You hear all the time about how someone lucked into a situation.  They were lucky when they started a business that took off.  They were lucky when an investment they made tripled in value.  There is a secret to this luck, and Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars said it best:

“In my experience there’s no such thing as luck.”

Sure, there’s luck where you’re walking along and find a $100 bill.  Beyond blind luck like this, everything else is opportunity, not luck.  Opportunity comes to everyone.  Many times people aren’t looking and therefore aren’t prepared for the opportunity, and opportunity slips through their fingers.

Have a set area of knowledge and experience, know what that area is, and watch carefully for any and all opportunities.  In business, a majority of opportunities come in the form of being able to expand the business.  Knowledge and capital are vital in being able to take advantage of these opportunities.  In my personal businesses, I have a set pool of capital that is built upon 50% of net income JUST INCASE an opportunity comes my way.

Here’s an example of where I wasn’t able to take advantage of an opportunity.  As mentioned in previous articles, I take 10% of my gross business income and put it into investments.  Last year my investment strategy involved keeping my investment capital constantly invested so it could maximize its returns.  A contact of mine from a separate investment had recommended a foreign mining company as an investment.  From my research, it had three things going for it.

• It was a copper mine.  China, at the time, was buying as much copper as possible to expand its industrial base, so copper prices were increasing.
• The stock paid a decent dividend.  I was on the lookout for dividend paying investments.  In my investments, I don’t look for capital gains, I focus on a nice percentage yield.
• For reasons that I wasn’t able to determine, but other investors in the stock confirmed, the price per share had a pattern that allowed for the price to increase, you sell, the price falls, you buy back in on the cheap, repeat the process.

With my next income for investments, I split the funds up into 4 different investments; the other three I had been in for two years and knew they did well.  I didn’t invest as much as I could have into the mine company.  Of course, after that the stock took off!  It climbed from the low $60’s and hit the low 100’s where the stock was split 2:1 and the price fell back down to $60.  Right now, the price is back over $100.  I knew the investment was a good one; the stock was priced below the book value, and I really wanted to buy it.  Due to the stock split and the increase of price, my initial investment has increased over 400%!  I wish I could have bought more back then…

Keep your options open.  Be in a position so when opportunity comes knocking you can grab it by the ears and hang on tight!

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