To Pivot or Not...That is the Question!
July 2019
I'm sure you've heard the quote: "It takes 20 years to make an overnight success." Many successful business owners agree - success doesn't happen overnight. It only looks like that on the outside.
During those years of deepening, morphing, sculpting your core vision, there are many instances when your great business idea hits hard times. The secret skill of those successful business owners is knowing how and when to pivot.
A pivot in business means changing the main product, target market, or marketing plan sometimes on a massive scale. To some this may sound desperate but many entrepreneurs have used this skill to turn a possible failure into a massive success.
5 big brands that became massively successful after a pivot:
- YouTube: Youtube started out as a video based dating site! They saw the potential of becoming everyone's home for their online videos, pivoted to capture this audience and now is worth $65 billion owned by Google.
- Slack: Originally was created as a sort of social video game. Low profits had them pivot to become a chat app for co-workers that took off, big time.
- Groupon: Groupon started as a way of connecting people through social and charitable causes called The Point. A portion of this business was bringing groups together to pool their money in order to negotiate a discount. This subset of their business called Groupon took off quickly, the founders pivoted, made it their central platform, and became the success it is today.
- Yelp: Yelp started as a way for friends to ask each other for recommendations. This did not take off despite a large amount of start up capital. The founders noticed people were leaving reviews of local businesses on the app and saw the potential to focus entirely on local reviews. To this day it's almost impossible to have a successful local business without Yelp reviews.
- Shopify: Shopify founders started an online snowboard equipment store, didn't like the ecommerce options out there so they built their own. Their pivot was to then sell the ecommerce application they built to other business owners.
"The ability to 'pivot,' is critical... pivoting is the art of recognizing that the pursuit of a specific idea, direction or product - in which you've invested significant time, money and energy – is no longer the correct path to follow." (Entrepreneur)
My greatest pivot that transformed my cookie business into what became a multi-million dollar company was when we recognized the opportunity that the volume and revenue wasn't in the cookie business...it was in the GIFT business! Packaging and customizing our cookie packaging specifically for corporate gift-giving was the golden key to unlimited possibilities. Our cookie gifts became a personal way to do business, to thank referrals, to welcome in new home buyers on move-in day, to open doors for potential clients, birthday programs, and on and on. It took courage. It took strategy. It took guts. It worked!
Are you facing a choice point?
Are you lying awake at night worrying about flat or falling business numbers?
Do you have one area of your business that is thriving while another is stagnant?
Are you ready to drive your business to the highest level?
Yes? Then you are ready to pivot.
Three rules for making a successful pivot in your business:
- Be Brave. Fuel your confidence and self esteem, then get to work and don't look back.
- Be Collaborative. Use your employees, your customers and clients as your focus group research. Test the idea. Listen for feedback.
- Hire the right coach to see you through the process.
Listen, if you are facing this right now and you are in the weeds, you can't see the big picture. Hiring a Business Growth Strategist (like ME) can help you focus on the real issues, objectively ask you the right questions that give you the necessary information you need to move your business forward.
My 2 hour Strategy Session is a great place to start. This affordable investment gets you off stuck, on purpose, with an action plan that propels you forward through the pivot and beyond.
Two hours. That's it. Clarity. Next steps. A whole new business. A whole new you.
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