Why rushing trust never works

“An overnight success is ten years in the making.” — Tom Clancy

It’s easy to look at business breakthroughs and see them as sudden windfalls. But after nearly 20 years in business development, I’ve learned that these “overnight” successes usually have a much longer story behind them.

Here’s mine.

My first lesson came early when I was 22 years old, working for my family’s waste management business. We’d built our business on household waste collection — the regular weekly pickups from homes and businesses. But working with our engineer, we discovered that we actually had the permits to accept industrial waste, like contaminated soil from gas station spills. The big players like Waste Management dominated these contracts, but we were just as capable of handling the work. We just needed a chance.

So I started knocking on doors — environmental consulting firms, testing laboratories, remediation companies, waste haulers, even state regulatory agencies. Every day meant more visits and more industry networking events. As a small firm competing with the giants, there wasn’t much initial trust. I had to do what I could to keep us visible, because no one was willing to take a chance on us.

Then came the Speedway spill. A major gas line leak threatened local water supplies. Waste Management's corporate protocols meant a week delay for approval, but this needed immediate action. In a room full of emergency responders late one night, someone I'd met during those countless visits pointed me out as the solution.

Being an owner and approvals manager of a landfill meant I could approve the waste immediately and get trucks moving that night. The president's response was immediate, "Deal. Everything's coming your direction."

That single incident turned into a company-wide contract, and all future waste within range of Indianapolis would come to us. The resulting partnership eventually drove a big increase in our company's revenue. But that breakthrough wasn't about one dramatic moment. It grew from hundreds of unglamorous days before it.

Looking back, this experience taught me three crucial lessons about building business relationships:

1. Small wins add up While our competitors had size, we had speed and flexibility. But we needed time to prove it. Sometimes the only way to demonstrate your value is through consistent presence and patience.
2. Trust builds quietly hose daily conversations and repeated interactions might seem fruitless in the moment, but they're building familiarity and credibility that become invaluable during critical moments.
3. Be ready when opportunity hits When our moment came, we were prepared — not just with the right permits and capabilities, but with the relationships and reputation to be trusted with a crisis-level opportunity.

This lesson still shapes how I build partnerships. You can't predict when a pivotal moment will come, but you can make sure you're the person they think to call when it does.

What seemingly small connection surprised you by becoming pivotal later? I'd love to hear your stories!

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