Gerry, with his heating and cooling skills, was thrilled to be able to start his own HVAC company. He started out being very careful about not commingling business funds with personal funds, which was very smart. AS the HVAC company grew more successful, it was tempting to start using the income for personal things such as paying off his house. But he held off on that because he always thought it was smarter to take a salary and try to grow the HVAC business with funds from the business. At first, Gerry decided his salary would be the same as the one he earned when he worked at HVAC Success, the HVAC company that had hired him straight out of the heating and cooling program at the tech school. After a year or so, he gave himself a raise, but it was only a small one. Then, he decided he was working way too much, and that was a good thing because that meant the HVAC company was growing and having success. Soon, he decided he really needed some help. It would be a little tight having to pay a salary and all the associated costs to another a/c professional, but he really felt he needed to do it. Mike, his business partner, already had a plumbing employee. Gerry decided to head over to the tech school and see if they had a guy who was a good student and they would recommend. He figured that is how he got his first a/c technician job, so he would do the same for someone else. Plus, a new graduate would work for less money.