Pivoting in business happens all the time. Most entrepreneurs start out on one path and end up creating several different ones along the way. While this may seem scary and like something you’d like to prevent from doing, not doing it could cost you money. Here are several tips on why pivoting in business is safe and a few pieces of advice about what happens when you fail to do so.

What does pivoting in business mean?

Simply put, when you decide to pivot in your business, you’re simply changing a few aspects of its core to better serve you and your clients. This can look like a number of things from changing products, adding services, or doing something different altogether. 

Why is pivoting important in business?

Since pivoting means changing the direction of your business, it is typically necessary to ensure that what you’re offering continues to be valuable. Perhaps the current programs and/or services are not meeting the needs of your ideal client. Therefore, it is wise to step back and create a new strategy that will help you reach your goals and those set for your clients.

3 Reasons Why Pivoting in Business is Safe

1. Pivoting allows you to refocus.

Staying focused on your business mission, vision, and goals is one of the reasons that keep people going. However, when the path to those becomes foggy, it can be hard to see where your business is going. When you decide to pivot, seeking clarity (or refocusing) should be the top priority. Through your ability to refocus, you can ensure that you are doing exactly what you need to be doing and serving the right people through doing it.

2. Pivoting gives you the ability to recalibrate.

Recalibrating yourself (and your business) involves changing the way you do or think about something. As you go through the refocusing process, pay attention to anything that needs to be done differently in your business. Sometimes this means coming up with new programs, offering different services, and the like.

3. Pivoting gives you the opportunity to reset.

Once you’ve refocused and recalibrated, now you’re ready to reset. Again, this doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be starting over from scratch. However, the new strategy that you implement will take some time to roll out. Give yourself grace and don’t hesitate to keep your customers/clients in the know of what you have going on. The last thing you want to do is switch things up on your followers and leave them confused.

How Not Pivoting Sooner is Costing You Money

Now that we’ve talked about all the reasons why it’s okay to pivot in your business, let’s chat for a brief moment about what happens when you don’t. Not every hardship, question, or concern calls for a business pivot; however, there are times when you may be ignoring the signs to do so.

For starters, not pivoting when you could decrease your revenue. If you’ve invested hours and hours into creating courses, writing out coaching programs, putting out new resources and none of it sells… then you’ve pretty much wasted one of your most valuable assets. Then what happens is you have a bunch of products and services that no one is purchasing. Sure, you could find ways to reuse that content; however, without knowing what caters to your ideal client, you’ll only be wasting more time.

Not pivoting when you could also hinder your visibility. While you’re trying to show up in one aspect, it’s actually not reaching your ideal audience. Again, we’re talking about wasting time, energy, resources, etc. 

Last but not least, not pivoting sooner than later could cause you to completely walk away from your calling. I’ve seen this happen before. Someone doesn’t see the return on what they’re trying to do and they run in the opposite direction. Instead, had they had taken that step back to come up with a new strategy and pivot their business, they’d be successful today!

Final Thoughts

As you move along your entrepreneurial journey, there will definitely be times when you may need to consider pivoting in business. And I’m here to tell you that it’s 100% safe and effective when done appropriately. This isn’t a one-time decision, change everything right now kind of thing. Instead, it takes coming up with a strategy that will smoothly transition your business into a new direction. Once you’ve done so, your data will show whether or not you’ve made moves in the right direction.