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The importance of being persistent

A year ago in August, I started a mad Swiss cycle event at 5am in pretty miserable conditions. Poor weather had closed in and a brief storm hit, leaving the mini peleton saturated around Port de Soleil, only for us to be cooked later in the scorching alpine PM sun. The mountains are a brutal place.

I should have known when Alberto Contador and others at the front of the peleton set off at >30mph on the valley floor and skipped up the first climb like mountain goats that this was going to be a rough old day and that I just might… Be in the wrong group.

In hindsight (a wonderful thing), I had bitten off more than I could chew by selecting the ‘Ultra’ Gran Fondo, rather than the classic ‘Gran Fondo’, which in cycling parlance means some crazy distance up and down mountains in the Alps. I was a pork chop frame surrounded by lean, lanky, beer-free diet, serious cyclists… All in need of a decent Sunday roast. 

A number of things went wrong that day but, on reflection, after the disappointment of being swept up by the broom wagon, two punctures, 100 miles and 5000m of climbing, if I’m being brutally honest, I just wasn’t prepared enough and didn’t respect the preparation process for a big event. 

Similarly, this happens too often in business when considering transactions/events. Contrary to belief, deals rarely happen overnight, just because management/vendors decide to do something, the business may not be ready. Drawing on some wise words: it’s a bit like baking a cake to fast without all the right ingredients.

I am happy to say that this Saturday, after the disappointment and ‘unfinished business’ in Swiss Alps 2019, I completed the Swiss Marmotte – the event and the distance I should have selected last year. With the right training and preparation, regardless of COVID-19-related lockdown, I achieved my goal. I believe it was Ray Kroc who said that it was sheer hard work and unrelenting perseverance leads to success.

At Polestar we have, in the last few months, been speaking with a number of potential clients who who have had transactions fall over first time round.  Some of these were let down by buyers trying to be too cute, whilst many other now realise that they simply weren’t quite ready.  They have taken stock and listened to constructive advice,  their training and preparation are complete and now they are ready to try again. 

If you did not get the result you hoped for first time round and would like a second opinion on why, please do get in touch – we can offer an impartial ear and advise how to ensure a successful transaction at the appropriate time.

” Nothing in the world can take place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. “

By Chris Roberts on 14/08/2020