How to have more (business) luck.

When I look back over the last 15 years, I realize that the biggest positive impact on my business has been luck and chance. This is, frankly, an uncomfortable truth; I would much rather be able to say, without having to brag: I’m just brilliant. But that’s not the case. Quite the opposite. An article about “being lucky” or reducing it to – ahem – “everyday statistics”.

(Reading time 5 minutes)

“Business luck” is player luck

Happiness has many dimensions, especially because the word happiness has many different meanings in German. For example, there is the happiness of having found the person of your life, the happiness of holding a newborn baby in your arms for the first time. There is happiness in misfortune and happiness through oxytocin, serotonin and dopamine. The list goes on and on. And there is business happiness. That’s what we’re talking about here.

Why are some lucky and others not?

I’ve had a lot of “business luck” and at one point in my life I wondered why that was the case. You could say, and I think this is something of a popular opinion, that luck is something driven by fate. And that you can’t do anything about it yourself. I think this view is wrong.

Maximize the chances of a “lucky strike”

I can’t force luck, but I think you can positively influence your chances of being lucky by doing more of what you do and doing it more purposefully.

Imagine that luck is like a metronome that strikes slowly and evenly. Every time it falls to one side, the person standing in front of it receives a stroke of luck. You walk in a circle around the metronome and every time you are right in front of it when the pendulum swings, you experience a lucky coincidence.

“The chance of business luck happening to you is much higher when working than, say, Netflix and chill.”

Nothing against Netflix at all, but the faster you circle the pendulum, the greater the probability that this lucky coincidence will occur for you within a certain period of time. If you only walk very slowly, or perhaps don’t circle the metronome at all, the chance of a “lucky strike” is smaller.

People at the center of “business happiness”

Business luck is primarily about people. People who want to work for you, who want to make a deal with you, who want to buy something, who want to invest with you. Business, I think, is always first and foremost about people who want to do something together. Even a company is basically nothing else.

So if you want to have more luck, you have to deal with people. I’ve been doing this excessively for a few years now. As a result, I get to know and appreciate a lot of people all the time. I often say no, but just as often I ask “What can I do for you?” without expecting anything in return. It’s often small things that later have a big effect without me having to do anything. And I’m always as happy as a little child when, for example, two people have found each other business-wise and something cool comes out of it.

In the right place at the right time

I was always able to celebrate my greatest successes when I or my company was in the right place at the right time. A company needs a solution that we can deliver at the very moment we get to know each other. A change in strategy encourages a company to think about processes and enables them to start a conversation with our company. Almost all the great things that have happened are based on such happy coincidences. What I was able to contribute was to be there at the right moment, to be ready, to see the situation as an opportunity and to give it my all. Sometimes it takes a while to realize that things are turning out for the best. Luck often turns away in the course of such a process. What I have learned is that you should write off things that don’t work out as quickly as possible. I now do this very consistently. Being present also has to do with people. The more people remember you, the more likely they are to get in touch when they see a potential match.

Just ask

I also often ask people in my network directly for a favor. I just call and get straight to the point. I’ve never had a bad experience with this. The fact that people I approach say “no” is a legitimate response that I respect. In the vast majority of cases, however, it doesn’t happen. On the contrary.

Luck does not protect against misfortune

I believe that if “business luck” strikes often, you can get on a kind of lucky streak. This is basically logical: the more positive events you have, the more you are perceived as successful. Doors are opened more often and more easily, mistakes are forgiven more quickly. You work with a bundle of advance praise in your hand. And; you run the risk of falling victim to hot hand syndrome.

The fact that an accumulation of “strokes of luck” also systematically leads to an increase in “strokes of misfortune” is ignored. Ironically, the expectation that you will be lucky is a relatively reliable guarantee of business misfortune. The opposite is the case; you can always crash completely. I try to be aware of this even in moments of great luck.

In my experience, the only thing that really helps is a certain amount of vigilance and, above all, humility and gratitude towards the positive things and circumstances that are there. It’s also always good if you don’t feel sorry for yourself.

And, of course, the balance sheet is always a mixed bag. You always sign the whole bill – with all the good and bad things – that’s no different in business than in real life.

Business model on good luck

Anyone who now thinks, ok well, then I just have to keep rolling the dice until luck favors me, has done the math without the basics. Business luck is always based on a business model that has a solid foundation. A strategy that bets on future development. And on hard work. Happiness must fall on fertile ground. And creating this soil is your job alone. After all.