I bet you thought I meant $5,000 when I said 5K. Sorry if you're disappointed but hear me out.

Years ago, when I took up running and was training for my very first run, it was a 5k, which is just a little over 3 miles.

A good friend of mine had been running for a long time and when I asked him for advice, he said, "Start off as slowly as you can, even if you feel like you can go faster, because you'll need your energy to finish the race."

I thought that was good advice, so I took it and sure enough, I finished the race and felt good enough to know that I would race again at some point. I wasn't looking to break any records at my age, just get in shape, run a good race and do it again.

The same principal can be applied to your business. I have seen countless new businesses practically strap on the "marketing rocket-ship" and go-go-go until they either exhaust their funds or themselves in the process, usually just a year or so later.

I see the same with a lot of sales consultants who join a company and then burn themselves out in less than a year, then blame their failure on the company and that the "program didn't work for them." I wonder if they've truly thought about what it means to be in business.

I wonder if they are looking toward the future and realize that it takes time, nurturing of relationships and putting customers' needs first before their own.

If you're just starting out in business, go slow! You'll need the energy to make it to the long term. If you've been in business for a while and feel like your head is spinning, slow down!

If you want to be here 5, 10, 15 or more years from now, you will be if you take your time to build solid relationships with people who come to know and trust you.

It really is about them, not you.