Make sure your bench is clean and free from spatter, slag etc, and clamp the job down or put some weight on it so that it has a good electrical contact with the bench.
Warm your electrode with a short burst of weld on a piece of scrap, then move straight on to the job, a hot electrode will strike much easier than a cold one
Yep, like @Paul says, if the bench top is covered in spatter etc you don’t get a good earth. A good clean up means a better earth and you should get better welds as a result. A striking plate is a good idea too as Mr Brightspark suggests. (After a year or so you can sell it as a piece of steam punk art sculpture )