How to Pivot Your Business During a Crisis — and Why You Don't Need Another Crisis Before You Get Started Pivoting The concept of the pivot has been brought to the fore in recent years as the answer to crises, pandemics and revolutions. But, instead of reacting, why don't we make pivoting simply a way of doing business?
By Joanna Knight Edited by Micah Zimmerman
Key Takeaways
- Create an environment where people feel safe, there is a shared sense of purpose, and the focus is on transparency and communication.
- If your culture and strategy don't line up, there will be disconnect and disharmony.
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
The ability to pivot is a valuable skill in any business toolbox. Fundamentally, it is about being able to change direction in order to provide a product or service that best meets the needs of your clients. And, as we know, they are not a constant.
The whole concept of pivoting has been brought to the forefront in recent years thanks to the pandemic and all manner of reactions to the consistently changing landscape. It has been a means of surviving and thriving in tumultuous times.
Yet, we don't need a crisis or challenge to embrace these very principles and build an adaptable business.
Related: Is Pivoting a Last-Ditch Effort or a Sound Business Strategy?
How to nurture the art of pivoting
Every business should be moving forward. Every business should be listening to their clients. And every business should be looking for new and better ways to do things to solve a problem or respond to a requirement.
The future of business lies in setting it up to recognize when certain expectations aren't being met to the fullest and then being willing and able to respond. And it applies to every aspect of business, from the smallest amendment in how you position yourself to an all-in complete change of strategy.
Related: The 4 Secrets to a Successful Pivot
Listen
Listen to your clients. To your data. To your people. To your market. The information you require to make decisions is out there; it is about hearing it. Your clients will tell you what they need, whether through a direct request, your customer service team, or, more subtly, what they are buying or which marketing tools they respond to.
Businesses need to be consistently and constantly monitoring the information. Only when you have good quality raw data can you analyze it, pulling out trends and needs that you can then, in turn, pivot, if necessary, and respond to. Starbucks' customers were initially people who enjoyed great coffee at home, but through listening to the market, they realized there was a shift to café-culture and pivoted to address this.
Set yourself up to succeed
Make change and adaptability a fundamental part of your business and your culture. That way, pivoting isn't a massive change; it is simply how things are done. Create an environment where people feel safe, there is a shared sense of purpose, and the focus is on transparency and communication. Demonstrate that you yourself are adaptable. Encourage curiosity, learning, innovation, mistakes, and, ultimately, become comfortable with fluidity.
If your culture and strategy don't line up, there will be disconnect and disharmony. Pivoting should be a business strategy's heart, not an afterthought. It should be a way of doing business that places businesses in a better position as they move into the future. A great example of this is Amazon. It began with selling books back in 1994, but Bezos never treated it as a retail company; it was a technology company for online selling. This perception is how the business has pivoted and succeeded, with the initial concept of book sales, now a digital product with the Amazon Kindle.
Related: Amazon Is Huge Because It Started With A Great MVP
Respond
You have the culture sorted. And you have the data. The next step is to act. The key to successful pivoting is to act as quickly as possible. It is about looking for new opportunities and evaluating them for growth. Not all the opportunities will be worthwhile or suit your particular business.
Take Kodak, a name synonymous with photography for so long, but a company that refused to respond to the digital photography revolution and then had to file for bankruptcy.
Pivoting has traditionally been kept for responses to technological advances such as these and worldwide events to expand markets and remain relevant. All valid applications. But my question is, what if we apply the approach to business all the time? What if we make it our business strategy? What could we achieve then?
Some could argue that pivoting is a last-ditch attempt to survive and a huge risk. It can be if it is left too late. What it should be is small adjustments, made frequently in response to your data, until you find the right fit (for now).
Pivoting happens in business; markets change over time, and so will you. It's not about whether your business will need to pivot (it will) but rather if you are going to prepare your business to nurture a pre-emptive approach. Rather than wait for your market or industry to tell you that you need to pivot, is it not better practice to be the first one to spot the opportunity? And respond?
