11 Ways To Pivot Your Business To Kickstart Growth

11 Ways To Pivot Your Business To Kickstart Growth
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All entrepreneurs want to provide the ultimate solution to their target market. Still, it is also inevitable that the conceived goals may end up in a direction with no clear results. If you are experiencing impending failure in your business right now, it is just normal to consider pivoting to get the right groove. Find out below the suggestions on how to pivot and kickstart the growth of your next business venture.

Strip the solution down to a focus on a key feature

As a startup business owner, you want to offer as many features as possible to prospective customers, hoping to generate impact immediately. However, this strategy will not work in all instances as it may confuse customers about what your product feature is offering. Why not consider stripping down some features of your products or services and focus instead on the features you think will be beneficial to them? Once you have established the credibility of your primary product feature, you can add features that customers may not be able to find elsewhere.

Add that “grabber” feature to make your solution stand out.

If you have a product or service feature that you want to maximize and generate customer attention, you need to make it unique and valuable. You can innovate an existing feature that other businesses already offer and make it your exclusive feature. But make sure that it will not confuse your customers, instead, it will help facilitate their daily life routine, and then you can integrate your unique feature with other features found in various products.

Hone your definition of target customer demographics

Once you decide to pivot your business, you should consider expanding your target demographics. If you are a household cleaning product supplier, for example, consider offering your products to commercial and recreational clients, plus adding new innovative features and products to make your business stand out in the industry. Consumer behavior is constantly evolving, so you have to sharpen further the focus demographic group you want to serve to enhance online visibility.

Switch to a more attractive and lucrative business model

If you are only focusing on the direct-customer business model in your current business, why not try a different revenue model? In addition to direct buyers, you can build partnerships with relevant distributors and resellers. It would be best if you employed new marketing tactics capable of filtering generated leads, such as subscriptions and additional discounts on re-purchase transactions. You can implement an individual revenue model on each feature you want to introduce in your new business venture but still retain those previous features that generate sales for you.

Change competitive positioning and pricing to improve traction

If you can deliver a unique offering that possesses excellent value to your target market, you can penetrate the competitive landscape of your industry. Differentiate your offering among other market competitors, including established eCommerce stores and big brands, although you should not expect to see any result overnight. It would be best if you focused not only on price by volume as your tradeoff strategy but also on offerings that can generate long-term relationships with direct buyers, distributors, and affiliates.

Consider alternative technology platforms for the solution

If your startup business needs to pivot, you should consider introducing a new technology to improve business performance or product sales. For instance, you are managing a manufacturing business that needs to pivot. You should not ignore environmental directives and alternative forms of production to elevate your level of competitiveness in your industry. Often, you need to adopt new technology to help you efficiently produce products and services.

Adapt to an emerging customer need or pain

Businesses are often motivated to develop new processes to keep up with rapid changes in the economy, customer landscape, and federal regulations. It is critical to shift your business direction from productivity to compliance to achieve constant growth. The actual needs of prospective customers continue to evolve, so it is only appropriate to give product development and economic analysis sufficient time to find market potential.

Position your business as a social enterprise versus commercial

You don’t have to put in all the hard work to make your pivoted startup business a commercial enterprise. If you have a passion for social change, you can adopt a social strategy as part of your marketing campaign. There is nothing wrong with being a social enterprise, but social exposure is critical to business strategy to enhance brand identity and market coverage. As soon as you recognize the need for a social change, whether it concerns environmental protection, road safety procedures, or economic recovery, you will be more comfortable developing an effective business strategy and initiating in-depth sales communication with customers.

More takeout, more delivery

You can’t just ignore the severe effects of a pandemic on some businesses such as retail shops and foodservice. Focusing on takeout and delivery services is one of the most effective methods to increase profitability. It is entirely understandable for customers if you can no longer offer exclusive items due to decreased number of orders and an interrupted food supply chain. Instead of providing everything on the food menu, focus on more salable things capable of helping your business survive. You can also encourage customers to call the restaurant or food shop to place an order rather than going through the delivery apps, which usually charge a certain fee for processing.

Selling physical products related to the pandemic

If you manage a general merchandising store or retail shop, you might need to switch to selling usable items related to the pandemic. Consider including face masks, hand sanitizers, cleaning products, and even signage for safety in your product lines. Businesses related to furniture and decor may offer office furniture to customers compelled to work in their homes. Technology-based merchants can also generate lucrative revenue from people studying or working in a home environment by providing Wi-Fi-enabled mobile phones, laptops, and smart devices.

Offering remote consultations and digital services

The business landscape for service-oriented enterprises such as consultation and digital services is also constantly changing. The use of video consultation and digital recording apps to store essential records such as minutes of the meeting or patient history is gaining popularity these days. This reduces the expenses incurred during physical meetings. A physical meeting is only deemed necessary once business terms and work policies have been finalized.

Negotiating your lease

If you own a business that needs warehousing or physical location, now is probably the best time to negotiate a new lease. Commercial building owners do not want to lose tenants, but they are also aware of the tremendous pressure on business tenants to remain operational. Consider negotiating a new lease agreement at a lower price or space, depending on your financial capacity. There are instances where you can be offered a temporary business space suitable for your price range and business size.

Seeking alternative sources of capital

Businesses are always in need of capital, especially if you are pivoting into another business form. Since complying with a business application with banks is often challenging, you may want to consider applying for a loan with private lenders. They have fewer documentary requirements, and even some of them offer long-term, flexible payment schemes. You can also consider merging if you operate multiple enterprises to save capital and re-invest your money in a less risky business.

Pivoting to working remotely

Working with a remote setup is now an emerging working model for the new normal. Almost all businesses have integrated a work-at-home setup for employees and video communication tools for important business meetings. Even medical, academic, and legal professionals have already included virtual consultation services using different video-meeting platforms to meet clients and patients. Small retail businesses will not be left behind either because owners are already using video-calling apps to communicate with customers, suppliers, and manufacturers.

Even the most successful startup businesses have experienced pivoting at some point. Failure is inevitable, but if you are willing to learn and explore a different horizon, you will eventually reach the lasting success you dream of.

Founder at Be Visible Media
Dale is an SEO professional, a self-starter and always hungry for knowledge. In my free time, I play games, scuba dive on weekends, eat out (Japanese & Korean foods) and finds time to help other Filipinos through HOWPO.
Dale Basilla