I want to leave my job, is it wrong to take clients with me?

Question

i teach sewing out of a store, but my boss is driving me crazy. she calls me 6 times a day, expects me to work crazy hours and will ask me the same question over and over again. i want to leave and work somewhere else (anywhere else) to save money so i can start up my own teaching studio

my problem is, i told one of my students that i was leaving because she has been my student for 6 months now and i don't want her to sign up for another round of classes and expect me to be there. i wasn't telling her to come with me, i just felt that she had the right to know.

she told me that she would come with me and even learn out of my house if that's what it would take to keep me as a teacher, and i am pretty sure that other students would do the same because a lot of them have told me that they like me, but not her and they don't like the way she does business.

my question is, would it be wrong for me to teach these people? because the way i see it, if i left they wouldn't sign up again, so either way, she will be losing that money

Answer 1

Technically, you have no control over that so to answer your question, no there is nothing wrong with it. The way you see it is completely right and plus it's up to your 'students' whether or not they want to leave because you are. You aren't telling them to follow you or anything. They're choosing their own way.

Answer 2

It's not wrong to take your clients with you. They are customers like anyone else and they can choose to go where they please. When you and all your clients are gone, the boss will then realize how great of an employee you were since a lot of his/her business is gone. He/she might be short a few customers for a while, but life goes on.

Hairdressers/stylists move around a lot and their clients follow. Sometimes it's just part of the game.