Serendipity in Business: Turning Chance into Success

Serendipity in Business

More than four decades ago, a young Spaniard visiting New York City found himself near Central Park, where he encountered a dining concept that was entirely new to him. At a restaurant there, the price of a main course included appetizers, a menu structure that simplified the decision-making process for diners. This approach encouraged patrons to order a starter, and because they perceived it as complimentary, they felt the overall price offered strong value for money.

That observation would later shape the career of Carlos Galán, a Miami-based restaurant owner who has since opened multiple establishments in both Madrid and Miami built around this same menu philosophy. While the specific dishes on his menus rotate regularly, Galán attributes a significant portion of his restaurants’ success—and their ability to weather difficult economic periods—to this organizational structure. By integrating appetizers into the cost of the main course, he has found a way to keep dining out both affordable and appealing to customers, even when budgets are tight.

In the field of entrepreneurial research, this kind of fortunate discovery has a formal name. Serendipity is defined as an “active process of turning unplanned, surprising moments into valuable outcomes.” It is not merely luck or chance; it is the deliberate act of recognizing and capitalizing on the unexpected.

Throughout the journey of building a business, countless moments can unfold in this serendipitous way. However, their significance often becomes clear only in hindsight, when we look back and construct the narrative of how events actually transpired. The key, according to researchers and entrepreneurs alike, is to remain receptive to these moments in the present—to leave room for them to occur without becoming discouraged when they fail to materialize.

There is no fixed formula or step-by-step playbook for manufacturing serendipity in business. It cannot be forced or scheduled. Instead, it serves as a reminder that entrepreneurship inherently involves navigating constant change, uncertainty, and events that defy prediction. The goal is not to control every variable but to maintain a state of openness that allows you to spot unexpected possibilities as they arise, while also accepting that not every surprise will prove to be significant.

Researchers frequently refer to this as a mindset, and it is a quality that has surfaced repeatedly in conversations with Galán and other business owners. This disposition aligns closely with what scholars have identified as the individual-level engine of serendipity: the “prepared mind.” A prepared mind is one that is equipped with the knowledge, experience, and awareness to recognize a valuable opportunity when it appears, even if that opportunity arrives disguised as a random event or an unforeseen circumstance. In Galán’s case, his prepared mind was ready to see the genius in a simple menu structure decades ago—and he has been turning that single moment of insight into enduring business success ever since.

Can Businesses Organize for Chance?

While luck often appears to strike at random, there is a structural side to how businesses encounter and capitalize on the unexpected. Companies can be organized in a way that allows them to notice an anomaly, recognize its potential, and pivot to build around it. In this sense, openness is not just a mindset; it becomes a tangible way of doing business.

This dynamic helps explain how a 1923 fire station in Miami’s Brickell district became home to Dolores But You Can Call Me Lolita, one of the city’s most celebrated restaurants. The transformation was remarkably swift. In 2007, the Brickell financial district was hardly a guaranteed environment for restaurant success. Yet, the founder was already seeking his next venture with a proven model in mind. The story, therefore, is less about blind luck and more about encountering an unexpected opportunity while being fully prepared to act on it.

From Boxer to Restaurateur

According to his own account, the founder never intended to enter the restaurant industry. Born in Madrid, he described himself as a poor student who initially pursued a boxing career. That athletic path took him to California, where he was first introduced to the United States. What followed resembles a fortunate streak: he opened three restaurants in Madrid—La Misión, El Recuerdo, and El Olvido—before relocating to Miami in 1997. There, he operated the South Beach establishment Macarena for a decade. In 2007, he acquired the firehouse, which became the cornerstone of what is now Passion Restaurant Group, alongside Crazy About You and, later, Love Is Blind in Coral Gables.

The Difference Between Luck and Serendipity

To classify this entire journey as mere luck would be a mistake. There is a critical distinction between luck and serendipity, one that hinges on personal agency. As the book The Serendipity Mindset explains, luck simply lands on you without your input. Serendipity, in contrast, is an active force. It requires awareness, action, and the ability to see value where others might see noise.

However, there is a caveat to this approach. Capitalizing on an unplanned moment relies heavily on memory, particularly on how entrepreneurs reconstruct their own histories. It seems almost contradictory to develop a strategic plan for something that is, by definition, unplanned. Often, it is only in hindsight that we identify the serendipitous moment. When retelling a business story, we impose a sense of coherence on events that, at the time they were occurring, felt fragmented, uncertain, and difficult to interpret.