I love knowing where I’m going as much as the next girl. It feels great having a plan and a vision. But sometimes, life, and business throw you curveballs and you simply have to adjust! I’ve found that being able to know when to pivot and how much to adjust makes a big impact in your overall business results.
Here’s 5 times to be ready to pivot.
The Plan B Pivot: This one is pretty simple. Plan A didn’t work. You are not getting the results you want, and the market will either force you to pivot or they will force you out. The key to successfully navigate this pivot is knowing when and how to do it. If you didn’t give plan A enough time, you’ll pivot too soon without gathering the data to know what was broken in plan A. And if you pivot too soon, you’ll probably also miss the mark on the second attempt. There is no hard fast answer on how many days, weeks or months to try something before you make changes. But my general rule of thumb is to try it a few times to get data and measure performance. Then make changes.- The Growth Pivot: This becomes necessary when your business or industry is growing and what you had always done no longer works. You may have outgrown your systems and processes. You may need to adjust your services. I have a client going through this right now. He’s always personally worked with his clients. Now business is growing and he can’t be the only one working with them. He has to pivot on how he positions his offers to make space for other talented people to work inside his organization. If you wait too long for this pivot, you’ll stop growth. If you do it too soon, you’ll put financial strain on the company. Watch your numbers and hire strategically.
- The Personnel Pivot: Sometimes you get someone on your team that isn’t working. Or you have a great team member that leaves. Move quickly and decisively in these moments. Don’t hang on to an underperforming team member. And as soon as your A player tells you they are leaving, start the hiring process! It takes time to find the right team member and too many business owners are so slow to move that they end up doing a quick hire that they regret later.
- The Marketing Pivot: I wish marketing was a set it and forget it experience. But it’s not. Instead it’s an ever evolving, frequently moving area of your business. You will probably pivot here more frequently than the other areas of your business. This is why I promote the 7 point marketing strategy. I find that when my clients have 7 different marketing strategies they use to bring leads in, there is enough diversity and movement in their marketing to allow for them to follow their marketing trends. But it also keeps you from trying everything under the sun, and throwing mud to see what sticks.
- The Personal Passion Pivot: I’ll be honest, I like change and evolution. My passion shifts. And when I won’t allow myself to pivot in my focus and in what I’m creating, I end up feeling rather bored. I love to create new things. I’ve also had to make an agreement with myself that I will love my creations enough to see them through to the point of sale. We do need to follow our passions. But we also need to temper them enough that we are not constantly chasing a new idea. If you are a highly creative person, make sure business is not your only channel for creativity.
Pivoting is a critical part of your business. What area of your business could use a pivot right about now?