Recently I have had numerous reunions with Uncles from my extended family. Some of them are successful businessmen for decades. They built their business from nothing and are living quite a comfortable life now. We had long conversations about life in general, including their key to success. I knew very well that they have been hard workers ever since I had a memory so I would contribute their success to endless efforts. However, one thing they had mentioned in common was luck. They believe pure luck made them meet and grasp those opportunities and become successful rather than their smartness and efforts. I've thought about this before and couldn't agree with this more. They've set very good examples to me, including my father, and now I tend to focus more on work itself consistently and let luck or fate takes the rest.
There's no secret ingredient for success, I think it has to do more with hard work, focus and persistence.
However, these factors are always mentioned, what I really think is important is to take a look into the mistakes some first time founders had.
I found this article recently and it could be of great help for those who are starting their own business:
https://www.ratherlabs.com/post/biggest-mistakes-first-time-startup-founders-make-and-how-to-avoid-them