Are you thinking of buying an existing mobile car washing business? Well if so you better make sure that the company is legitimate, paying its taxes, booking in the cash receipts, and covering worker's compensation. Otherwise you'd be buying an illegal business operation. Not long ago, someone interested in purchasing an existing mobile car wash business said that all his workers were paid as independent contractors.
No go on that, no way. If these guys (workers) are using the company trucks, which they don't own, and being told the Time, Mode, and Manner of the process, it ain't going to fly, no way in heck is that legitimate! I've seen these games before, dodging the rules. Even if they do issue 1099's calling these workers "independent contractors" that's just BS. Now, I'm not an attorney, thank god, and I am not giving anyone any legal advice here, but "come on" you and I both know they are playing the system here.
Obviously they have a washing schedule and tell the workers when and where to show up to wash (TIME) and they use a company vehicle, company pressure washer and have a way they require the vehicles to be washed (MODE), and have them hook up to the customers water outlets, string garden hoses to pressure washers, and lay all that out across the parking lot and wash (MANNER), so they've basically meet all the disqualifying points for independent contractor status - they are therefore employees!
Plus, the workers have "NO RISK" financially involved, so it's not their own business, they are not independent contractors. Now then, if you were to buy this business you could fix this to be legitimate. Have only workers who owned their own pick-up trucks do the washing, have them slap on the magnetic sign, which said contractor with your company logo on top - they would sign a rental agreement for a week or month and pay you for the use of the equipment (Honda pressure washers, magnetic sign, T-shirts with company name + contractor), and you would pay them per unit cleaned.
They would work out the schedule with the car lot manager, and they would hire their own crews. But, I would warn against this, because you will find these independent contractors going to your accounts and making deals and cutting you out of the pattern, even if you had a non-compete clause with them.
There is another issue on those non-competes do hold because of "right to work laws" in some states, often those non-competes are not worth the paper they are written on. Think on that too. And you'd have to make sure they carried their own insurance, had a business license, and tax ID number too. Please consider all this.
No comments:
Post a Comment