Special Guest Post by
Joe Bourdow

Do you know the story of Walter Breuning? When Mr. Bruening passed away recently, he was the 3rd oldest man in the world. That didn't stop him from clearly remembering many key moments in his 114 years on earth. He regularly told those old stories to his neighbors in the assisted living facility where he spent the last 32 years of his life. Many learned a lot from those stories. Journalists and media people (including 60 Minutes) were frequent and fascinated visitors. As he himself described it, his life was in no way… a "get rich quick" scheme.  But a very rich life it was.

Regardless of our fascination with the Facebooks, the Googles, Twitters and other such amazing quick success stories …there are actually very few legitimate "Get Rich Quick Schemes" in the business world. The relatively few that occur each year result when exactly the right idea is executed at exactly the right time with exactly the right human and financial resources in place and ready to go.  And did I mention lots of luck is required for all that to happen at the same time?

There are far more "Get Rich Slow Schemes."  They require the same good ideas, time, resources and luck but allow for a little more experimentation, failure, and adjustment along the way. And did I mention hard work?  Having the benefit of longevity, allows for sharing and learning from those mistakes and the ability to look back- as well as forward- for the right answers.

In my three decades working in the national Valpak system as franchisee and franchisor, I have come to realize the value of longevity and the relationships built over time with many great people inside and outside our company.  From longevity comes trust. And from trust comes many emotional, intellectual and financial benefits in addition to a very successful business enterprise built on building mutual benefits for seller and buyer- for franchisee and franchisor-for client and agency. Those relationships did much to carry us through the recent recession.

Like Mr. Breuning, those of us who have been around awhile in our companies should share our experiences with others in our organizations and anyone else who will listen. Unfortunately, there is a tendency for many to hear these stories as nothing more than "old stories" with questionable relevance to today's immediate business issues.  "Things have changed" we often hear.

Yes, many things have changed – but the most important things like long term relationships in business- built on longevity and trust simply have not because those relationships hold the real key to a rich business life.

Joe Bourdow currently serves as "Senior Advisor" to Valpak Direct Marketing Systems, Inc; a company he joined as an advertising sales rep in 1978. He was President of the company from 1996-2009. Valpak envelopes reach over 40 million homes every month across the country.  Joe serves on the Board of Directors of the International Franchise Association and, in recent years, has often been heard locally as a play-by-play voice on the Carolina Mudcats radio broadcasts which he and partner Patrick Kinas produce for the team.