How to Pivot Your Business Without Losing Momentum

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Apr 2

Written By brandmerry

How to Pivot Your Business
Without Losing Momentum

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

Thinking of pivoting your business or finding yourself at a place where a pivot is necessary for income? Check out the different phases of a pivot to consider and how to identify if a pivot is right for you in this season. Read the blog here: https:…

If you prefer to watch a video version of this post, which is highly recommended, you can do so below.

Last week on the blog, I did a special post on Branding and Messaging Your Business During a Crisis, you can check it out here.

And so many community members asked about a very specific part of that post and video, which was all about pivoting your business.

It makes so much sense that this would be a concern right now as we navigate this Global Pandemic (also known as Coronavirus). It’s got so many businesses thinking, “How do we make money during this time?”

But, to be honest, this isn’t something we should just be prepared for as it applies to a pandemic like this, many business owners might need to pivot their offer, messaging or business due to life changes.

Maybe you’re wondering…
...if now is the right time to sell anything.
...how you should be supporting people.
...what to offer since what you typically do is not possible.
...if your offers or services need to change.
...what you should be charging.

And, that’s probably just the tip of the iceberg with questions running through your head.

I highly suggest writing these prompts and questions down to dive into on your own. Carve out 15 minutes a day to answering these questions to gain clarity on your next steps.

PHASE ONE: DETERMINE WHAT STAGE YOU ARE IN

The first step is to figure out what stage you are in because every single business is going to be at a different stage, which is going to mean that your pivot is going to look different.

Nobody's pivot is going to look the same.

Because of this, it can be really easy to get overwhelmed when pivoting because we’ll see other business owners doing something in our niche or similar and we think to ourselves, “I should be doing that! Or should I be doing something different?”

But, we don’t know their story - we might think we know where they are at in their business, but the reality is we probably have no clue.

It’s times like these we need to go inward, worry about our own business, our own progress and our own current stage.

STAGE ONE: YOUR BUSINESS HAS TAKEN A MAJOR HIT

If you’re in this stage, you’re most likely struggling a lot. If you’re a photographer during this particular season of the Coronavirus you’ve had to cancel a lot of your business.

A sign that you are in this stage could be that you’ve taken a major hit financially.

POSSIBILITIES: You can drive more online traffic. You’re going to want to put more time and energy into building an online presence and offering incentives. While you might not be able to physically do your job if you’re a photographer, you could offer gift certificates or coupons if they book now. Think of restaurants around the holidays when they sell a $50 gift card and give you $15 to use on your next visit - same principle.

You might also consider offering something new, I’ve got questions below to support you.

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STAGE TWO: YOUR BUSINESS IS CLOSED

If you’re in this stage, you might have a physical business that is now closed, so your options are to close or move online.

POSSIBILITIES: Move your business online so you can continue to sell. Think about what technology systems you need and how to manage the ins and outs. Every business needs an online presence and you have a chance to build that now. Think of ways to sell gift cards even if it’s not physical products right now. Incorporate incentives as I mentioned above.

Also, this is a great time to build brand awareness and educate your audience on your product so they can purchase at a later date. Use different tools and resources to drive traffic to your new site like Search Engine Optimization and Pinterest.

This might also be a good time to consider a new offer, I’ve got questions below to support you.

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STAGE THREE: YOUR BUSINESS HAS BEEN FORCED TO SHIFT

This stage could look like a lot of different things. Maybe you’ve experienced a hit, but you have money in savings so you don’t have to actively sell right now. It might also mean that what you sell doesn’t feel good and you want to make some adjustments to your offer or how you message it.

The majority of online businesses typically find themselves in this stage.

POSSIBILITIES: If you’re in this stage it’s about heightening your brand awareness. If what you sell or offer is still valid it’s less about what you offer and how you’re offering it. A big shift during this stage might be a pivot or adjustment in your messaging, along with adjusting the price of your offer.

During this brand awareness phase, it’s also important to explore other avenues. For instance, during the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a drop in people spending their money on marketing. That means ad costs have gone down drastically, so if it’s available to you investing in this aspect now can really pay off in the long run.

SPEAKING OF LONG RUN

When pivoting, or navigating a time of great change, it’s so important to focus on the long game. I hate to be the one to say, but even if you're not making money right now, which is scary, you can set yourself up for massive growth later on.

How can you set yourself up so that you can sell later in the year or next year really, really strong?

Those are the things that we need to consider because that is the reality. So how do we do that? Let's talk about some questions that I want you to think about around pivoting your offer.

PHASE TWO: PIVOTING YOUR OFFER OR SERVICE

Let's say that you have an existing offer that's not working, or you have an existing offer that you want to modify. Here are some questions to consider.

What does your audience need right now?

I’m a big fan of market research because I know it changes the game of how we show up, run our businesses and ultimately make sales. If you show up and you ask your audience in this time where they're needing support, they will most likely tell you.

If you don't have an audience already look at other people's threads in your industry, look at what people are Googling, or look and see what people are asking in Facebook groups or threads.

What are people needing right now?

Let me make this clear, I do not mean everyone. I specifically mean what does your target market need and what would support them in this season of life?

