Selling a business with Goodwill: Beware this Implied Prohibition
When you sell a business including its “goodwill”, you will likely be prevented from opening up in competition with your old business by a “restraint of trade clause” in the sale agreement. Your 5 year restraint period lapses – what next? Restraint clauses have to be reasonable in duration, so somewhere along the line your restraint period will lapse. And when that happens, you may think that you are now completely free to set up shop again. (more…)