Independent contracts and non-competitive reservations?

Question

I am an independent software provider. Companies hire me to write very specific pieces of software in a particular industry. I issue invoices / accounts of the company only for the time spent on a specific project on which they work.

Recently, my new client sent me a service agreement that will cover a period of time next year in which I will carry out several projects for them. This does not mean that they are going to pay me 40 hours a week for the next year. Only for the time that I usually spend on projects for them, as usual.

Projects are usually short (only a few weeks at work) and distributed, sometimes up to two months between projects.

This agreement has a non-competitive article that says that I cannot work for any competing companies during the term of the agreement (1 year). This surprised me because, as an independent contractor, in order to have consistent income, I need to work on several projects for several companies throughout the year.

How do independent contractors approach this issue?

Answer 1

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Answer 2

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Answer 3

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Answer 4

In the preface of IANAL ... In most places, non-competitive offers are completely unenforceable, so you can simply sign it and ignore it. If you are still worried, you can also change the contract, just cross out this section and insert it. If someone notices this (which is likely to be rare), most people treat him as a formality, they just transfer it to another department that submits it.) Just explain what you have here.