One other issue you can run into is that a contract may specify that the employer owns all of the software that you develop while in their employ. Clauses that include this can cause you a lot of heartache even if you're developing on the side. This is due to the fact that employers feel that you may not be giving their assignments full priority to the assigned tasks and/or may be using company time or other resources for personal projects.

You need to read very critically when you review the contract. While terms like this can be contested it will be challenging as you did sign the contract or, in this case, a non-compete agreement.

I do know people who have run afoul of this and lost even though said creation was entirely on their own time due to clauses like this.