How Companies Are Learning to Pivot in the Current Business Environment
Nikki Carlson, ChicExecs Marketing Agency’s Co-Founder/Co-President, shares her strategies for pivoting businesses on Forbes blog.
The current pandemic is forcing more businesses every day to pivot their models and strategies in ways that they never would have imagined months ago. What does pivoting mean? For some companies, it means converting regular product inventory into face masks for the public.
Another strategy I’m seeing during this crisis involves pivoting services rather than goods. As many brick-and-mortar stores find themselves temporarily closed, beauty consultants, for example, are trading their behind-the-counter skills for those in a digital age. Customers looking for advice before they buy a makeup or skincare product benefit from these online-only services.
If you know your business already has the materials and service strategies ready to implement, that’s the easy part. Crossing that threshold into selling a good or service your brand isn’t known for, on the other hand, is scary. In this time of business uncertainty, heed the advice of author and entrepreneur Eric Ries: “A pivot is a change in strategy without a change in vision.”
One great takeaway from this quote is that pivoting your business doesn’t have to happen on a large scale. You might not need to start from scratch with your business model or convert your entire manufacturing space to sell a different product lineup, especially if your company doesn’t have the means or resources to do that in the first place.
1. Start small, and move to remote operations. The rollout of a new business strategy is only as successful as the team behind it.
2. Shift to an online marketplace. Depending upon your type of business, this might take some creative brainstorming that goes beyond driving traffic to your website to buy your product.
3. Invest in your social media and messaging. Perhaps your company found paid ads highly successful in the past. It’s time to transfer those resources over to social media engagement if you haven’t already.
Read Nikki Carlson’s full blog for more ideas of how to pivot your business so you can stay relevant and reach long-term goals.
