to valuable internal workflows, methods, or intellectual property.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal as a generic restriction imposed without regard to local employment law, legitimate business interests, or actual overlap.
From the transcript
“go on and do your side hustle, but if it butts up against what we're creating, please disclose it to us.”
“I'm trying to predict time to the best of our ability.”
From the episode
Have You Set Up Your Business Legally? Here’s a How To