Let me ask you - Whats your fear if they moon light?
That they'll become a competitor, that they'll leave faster, and you'll have to hire someone else?
Employees owe employers nothing - Think about it... Whens the last time you gave your employee a $5,10 raise? The only way to get ahead is to start at a new company.... or start your own. People dont work at shops for 10 years anymore... So you have to accept your employee will leave... why not keep them as happy as you can and keep them around longer, if its not hurting you?
I started as an First aid attendant - The job I was a "Lead hand" at went under, and this was the first job I found. I was just a casual worker / OFA attendant... And then an opening in the digital department opened up, so I went up there. The graphics artist who operated the machines taught me everything wrong... Vinyl over the tension bar instead of under it on the laminator... only using 1 condition on the graphtec... Printing 1 up on our flatbed because they didnt know how to do more... I pretty much did a ton of research..a lot on here, a lot on Youtube, re-trained myself and optomized the digital department. I enjoyed it...and I like technology, so when I bought a new house, I padded my mortgage a bit and bought a Latex printer, graphtec plotter, and laminator. I learned how to do perf cuts like a pro (no one at my job even knew graphtec could cut all the way through...) I learned how to optomize workflow and do things better, and faster than at work... because I had my own stuff and cared more. I learned color management, profiling (Amateur profiling), learned how to automate onyx's cut flow to auto do kiss / perf cut based on conditions... etc. Everything I learned to do efficiently at home..transferred over to work. So its not only benefited me, my employer also benefits from me having a machine.
At first the owner was a bit weary when he found out I had a printer - I kept it quiet until Our machine crapped out, and we were outsourcing to another company... and I took him aside and told him I had one, and would print for him at just the cost of ink... something stupid like 50 cents a sqft. I wasnt looking to make money, just help out - For the next month...everything was printed / laminated / cut at my home... I worked from home while we waited for a new printer to arrive, and I only came in to drop off rolls of vinyl. It was awesome! But I think thats what showed him I wasn't looking to be a competitor, and me having a machine benefits him.
I was told the last 6 operators bought their own printers and started their own company - A few are still around, a few went out of business. We still send work / overflow to the few that are still around, and maintain a good relationship with them - They send us work they cant do... like 500 flatbed signs, or custom cut aluminum - So its mutually beneficial. Why burn a bridge when it can help you?
The owner was smart... or dumb, however you look at it. I went from digital operator, to manager - I manage all of production, a warehouse of 10-15ish people. I took what I knew...cross trained 3-4 people per machine - optimized almost everything. I learned to use the CNC... then crosstrained the new guy and another guy on that - We no longer have 1 person per machine, where we get screwed if theyre sick for a few days - I'm a backup for every machine / every process. I do all the purchasing, and I deal directly with all the customers - I setup the work flow, product specs, and deal with one of our biggest label customers who spend 200k a year with us...On a material that we get 10x proffit on. We spend 1K per roll combo, and make 10K on it. I have all their artwork files and a really good relationship with them... I could steal them tomorrow, make 10X what I do working for my company... I dont know if that thoughts ever crossed his mind... but I keep getting more and more responsibilities having to do with dealing with customers, so I dont think theyre worried too much about it.
IMO, If you're worried about some guy with a printer in his garage being competition, your business is in more trouble and you have more things to worry about and figure out. Theres hundreds of shops here that are a guy in their basement - We dont worry about them at all... let them have the craigslist, or penny pincher lookie loos who waste hours of time to buy 1 $20 sign.
Now if you have an employee with a printer whos also printing stuff for your customers... thats a bit different, and those guys should be fired / let go. Ive had people find out I have a printer and ask me to quote some stuff - I've outright turned them down, even went so far as to let the owner know they were shopping around once or twice. To me...thats just common decency, And I imagine to most others who run a side hustle are the same - But there will always be dicks who try to do everything they can to get ahead.
TLDR; It's common and if it bugs you that much just because they have a printer and theyre printing stuff for online, or stickers for friends, or theyre doing something like "height charts" on craigslist, tapping into a market you never have.. dont be butthurt because they're doing it on their own time instead of making you even more money - you hired them to be a printer operator, not a sales guy. And if you really think 1 guy in his garage is going to take food off your table...you're in the wrong business. Have a talk with your employee, let him know what you expect / what youre ok with - You shouldnt have an issue with him hitting the pavement on saturdays asking some shops if they want their windows frosted, or need some labels printed - If it doesnt hurt your business, why care? Let them know the second they cross the line theyre out, 9/10 times most people wont poach your customers.
And some people dont do it for the cash. I've been doing my own side stuff for 4 years. I've had a Latex 110 - latex 560. epson S40. And now a Epson Resin - I spent 12k, 10k, 10k and now 25K - So 60K JUST on printers because I wanted to play with a new printer. I went from an FC8600 to an FC9000 with a take up reel...which after 2 months of using I brought the owner over, showed him how much time it'd save the company if they had one...and we bought one the next day.. I like to play with new toys. IF I had the space I'd have a summa cutter... My eyes currently on a colorado 1650... I dont know if I'll ever like new technology enough to drop 100k on a single purchase for my side hustle... but who knows! I may quit my job one day - Right now I'm at about 7K profit, not counting labor.. just material costs / ink cost / overhead cost, working 2 hours a night, 3 days a week, per month. I make more on my side gig than I do at my "Real" job... but I havent thought about quitting once. I like my job...and my side job, I see it as getting ahead - trading some time now, so when I'm 50 and my house is paid off, I can relax VS work until I'm in my 65/70's.. although I'm sure I'll still be working my side gig when I am!
Then there are those that do do it for the cash - and some need it. Inflation is at a published 8.2%. Unpublished theyre saying it's in the 15-16% - is everyone here giving their employees a 10% raise this year? Didn't think so... so especially right now, everyone is taking a pretty hefty pay cut. My mortgage went from $800 a month to $1700 a month... food costs have doubled , gas is through the roof... hell, I took my kid to see a movie the other day - we dropped $100ish just for me, the wife and my kid to see 1 movie and get 1 large popcorn and 2 drinks. then $75 to eat out at a cheap shitty restaurant right after. COL is through the roof right now... 5% of US employees have 2 jobs. That's an old statistic, its probably way higher now - Would you want your employee tiring himself out working 40 hours extra a week bagging groceries... Or would you rather him on etsy selling stickers or something?
