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.
People who get success can sometimes have a distorted view of how they arrived there. They often overlook all the tried and failed attempts at business ideas, which many others would never even attempt. Luck can play a small part, but it's often a case of generating your own luck and that is the key difference. If you are pro-active, going out to seek new fortune, it is different than never attempting anything at all - hoping that it will fall into your lap. There is a big difference with many examples in business, like choosing to focus on one product or service while cutting loose the other less profitable ones, it's a small step but it is based on reasoned prior experience rather than some defined fate.