How To Be a Lucky Entrepreneur
One of my favorite thinkers, good old “Anon,” once said, “The harder I work, the luckier I get.”
Generally, entrepreneurs agree with that statement, as a recent survey revealed. Another study of entrepreneurs that I saw said that entrepreneurs are more likely to find success on their third startup attempt. That statistic alone shows us the value of experience and learning from our mistakes.
Having the right idea and having it at the right time are two of the important elements of entrepreneurial success. But much needs to be said to put that in its proper context. First, it takes “the right idea at the right time” plus hard work and know-how to achieve success. Second, we only recognize the phenomena of “right idea at the right time” in retrospect, so it may be just as much a construct of our thinking as it is something that is real.
Italians luckier than Germans
When Swiss entrepreneurs were asked their opinions on luck and other elements that contributed to their success, 78 percent ranked luck at the bottom of the list. However, entrepreneurs in the Italian and French speaking areas of Switzerland ranked luck more highly than the German speakers. So cultural attitudes play a role as well.
If you are considering an entrepreneurial move, whether it’s a startup or opening a new branch of your existing business, knowing that luck has little to do with your ultimate success should be comforting. It puts you in control of your future.
Further, even the surveyed entrepreneurs who felt that luck was a factor in their projects believed that they could overcome bad luck. Again, that is empowering.
Feeling lucky?
Where do you stand on the role of luck in business success? If you believe that luck will ultimately have some influence over the direction of your endeavors, let’s look at what you can do to get luck on your side.
Luck relates to intuition, the willingness to act and persistence. Some people are more in tune to the direction society is moving. They get a gut feeling about a new service or product. That is probably more common than we think. However, it takes the next step to get the luck rolling; you have to be willing to act.
How many times have you or someone in your crowd said, “I had that idea, but I never followed up on it”? I rest my case. Finally, it takes persistence to elevate those good ideas to successful businesses.
Let me add one more word of advice concerning luck. When a venture of yours does not work out, don’t blame it on bad luck because you can’t learn anything from luck. Instead, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and consider how you can do things better next time.
