3 Ways You Can Pivot Your Business to Accelerate Your Growth Here are a few recommendations on learning when to change trajectory and leverage your pivot into a world of potential abundance, not scarcity.
By Drew McLellan Edited by Maria Bailey
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Most people think that once you "niche down," you're stuck. It's not true. When you run a successful niche business, you can speak to an incredibly specific audience on topics they care deeply about. That kind of personalization is increasingly sought these days, as 71% of consumers say they crave individualization from their brand interactions.
But choosing a niche doesn't mean you're locked into your original choice forever. It's not only possible but profitable to change lanes every once in a while — even if you've been driving on the same highway for a long time.
Related: How to Find Your Startup's Niche
Of course, you can't (and shouldn't) change your niche every month or even year. But you don't have to believe the myth that you're not allowed to deviate from your original course. Taking a well-considered "left turn" on your journey could be just the ticket to a lucrative metamorphosis.
Knowing what time is the right time
From an BIZ Experiencesial standpoint, one of the most welcome benefits of moving from one niche to another is that you have the opportunity to use your depth of knowledge in new ways. You're able to evolve as a founder and leader. Rather than starting again from ground zero, you're simply serving a different narrow audience in a different narrow lane. It can be very personally satisfying to use your standing expertise (and your business expertise) in a brand-new playbook.
So, how do you know when it's time to change your focus midstream? And what's the best way to niche down without losing your shirt? Here are a few recommendations on learning when to change trajectory and leverage your pivot into a world of potential abundance, not scarcity.
1. Look for alternative niches branching from your current niche
Think about the current niche(s) that your business has become known for. These niches make up your core. Look at Patagonia: What started as a rock-climbing accessory store grew to encompass their customers' interests in other outdoor sports. Today, Patagonia is a wildly successful, outdoor lifestyle brand. They stuck to their core values and grew into related niches that their customers cared about. What niches branch off from your industry? What else does your audience want?
An excellent way to answer this question is to have conversations with your team. Talk about any clusters of audience types you're starting to advise more often. Identifying these clusters can help you see untapped niche opportunities. Although the new niche may look unique from your existing niche, you'll likely find more alignment between the niches than you expected. This alignment links the two niches and makes it easier to start pivoting.
Take time with this step, and know you aren't required to change your niche suddenly. Transitioning a niche should be a slow, deliberate progression. Most businesses I've worked with take two to three years to change their niches. That way, they can build trust with their new audience while maintaining trust with the old one. According to the 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer, businesses enjoy a high degree of trust with the public, outshining the media and government. You want to do everything you can to take any transitions slowly, so they'll be helpful (and not jarring) to customers.
Related: The Step-By-Step Guide to Finding Your Niche and Target Market
2. Put your new niche through a litmus test before making changes
Even if you're sure you're ready to shift to another niche, first make sure that it actually is a niche. For example, "healthcare" is not a niche. It's simply too broad to be a niche. There are niches within the vast healthcare sector, but healthcare is a broad umbrella. The last thing you want is to pivot into something that isn't a niche at all.
Niches are limited by nature but are "drillable." You can get vertically deep with a niche. Once you're drilled down, you can broaden your offerings, not your audience. Resist the temptation to feel like a narrow niche will somehow tie you down. If you can become a known commodity within a strict niche, you will find that you can become the voice of that niche.
Authority in a niche can be very powerful because you're the "It" person or brand. You're the go-to leader, which will make selling to your niche easier and more profitable. Research from Grist indicates that 91% of C-suite types choose advisors based on prospects' thought leadership. Therefore, becoming an authority in a tight niche could make selling more straightforward, particularly if you're in a B2B marketplace.
3. Reclaim and repurpose your content to avoid recreating the wheel
As mentioned before, your next niche should have alignment with your new one. This means that you should be able to reuse plenty of the content you've amassed. Content includes everything from podcasts to blog posts to videos. Why waste what you spent money, time, and energy building? 94% of marketers surveyed by ReferralRock say they repurpose their content, and the other 6% plan to do so in the future.
It will take time to slice and dice all your content and devise clever ways to repurpose everything. This is another reason to take your "niche pivot" slowly and deliberately. As you evaluate your content, ask yourself a few questions: How can this be used to accelerate the growth of our next niche? Can we use any of this content to construct a community within the new niche? Is any of this content helpful to the people in the other niche?
Related: Why Focusing on Underserved or Niche Markets Can Be a Winning Strategy
If you've picked a strong niche, you'll start to see lots of content possibilities and connections. Give yourself permission to think differently about your business and the content you produce, too. Just because you've never offered Facebook Live events or proposed Q&A Zoom meetings doesn't mean you can't start.
No matter what you've heard or maybe assumed, it's okay if the niche you started with isn't your home forever. If you're patient and strategic, untethering yourself from your original niche can be an incredibly profitable way to evolve.
