I agree, if it walks and talks like a duck, you can't just put a chicken suit on it and call it a chicken.  The challenge is to get it to stop quacking and start clucking.

It's like when a new client starts a hobbyish business.  I like to use the Regs as a checklist.  Do you have a business plan?  No?  There's still time, go make one.  Do you have a business bank account?  No?  There's still time, go open one.  Start using some business software, have some sort of plan/system in place to evaluate profitability and make changes to the business operations if you find you're losing money, etc.  So many of these hobby loss cases are lost on criteria that are very easy to meet.  You don't have to be good at it, but you do have to behave like a business.

Rick