As we’re approaching St. Patrick’s Day, I wanted to touch on a subject that most of us have probably never considered in much depth: LUCK IN BUSINESS.
When I told my father that my husband, my ex, and I were starting a printing company, his response wasn’t exactly overflowing with enthusiasm and support. He didn’t ask a single question about the business—didn’t try to understand it at all—but somehow still had plenty of advice to give.
The setup has been slow-going. A couple of months after that initial conversation, at the time of this article, we are still waiting for our large machinery to arrive from China. So during a recent phone call with my dad, when he asked what was new, I said, “Oh, still waiting on the printer.”
His response: “What printer?”
I blinked. “The UV printer for our business.”
“Oh… you’re still doing that?”
“Um… YEAH.”
And just like before, he launched into more unsolicited advice—again, without asking a single question about what we’re actually doing. Then, at the end of it all, he derisively concluded with, “Well, I wish you all the luck.”
That phrase alone wouldn’t have bothered me, but when I responded, “I think it will be a lot more than luck,” he just brushed it off. The implication was clear: If we fail, it’s proof that he was right all along. If we succeed, it’ll just be written off as luck. Either way, in his mind, we didn’t actually do anything to make it happen.
What an awful and dismissive way of looking your daughter’s success, as it completely ignores everything that goes into building a business: the planning, the effort, the skills, the perseverance. Luck exists, sure, but it’s not what separates those who succeed from those who don’t. Let me say that again –
LUCK IS NOT WHAT SEPARATES THOSE WHO SUCCEED FROM THOSE WHO DON’T
It’s the work behind the scenes—the things most people don’t see—that make the real difference.
So let’s break this down: How much of success is really luck, and how much of it is preparation, persistence, and skill?
Does Luck Play a Role in Success?
Of course, luck exists. We’ve all seen people land in the right place at the right time. Some people are born into wealth or have connections that give them a head start. Some stumble upon opportunities purely by accident. Some are fortunate enough to avoid obstacles that others struggle with.
Bill Gates is a famous example. He was lucky to be born at the perfect time for the rise of personal computing. He was lucky to live near a college that had computer resources he could use as a teenager—something that was incredibly rare at the time. But here’s what people miss: He also spent tens of thousands of hours coding before he ever graduated high school. He built his skills obsessively, preparing himself for when the right opportunity came. His circumstances were lucky; his success was not.
Look at golfing statistics where a hole-in-one is concerned:
| Category | Odds of Getting a Hole-in-One | Explanation |
| Professional Golfers | 1 in 2,500 | Years of practice and refined skills turn luck into opportunity. |
| Amateur Golfers | 1 in 12,750 | They’re still golfers who have put in work and practice, but play for fun. |
| Someone Who’s Never Picked Up a Golf Club | Near zero chance | No experience, no practice, they would probably miss the ball on their first swing. |
German study on Holes in One – Wikipedia
This is where people misunderstand luck. It’s not about getting something for nothing. It’s about being prepared and increasing your chances of success. For the professional golfer, 1 in 2,500 is still a rare event, but look how much closer they are than the others.
Creating Your Own Luck
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” That’s not just a cliché—it’s a reality. Most successful people “engineer” their own luck by putting themselves in situations where opportunities can happen.
Imagine two people:
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- One person sits at home, hoping a good job falls into their lap.
- Another actively applies to jobs, attends networking events, reaches out to industry professionals, and sharpens their skills.
Which person has a better chance of getting a great job? The second one, obviously. Did they get lucky if they land a dream role? Maybe. But they also did everything possible to make that “luck” happen.
This applies to business too. If you start a company, you increase your odds of “getting lucky” in business. If you never start, your odds are zero. If you market your products aggressively, you increase your chances of being noticed. If you talk to potential customers every day, you boost the likelihood of landing sales.
Luck isn’t really random. You create the conditions for luck to find you.
Muscle-building comes from repeatedly pushing your muscles to the limit. Lifting weights causes tiny tears in muscle fibers, and as they heal, they become stronger. No luck involved—just hard work and recovery.
