I know that sounds like an obvious question and the answer to that is obviously yes, but the business is not making enough to provide what I believe his work is

I know that sounds like an obvious question and the answer to that is obviously yes, but the business is not making enough to provide what I believe his work is worth right now (and to pay him above and beyond what's coming in would have to come out of my own pocket from my day job salary). Also keep in mind that where we live programmers don't make nearly the same amount as they would in the Bay and technology-type jobs are pretty scarce. The only major local web development firm would probably hire him as an intern, with a bit more training, and start him off in the $11-$15/hr range (if they are even still looking for an intern). I know he could do well in a different city, but he's told me he'd like to stay local, which unfortunately affects his opportunities to get a position doing development work. I fully agree with you though, I do want to pay him what he's worth because I know he has a lot of potential (and I've seen it more or less going to waste the past 3 years after he graduated, which is why I asked him to start volunteering with me so he could gain experience and I could also think of ways I could help him out). The only negative there is that I don't have enough money to truly do that (but by him starting off and helping me do more work in the business I'm pretty sure we can make the income go up, which would allow the business to pay him more as we grew). I hope that helps to clarify things a bit.