In April 1403, the seventeen-year-old Balša became the ruler of Zeta when his father Đurađ II died as a result of the injuries he had suffered at the Battle of Tripolje.

As he was young and inexperienced, his main advisor was his mother, Jelena, a sister of the ruler of Serbia at the time, Stefan Lazarević.

In 1409, however, Venice had purchased the rights to Dalmatia from King Ladislaus of Naples and began fighting for control of Dalmatian cities.

Venice, pressed with difficulties, had no choice but to agree to return territories it had previously seized.

In 1421, before his death and under the influence of his mother, he passed the rule of Zeta to his uncle, Despot Stefan Lazarević.