Building a business is the same way. Success doesn’t come from waiting for a lucky break. It’s about putting in the work, facing challenges, and learning from them. The more you build, the stronger and more successful your business becomes.
Hope vs. Strategy
Many people confuse positive thinking with luck. While staying optimistic can help you keep going through tough times, it’s not the same as creating your own opportunities. Hope and positive thinking are important for motivation, but success requires more than just a good attitude. You need a clear plan, hard work, and the ability to adapt. Positive thinking can keep you on track, but it’s the actions you take that turn that positivity into real results.
What’s in Your Control vs. What’s Not?
Luck applies only to the things that are out of your control. And guess what? You control a lot more than you might think.
Here’s what you do control:
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- How much effort you put into marketing and advertising
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- The quality of your products and services
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- How often you engage with potential customers
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- How you present your business
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- Who you hire
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- How you treat employees
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- How you handle setbacks and failures
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- How you adapt and improve (Kaizen, continuous improvement, etc.)
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- Your customer service levels
Here’s what you don’t control:
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- What your competitors do
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- How customers behave and how much they can spend
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- The overall economy and market trends
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- World events and news cycles
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- Perfect knowledge of where every great opportunity is
Long-term success isn’t about luck—it’s about how well you manage what’s in your control.
Finding the Right Opportunity: Our “Lucky Break”
If luck is involved in business, it’s different for everyone. For us, our “luck” was discovering this industry in the first place. We found UV printing when most people don’t even know it exists. The technology is still relatively new and growing, and we happened to come across it at the right time. That was lucky—because in the past, I always seemed to find opportunities after they were already oversaturated.
But that’s where luck ends. From here on out, success is up to us. If we don’t make it, that means something needs fixing. And figuring out what that is takes hard work, patience, perseverance, and, yes, probably money. It’s a process of trial and error, learning, adapting—and when we do succeed, that effort should be recognized, not dismissed as “just luck.”
A Lucky Week vs. A Lucky Business
Luck can impact a single day or week. Maybe a big client randomly finds your business and places a huge order. Maybe a competitor suddenly closes, sending more customers your way. Maybe a social media post unexpectedly goes viral. These are short-term lucky breaks.
But long-term business success isn’t built on lucky weeks—it’s built on consistent effort over years. If luck were the determining factor, casinos would be full of millionaires. But they’re not, because luck doesn’t hold up over time. Skill, strategy, and perseverance do.
The Worker vs. The Entrepreneur Mindset
One of the biggest differences between successful entrepreneurs and “regular workers” is how they view opportunities.
A business-minded person sees an opportunity and jumps on it. A regular worker may not even recognize the opportunity exists. It’s not because one person is better than the other—it’s just a difference in perspective.
Entrepreneurs put themselves in a position to “get lucky.” They network, they experiment, they try things that might fail but also might work. And when something finally clicks, outsiders say, “Wow, what great luck!” But they don’t see the hundreds of attempts that didn’t work.
Timing vs. Luck
Is success about timing, or is it just luck?
It’s true that being in the right place at the right time can make a big difference. But timing isn’t just random—it’s about awareness.
The more you’re involved in your industry, the better you can sense when trends are shifting. The more you experiment, the more you recognize when an idea is “hitting” at the right moment. The more you learn, the more prepared you are to act when the time is right.
Luck isn’t a percentage of success—it’s a multiplier. The harder you work, the more skilled you become, and the more opportunities you create, the more luck has a chance to find you.
Final Thought: If You Never Try, You’ll Never Know
Consider this scenario: “After trying to fix my computer for two hours straight, I finally got lucky and found the solution.” It’s an ironic statement that perfectly illustrates what luck isn’t.
Bottom line: Success isn’t luck, it’s EARNED! It’s the grind. It’s the decisions, the failures, and the work that never stops. Luck might give you a moment, but it doesn’t build a business. So if anyone tries to chalk up your success to luck, let them. You’ll know it’s the countless hours, the persistence, and the sweat that made it happen.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
