A very useful entrepreneurial skill is figuring out what activity is going to pay off. A friend of mine had a strategy for wealth creation that really worked for her: she started businesses based on government rebates and/or restrictions.

For example; when a years-long drought prompted the government to restrict water usage in California homes, she started a company that sold inexpensive ways to comply with the new law – everything from low-flow toilets and conversion kits (for regular toilets) to low output/high energy shower heads. When the compliance deadline passed, and the demand for her products was reduced, she closed the company.

She did a similar thing when people were being reimbursed for converting to solar power; started a company that sold and installed solar panels. When the government rebates/reimbursements ended, she closed the company.

As a side note: knowing when to close a company is also a pivotal entrepreneurial skill. She kept them going only as long as buying her products resulted either in consumers making money or avoiding penalties.

She’s made millions with this strategy for wealth creation – from almost everything she took on.

These days she might be specializing in real estate – first home buyers, who currently get a tax break of $8,000 – or various green endeavors; there are many national, state and local funding opportunities for homeowners, industry, government organizations and nonprofits who want to go green.

Achieving success requires organization – don’t just wing it and expect to get somewhere. Being able to develop a strategy for wealth creation is a vital entrepreneurial skill; that strategy is the fundamental upon which all business decisions are made. Do it, and you’re more likely to succeed.