Not-So-Dumb Luck: How to make success find you
As an entrepreneurship educator and business consultant, I've had many boisterous discussions with both my graduate students and business owners over the claim that they, or perhaps an entrepreneur they know, got lucky and that's why their business was successful.
Just as often they will conversely argue that it wasn’t their fault that they failed because they were simply unlucky.
But if you look carefully at events that appear to be “lucky” you will discover that almost all of them — when reverse engineered — are the junction of good planning, passion and perseverance meeting opportunities that warrant them.
Proper Planning
Let’s face it, if you’re not prepared for events that favor your company and don’t have an opportunistic outlook, the likelihood of your missing these breaks is pretty high.
For example, last year I spent a great deal of time developing a training program for medical device firms in China. A number of colleagues good-naturedly teased that I “get all the really cool assignments.” Well, that’s definitely not true… I’m typically the person being sent to a small town in the middle of nowhere.
The reality is that I was given the assignment because I had been working on a number of marketing activities for the Institute for Technology Entrepreneurship & Commercialization at Boston University that allowed me to become quite familiar with the program goals and the key decision makers in China. I had been planning and preparing, so when the opportunity became available, I didn’t merely get lucky, I was the natural choice for the assignment. Planning and perseverance encountered the right opportunity.
Accidents Happen
Of course, there are times when events beyond one’s control create opportunities or wreak havoc.
They can put a company on the map or even out of business. Suddenly discovering a new product enhancement or stumbling upon an overlooked target market is something business owners dream of. On the contrary, deep recessions and natural disasters are dreaded examples of when unfortunate circumstances encounter a successful business model and — kaboom! — your business goes awry.
Nonetheless, that is the exception and not the rule. But how the business owner reacts to these unpredictable situations sets the stage for their future success or failure.
Understanding the role of these lucky or unlucky opportunities in your business is critical.
Individuals who claim their success is due to luck are usually not giving themselves enough credit for the positive activities and plans they have undertaken that allowed them to seize the opportunity. If you don’t recognize how you’ve created your luck, you are less likely to continue those very activities that are critical to your success.
On the contrary, folks who think they are simply unlucky and will therefore not be successful regardless of what they do cede control over their situation. This is really dangerous; these business owners seal their fate by assuming they can’t take positive steps to prepare themselves for unforeseen events — both good and bad. By assuming they won’t get lucky breaks, they stop looking for those opportunities that can change their business.
So how do you prepare yourself for opportunities and maximize your chances of success? I have found — and it is in fact the premise of my next book, “Lucky by Design,” — that passion (perseverance, commitment and confidence) combined with having a roadmap are the main criteria for success. As the legendary scientist Louis Pasteur once stated, “Chance favors the prepared mind.”
I think he might have been on to something.
Beth Goldstein is the Holliston-based author of “The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Toolkit.” She can be reached at beth@m-edge.com.
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