How to Hire Your First Contractor

Sometimes I have this nightmare imagine I’m back as a corporate litigator, standing before a Judge whining,

“But Your Honor! They have an online business. Not a “regular” business — so we can just ignore this, right?” with my best pretty please face on. 🙏

Then I shake my head, come back to reality, and wipe the sweat off my brow thanking the stars I’m not a practicing lawyer anymore.

But I also hear myself mumbling under my breath, “the same rules apply to our businesses, people!” almost as many times per day as I re-heat my coffee. Almost.

Is There A Difference When Hiring For An Online Business?

Somewhere along the online business way, it got misconstrued that the rules don’t apply to us. That somehow, the powers that be have just randomly decided that we don’t have to follow the same laws or regulations that any other business does.

And while I see lots of dangerous myths out there (see: investing in other coaches is the only way to grow your business, you only file taxes if you’re profitable, you don’t need business insurance if you have an LLC, etc.) — there’s one that’s really bugged me lately.

In the race to make 89-figures per month, somebody also started a race to brag about how many people you have on your team.

I see it all the time —

“I’m making 6-figures with a team of 18 people!”

(The businesswoman in me says, “WHAT?! I’m running a multi 7-figure business with 1 employee* and a small handful of contractors part-time.” Remember: more isn’t always the best idea. Lean & mean, that’s my style.)

But just like the number of “figures” someone makes has gotten totally manipulated, misconstrued and gone without context — so has the whole “team” thing.

And most of them don’t even realize that their entire business “team” structure is 100% illegal and could land them in serious hot legal water any sec. (because we’re not even talking lawsuits here — all it takes is for a contractor to report you.)

I see contractors getting treated like employees all over the place, and it makes me sweat more than the kids on The Bling Ring breaking into Paris Hilton’s house.

The worst part of it all is that it’s yet another area that’s just gotten so over complicated in our business —

Employee vs. Contractor: What You Need To Know

It’s not as hard or expensive to hire employees if and when we need to. And it’s not that hard to treat a contractor like a contractor, or hire one when you need them, too.

It’s just about knowing the difference between a contractor & employee, designing your team / assignments & tasks accordingly, and hiring the right people for the right job.

This week’s new On Your Terms episode is all about the employee / contractor difference, how to know which one you have or need, and…

👉 how to hire your first contractor (legally!) and actually treat them like a contractor so you don’t face a whole host of Federal and state fines, penalties, taxes, etc.

🎙 Listen to Episode 64 “Hiring Contractors 101” of On Your Terms here!👇

PS. There’s nothing scary about hiring contractors or employees – they can do incredible things for your biz! But I want to teach you how to hire contractors the right way. This week’s pod episode dives into how + what the employee/contractor difference is. Listen on my website, Spotify, or Apple now.