WILLIAMSBURG — Serial entrepreneur Norman Brodsky can be described as a modern-day Renaissance man.
From left: Elaine Brodsky, Norman Brodsky and Fanella Kim. Photo: Wayne Daren Schneiderman/Brooklyn Eagle
However, the Brooklyn-born octogenarian, who will be 84 on Dec. 31, told the Brooklyn Eagle that he ultimately became the man he is today for one reason: failure.
“It’s really about learning from and analyzing the mistakes I made along the way,” Brodsky said. “No entrepreneurs that I know of go straight from having nothing to accumulating wealth or success. They had to fail at some point, but one must take responsibility and not repeat the same mistakes over and over again.”
A key learning experience for Brodsky was going bankrupt at the age of 46 during the stock market crash of 1987.
“I lost a good part of my Perfect Courier business,” Brodsky recalled, noting that he learned a valuable lesson. “You have to have contingency plans in place for unforeseen events. Nothing lasts forever, and things change.”
From left: Norman Brodsky holding his award at the Smart Business Dealmakers Conference alongside Martha Mistretta and Elaine Brodsky. Photo: Wayne Daren Schneiderman/Brooklyn Eagle
Perfect Courier, a messenger service Brodsky started in Manhattan in 1979, became a thriving enterprise with offices around the country within a few years. As fax machines began appearing in more and more businesses, Brodsky realized his company’s prospects were limited and began looking for other opportunities.
Brodsky’s next business, CitiStorage, which he built in 1990, was created “on more solid ground,” he said.
What started with just 27 boxes quickly scaled into a massive operation storing millions of records for law firms, hospitals and corporations. Over time, CitiStorage expanded into a full-scale records storage and logistics business and was later complemented by U.S. Document Security, a document destruction and shredding company. Together, these businesses became industry leaders in secure records management, ultimately contributing to Brodsky’s multi-million-dollar success.
Norman Brodsky addressing the audience at the Smart Business Dealmakers Conference. Photo: Wayne Daren Schneiderman/Brooklyn Eagle
In 2007, Brodsky and his wife and business partner, Elaine Brodsky, sold CitiStorage, Perfect Courier and U.S. Document Security to Allied Capital in a transaction reported at approximately $110 million.
Brodsky has also invested in commercial real estate, hotels, restaurants and other entrepreneurial ventures. In addition, he is an author, business columnist — Brodsky wrote the long-running “Street Smarts” column for Inc. Magazine — and former attorney.
Shrewd business acumen
According to Brodsky, a lot of his shrewd business acumen came from observing his father as a boy.
“My dad was a custom peddler,” he said. “I used to go to work with him on the weekends, and I’d often ask him, ‘How do you make money?’ He told me it was pretty simple: You buy something for $1 and sell it for $2.”
Brodsky noted that his father treated all of his customers well, and he befriended many of them. “It’s so crucial in business to have people skills. That’s definitely one of the most important skills to possess,” he said.
Brodsky was born in Canarsie and lived there until around age seven. He returned to Kings County in 1990, living and working in Williamsburg for approximately 12 years.
Entrepreneur Norman Brodsky. Photo: Wayne Daren Schneiderman/Brooklyn Eagle
“I have a true affinity for Brooklyn,” Brodsky said.
He feels that throughout the decades, the borough has changed for the better. “When I was a kid, everybody wanted to move out of Brooklyn — even the young people — they didn’t want to live there,” he said. “But now, it serves as a hub for residents of all backgrounds and demographics.”
Brodsky’s early days in business
Brodsky entered the workforce during the Vietnam War. He graduated from Brooklyn Law School and became an attorney. He opened up his own law firm and later got married.
Law was “not exciting enough and too slow moving,” Brodsky said. He then found a job in a car wash. According to Brodsky, it wasn’t long before the business owner confronted him.
“You don’t belong here, right?” he asked. “What in the world are you doing here?”
Soon after leaving the car wash, Brodsky met a neighbor who owned a delivery company in New York City. This business endeavor ultimately became Perfect Courier.
Norman Brodsky, left, alongside Shlomo Birnbaum, CEO of Ample Hills Creamery. Photo: Wayne Daren Schneiderman/Brooklyn Eagle
In it for ‘the thrill of the chase’
Brodsky said that everybody who becomes an entrepreneur does it for a different reason.
“Some people do it because they don’t want to work for somebody else,” he said. “Some do it because they feel they can earn a living and their time is their own. For me, I like the idea of having an idea, starting with nothing and building something. It’s a real sense of accomplishment.”
“I still work, but it’s not for the money, because I don’t need that now,” he said. “I would imagine that it’s simply for the thrill of the chase.”
When asked how long Brodsky would sustain this pace, he said as long as his health allows. “I don’t like to use the word retirement,” he said with a smile.