When he pulled into the parking lot of the industrial park of North Clairemont and found a space, he thought of all the people from the various industries who worked inside the office buildings there.

Somebody owns every last one of these buildings, and all we’re doing is working in them, he contemplated as he walked inside and headed toward the elevators.

Hutch & Mitchell Accounting rented half of the fourth floor in a nine-story building.

Ivan stepped off the elevator and walked into the office past the receptionist at the entrance. She was an alert college intern who liked to be at work earlier than everyone else. She wanted to prove that she was willing to put in her dues.

“Good morning, Ivan,” she greeted him.

Ivan smiled and nodded to her on his way in. “Good morning.”

The accounting office was set up in rows of cubicles, highlighted in royal blue. Surrounding the cubicles were the conference rooms, the manager and supervisor offices, and the attorneys’ offices. They all had the window views. At the opposite corners of the building were the partners’ offices, with John Hutch at one end and Barry Mitchell at the other. Their offices had the most window space and the best views.

The cubicles were grouped in four areas: the accounting staff, who input all of the numbers; the audit staff, who checked and rechecked the numbers; the tax staff, who applied the proper tax codes; and the general staff, which included the secretaries.

Ivan was one of only three African-Americans at the firm of more than thirty employees. He had served his time at Hutch & Mitchell—a public accounting firm—before passing the California Board of Accounting exam to become a certified public accountant two years ago. Now he worked in the tax department with an income of more than fifty thousand dollars a year. But while his mother continued to suffer from cancer, Ivan had been forced to spend a large portion of it to pay for her medical needs.

Time for me to start making this money work for me, he told himself.

The first thing he did at his desk that morning was go online to search for “I.D. Promotions” as a possible name for his limited liability company for party throwing. As an accountant, he understood firsthand that the primary execution of any business was to secure an attractive and taxable name. As soon as his internet search for “I.D. Promotions” came up empty, Ivan filed online immediately to secure the name with his credit card.

“Hey, Ivan, what are you up to?” someone asked from behind him.

Ivan turned to see who it was before he answered. He wasn’t online for work purposes.

“Oh, what’s up, Chip? I’m just locking up a business name on this thing,” he stated.