Richard Sears was a young man when his father died, and so he had to go to work to support the family. He took a job on the railroad and worked his way up to station agent in North Redwood, Minnesota. To earn extra money he sold coal and lumber. One day a box full of watches was delivered to his station by mistake. The local jeweler decided he didn't want the watches. But instead of sending the watches back to the company, Richard Sears decided to buy the watches himself and proceeded to sell them. In a short time he made a nice profit. Richard Sears' actions became the first step in founding what would later be called the "Sears, Roebuck Company."1

We all love such "rags to riches" stories. The determination and persistence in these stories are like true fairy tales. They end with "and t…