Things are not always what they might seem to be. I once sold a wooden truss manufacturing company to a buyer who had worked for 15-20 years in sales for a well-known copier company. That was the sum of his experience; he knew virtually nothing about wood truss manufacturing.
When he was challenged by the lender who financed the sale about his lack of experience in the field, his reply was straightforward and emphatic: “I’ve never failed at anything I’ve ever done, and I’m not going to fail at this!”
A year after the closing of the sale, the buyer and his truss manufacturing company were on the Inc. magazine list of the 50 fastest-growing companies in the U.S. The only explanation for this unexpected outcome was that he had grit and determination, qualities that are difficult to measure, underrated, and often overlooked.