Many people believe that to start a successful company you just need to be the right person at the right place at the right time and everything will come together. So is it all about luck, or is there some skill involved? I tend to feel that it is a bit of both, and that to be successful you need the right skills set, but you also need the elements of success to come together at the same time.

There are definitely certain skills necessary in order to be successful at starting your own business. Things like organisation skills, vision and purpose, being good with money, being competent at what you do, valuing your customers, being self-disciplined and able to manage your time wisely.

However, these traits alone might not be enough to make a success of your new venture. If you think about any number of entrepreneurial success stories that you know of, there is always that element of luck that played a part in how it all happened. By luck, I don’t mean some unknown force of destiny, but more a harmonious coming together of a number of contributing factors at the same time to make things work. The main factors that need to work together for a successful company start-up include having the right product for the right industry at just the right time to maximise growth. An entrepreneur who is successfully able to identify these main factors has unlocked that missing element for success.

In order to be a success, an entrepreneur needs the added ability to read the times. In doing so, they will be able to identify the right product for the right industry and the right time to launch it in order to maximise future growth and profits. This takes clarity of mind in order to identify these elements, as well as the courage to act when the time is right, instead of waiting and missing the opportunity. Research even shows that entrepreneurs who succeed in investing in a good industry at the right time are more likely to succeed in their subsequent ventures. The ability to time the market right is an attribute of successful entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs with previous successes can get their hands on more capital and services if suppliers think they are persistent performers. For example, high-quality engineers or scientists may be more interested in joining a company started by an entrepreneur who previously started a company in a good industry at the right time if they believe that this track record increases the likelihood of success. In this way, success breeds success.

So while you are developing the other necessary entrepreneurial skills for success, take the time to identify whether your product or service is the right one for the industry you want to serve at this particular time, because these factors could be the luck you need to make a success of your business.

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The Small Business Forum is an independent network of entrpreneurs and small business owners established to encourage and support the creation, growth and development of small business in South Africa.

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