Opinions Wanted

[Robert Hanson]

Hi All- I am new to the site, it's a lot of good information. I have a question that some of you might have been through in the past and would like to get some opinions. I have been working as an agent for a wholesale company in the Portland area for a few years now. In 2011 I will have brought in over $200k in assignment/double close fees to the office. As an agent my take is 50% of that. I am really wanting to move to another territory in another city and would like to get some opinions on how to handle this with my current employer. I feel loyalty to them because without them I wouldn't have the knowledge that I do. On the flip side, I have also put a lot of money in their pockets.

I am really torn on how I should go about this. I have approached the company about me moving and they aren't willing to invest any money into the new operation but still want a portion of the earnings. I don't want to burn any bridges by cutting them out but I also don't feel it's fair to simply give over a portion of my income each month for someone with no capital investment and no participation in the day-to-day operations.

Any thoughts?

[Chris Martin]

I think it really depends on what contractual obligations you have. Did you sign an employment contract? What intellectual property and business process rights are you using? Sounds like the IP and operations are the real assets, not the capital investment or their day-to-day management. You may want to talk to an attorney who specializes in labor law. That's my opinion, with the limited facts I have.