Maybe you heard it while you were in planning stages, just

developing your business idea and your business plan. Possibly,

some people very close to you said "No, you can’t do that." Or,

"No, you shouldn’t do that."

Perhaps, it was after you got your business started and you

asked someone to take a look at it and give you their opinion.

They might have said "No, that will never work." Or, "No,

that’s not for me."

According to PSYCHOLOGY TODAY, by time a child

reaches 18 years of age, concept of "NO, YOU CAN'T!"

has been reinforced 187,000 times, whereas concept of

"YES, YOU CAN!" has been reinforced only about 25 times!!!

Do you see why so many of us grow up to be failures, or

afraid to try anything out of "norm"? It’s because we

have been programmed that way! We do not believe that we can!

Can you imagine how much greater we would all be if we

just heard word "YES" a little more in our lives?

If you are in business or planning a business, I suggest you

just scratch word "NO" from your vocabulary. Just refuse

to hear it and start hearing word "YES", even if it’s only

in your own mind.

"YES, I can do this!"

"YES, I can do this exceptionally well!"

"YES, no one has ever done it better!"

You are going to have discouraging times in your business.

I don’t care who you are or what you do, there will be

hundreds (thousands) of times that you will want to quit.

Just throw in towel. Go back to your NORMAL life,

Unfortunately, as far as various government agencies are concerned, there is not one single test that determines whether Joe is your employee or an independent contractor. Even more difficult, it is quite possible that for purposes of one government agency Joe is considered to be an independent contractor while for another he is treated as an employee.

=> The IRS/Common Law "Control" Test

The IRS follows common law "control" test for determining whether someone is an employee or independent contractor. This test looks at 20 factors as being indicative (and only indicative) of whether person is an employee or independent contractor. The test basically involves a balancing of these factors -- which way does scale tip?

Here are IRS factors:

1. Whether worker can earn a profit or suffer a loss from activity (if so, more likely it is that worker is an independent contractor). 2. Whether worker is told where to work (indicative of employee status). 3. Whether worker offers his or her services to general public (indicative of independent contractor status). 4. Whether worker can be fired by hiring firm. 5. Whether worker furnishes tools and materials needed to do work (indicative of independent contractor status). 6. Whether worker is paid by job or by hour (independent contractors are more likely to be paid by job; employees by hour). 7. Whether worker works for more than one firm at a time (indicative of independent contractor status). 8. Whether worker has a continuing relationship with hiring firm (indicative of employee status). 9. Whether worker invests in equipment and facilities (indicative of independent contractor status). 10. Whether worker pays his or her own business and traveling expenses (indicative of independent contractor status). 11. Whether worker has right to quit without incurring liability (indicative of employee status). 12. Whether worker receives instructions from hiring firm (indicative of employee status). 13. Whether worker is told how to perform work (indicative of employee status). 14. Whether worker receives training from hiring firm (indicative of employee status). 15. Whether worker performs services personally. 16. Whether worker hires and pays assistants (indicative of independent contractor status). 17. Whether worker sets his or her own working hours (indicative of independent contractor status). 18. Whether worker provides regular progress reports to hiring firm. 19. Whether worker works full-time for hiring firm (indicative of employee status). 20. Whether worker provides services that are an integral part of hiring firm's day-to-day operations (indicative of employee status).

It is important to note that none of above factors are, of themselves, determinative. The IRS will balance all of factors to determine which side of equation is favored.

=> Other Agencies

The other government agencies with which you need to be concerned are:

1. Your state Unemployment Compensation Board. 2. Your state Workers' Compensation Insurance Agency. 3. Your state Tax Department. 4. Your state/federal Department of Labor.