How can you show up and give that to them in a way that is an extension of your brand?

Is this something existing? Or do you need to create something new?

For many of you, you are going to have to create something new. You've probably had ideas for things that you can launch or build in the background, but maybe life was too busy so I'm going to challenge you to look back at those ideas that have maybe been sitting on the back burner, on a post-it note on your desk, and start to think, “Is that something that I could create now?”

FEELING STUCK? A NOTE ABOUT BRAND CONTAINERS

Brand Containers are a concept that I teach to all of my clients on the idea that what you sell cannot be your business and brand. If it is you are probably running into a problem right now.

It’s not about having 75 different offers, it’s about having a brand and having variety, allowing for more flexibility, creation and community building.

When you create a business around a single offer and then want to pivot, it will feel like starting over, but when you create a brand first and foremost it’s much easier.

Imagine 5-7 brand containers of things you love talking about. For my business branding, business coaching and marketing are definitely the main ones, but I also love to talk about travel and could offer a blog or course on how to travel full time.

If you’re interested in learning more about Brand Containers and my branding process, check out youbrandedcourse.com.

The key here is you want to first look for a pivot that is of value to your audience and already connected to your brand as a whole, your Brand Containers can help with this.

When it comes to pivoting the hardest thing you can do is burn it all down in the hopes to build something new. I encourage you to look more for opportunities or gaps in which you can make small adjustments.

Ask yourself: How can I show up, that's going to be a value to my audience and is already connected to my brand as a whole?

Then it will feel more of like a shift or extension than it does a complete starting over from scratch.

Pricing Your Offer

If you don’t feel like you need to create something new, just adjust something existing, it’s time to think about how to shift it.

Is there a new pricing structure?
How can you modify an existing offer to launch something smaller?
Can you take a bigger program or something that you've created and sell it separately as a lower-priced offer?
How can you repurpose some of the things that you've talked about in the past?

Think of how you can get creative with what you have. For instance, if you’re a photographer and can’t photograph clients, you don’t necessarily have to declare you’re no longer a photographer. You might be able to adjust your offer to something along the lines of selling a style guide on how to prepare for brand photoshoots or teaching other photographers how to edit their pics.

TO RECAP

What does your audience need?
What can you support them with?
Is there something that you can create that as an extension of your existing brand, think about your brand containers, rather than starting completely over?
And if you have an existing offer that works, how can you modify it or change the pricing structure?

PHASE THREE: AWARENESS AND EDUCATION

Phase three is what every single business should still remain focused on during a pivot or crisis.

The brands and businesses that continue to persevere are the ones that continue to show up, build trust and community. These are the businesses that will experience sales later.

Pivoting isn’t just about the offer it’s also in your messaging and how you show up.

How can you build brand awareness?
How can you create educational components for your audience?
What does this look like for you?

Get ready for the questions because here they come. Some things to consider are:

Does your content need to shift during this transition?
How is your overall brand messaging, is it in alignment with your new direction
Do you need to adjust the platform you are showing up on and reaching your target audience? Do you have SEO on your website? Are you using Pinterest to drive traffic?
Can you start reaching your new target market with advertisements?
Do you have a sales funnel set up for onboarding new community members and leading them to a sale on evergreen?

When you’re pivoting it can be really easy to not show up, to not build an audience because you feel like you don’t have it all figured out. Take some time to get clear on your pivot offer and audience and keep showing up.

People are waiting for your message, even when you’re “figuring it out” keep showing up and building trust.

MISSION-DRIVEN BUSINESS GOALS

When you’re going through a pivot or transition it might feel like you need to create something RIGHT NOW. You might think, “I’m just going to put this out there!”

I'm going to encourage you to slow down just a minute to ask yourself this overarching brand question…

“What’s the purpose behind your business? Why are you doing this in the first place?”

Because the reality is if you run your business just for money, you will run into problems. It has to be more fulfilling. What do you do, when in one season of life you don’t have the money coming in? What continues to drive you?

Questions to consider.

What is your purpose behind your business?
What is your mission?
How can you create content and offers and all those things that are in alignment with that?

And if you don't know this, it’s time to dive deep into your brand.

CONCLUSION + PLANNING

MAKING PLANS

With the info that you have collected from above, I want you to start mapping out and planning your next steps.

I know in times of uncertainty and change, there is power in knowing what direction you're going.

Think of where you are headed, there’s that purpose, mission and long-term thinking again, so you can start taking small steps every single day. Start mapping out what that looks like, but be open to adjusting.

Think about…
How does your content look with these new plans?
What offers are you going to put out there?
What do you need to create?
How can you start rolling out these changes?

Having a plan is really powerful, even if it needs to change and adjust at least you know which direction you’re headed.

If after you dive into these questions you still feel lost and a little overwhelmed. I always encourage people to get a step-by-step plan. My course You! Branded gives you the pieces to finalize your purpose, mission and so much more to build a strong brand and business upon.

You can learn more about You! Branded and the work we do around niching down, ideal client, messaging, offers and emotional branding at youbrandedcourse.com