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This guest post from Brian Winch is part of the “money stories” feature at Get Rich Slowly. Some stories contain general advice; others are examples of how a GRS reader achieved financial success — or failure. These stories feature folks from all stages of financial maturity.

Today, Brian shares how he got rich slowly by building a simple, profitable business.

Hi, folks! My name is Brian Winch, and I’m delighted to share my story with you.

In 1981, I was earning a modest income at a sporting goods store, but I wanted to make more money. I dreamed of being an entrepreneur, but I was hesitant because I only had a high school education and hardly any start-up cash.

I am not a trained financial expert. I'm not an accountant, I'm not a financial planner, and I'm not a stock broker. What's more, I've made many many money mistakes on my own financial journey. As a result, I've always been reluctant to sit down with people and go over their budgets.

That seems to be changing.

In March, I spent a couple of hours talking with a friend about her financial situation. A few days ago, another friend asked if I'd be willing to meet with him in the near future to puzzle through his budget woes. And yesterday, I took three hours to chat about money with my friends Wally and Jodie.

Slowly but surely, GRS is entering the modern era.

It’s taken nearly a year, but the site redesign is nearing completion. I don’t want to get your expectations too high for what’s coming — this is just a blog, after all — but I think the new layout is an improvement. It certainly helps organize things better! (And yes, I’m hoping that we’ll be bringing back the forums — or a new forum, if we can’t repair the old database — at the same time.)

Meanwhile, I’ve finally made the leap to video. I’m not much of a video watcher myself (except that I do like the various movie lists from CineFix), but I know there are tons of people who prefer the format to reading. To me, that’s an opportunity to reach a wider audience and help more folks get better with money.

To that end:

By now, you’ve probably heard of the famous Stanford marshmallow experiment. Most folks are familiar with this fifty-year-old study and its conclusions. In case this is the first you’ve learned of it, however, I’ll give a quick review.

During the late 1960s, psychologist Walter Mischel tested the willpower of young children (roughly four years old). A researcher would bring the children — one at a time — into a room where they had access to a selection of treats, including marshmallows. The children were told that they could eat have one treat right away or, if they waited fifteen minutes, they could have two. Then the researcher left the room.