Hi,

I live in a small town and have 2 clients who have similar business idea, both of them want websites, my policy is total client confidentiality at all times...but how far do you go, I need your opinions!

Both clients want to setup a "Wedding Favour" business, neither client knows about the other.

1st client just wants the business to run online only with a shopping cart - the 2nd client has opened a small shop to sell wedding favours and wants a website to go with it (that will also sell online - eventually)

I'm going to stick to my guns and not reveal the clients to each other. Both businesses are similar but NOT the same in my opinion (one is online only, the other is real-world and online secondly)

The thing is that I know one of the clients from a previous project, hence my angst..it is a small town so they will find out about each other soon anyway!...Its just difficult hiding one from the other sometimes (re-scheduling meetings so they never meet!)

Anyone got similar experiences?

Thanks.
Gringo

That's a pretty unlucky situation you're in there. I had similar enough problem but luckily enough both knew the other person and they had both been established in their business for a long time.

So I was lucky. You... You're not so lucky

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...I think the big positive is that both business models are different enough, one is strictly online shop, the other is a shop with online shopping cart...I can take some comfort in that.

If they do find out, which they will eventually they might be annoyed but I can only stress the difference in both business models and ultimately my policy of strict client confidentiality.

I forgot to mention that I did try to warn the 2nd client, albeit indirectly (I only just remembered!). My advice to them was to contact their local enterprise board and ask for advice on any potential grants and also to help with market research.

We knew the other client had dealt with the Ent Board recently and was possibly getting funding. If the 2nd client took my advice and contacted the Ent Board they would tell them of any other local competition as part of their market research / sustainability study.

I dont think they did contact the Ent Board in the end....but at least I tried..

I think I have covered myself on this one as best as possible. Writing in the forum just helped me to get my thinking straight. Thanks for replying n3tflow, the whole exercise has helped lots!

I might be wrong but you worry to much.
If you'd advise one of them to don't go with his business ideea he might think that you're keeping the other side and he'd go to someone else.People tend to think that their own ideea is brighter so you'd make nothing but "enemies".
As a web designer what you are I don't think that your job is to counsel people ...at the end of the day if you would sell bread you wouldn't refuse service to someone just because you already sold to someone else,isn't it?

At the end of the day, you're selling them a website and not business consulting or advice. If they both get the website's they want, and you dont favour one of the other they've lost nothing. As long as you don't allow cross-polination of ideas etc. If the one has good ideas, you obviously can't share them. There's hardly any new IPR being created, so I don't see any morally, ethically or legally wrong.

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It seems to me that the only real danger is one of perception. If after the sites are launched, one client figures in their head that you used their 'unique' idea or parts of their 'unique' idea in the other website.

It could be hard to escape that perception in a small town....

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Thanks for the advice guys - forum is excellent!

Raul - yes, i worry too much
link8r - yes i'm not the local enterprise board - I create/sell websites.
Busaras - yes perception is everything, especially in a small town!

Thanks again.

Why don't you just inform each of them that you are doing 'something similar' for someone else and ask them if they are ok with that? Keep it at that and don't mention any details and tell them that's all you can reveal.

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