What is pivoting, and why is it necessary?
Business Consulting to discuss a company’s deliberate pivot is essential, even if it’s a successful one, as there is no guarantee that your business model is applicable in the long run. The question often asked is how to adjust and adapt to market changes. The answer to this question is pivoting.
“Pivoting” is a familiar basketball maneuver in which the player moves back and forth on one foot to protect the ball from the other team’s player.
How can pivoting help you work under pressure?
There’s no doubt that businesses can often feel overwhelmed by the kind of pressure businesses have to handle and survive. Under pressure moments when the rival from the opponent team is an offensive foul, and you are in a block, which is a defensive foul, the ball will be snatched by them. At moments like this, the player shouldn’t freeze up as taking a new step and guarding them at the right angle would help the opponents not to beat. It teaches us the importance of taking the right step in a panic situation and playing the field safely.
Prepare your business to substitute planning features when faced with established disputes. The business environment is not static. Plan the replacement techniques and strategies so they come in handy in times of need.
Pivoting includes:
- Shifting a company’s pivot from one product or service to another.
- Changing target markets.
- Altering the entire business model.
Business Pivot Examples
Tech startups are among the most common examples of businesses pivoting. Some examples of how this has been done in the past are Flickr, which subsequently switched from an online gaming company to a photo-sharing website, and Twitter, which changed from a podcast subscription network into a micro-blogging platform. These companies were ready to take the risk of testing out utterly alternative ideas to perceive an endearing winning theory and fill a gap in the market.
How has pivoting helped during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Tech firms and firms worldwide must be prepared to adapt to changes. All types of organizations were presented with a crash course in pivoting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many restaurants focus more on take-out and delivery than the old seating system during the lockdown. Many learning and fitness institutions and religious organizations went online. Large firms also had to adjust. The biggest example is when Disney started releasing new films on its online streaming platforms for an extra fee to replace the need to go to the movie theatres. Situations like these caused a change in people’s behavior, and organizations had to meet their needs in agile.
The Inherent Challenges which Come with Business Pivoting.
Like many changes, pivoting is also challenging, risky, and costly! Change may not always work out in our favor. You might fail, and stakeholders may disagree with the subsequent changes.
A vital point Wharton Management Professor Jacqueline Kirtley approached is that pivoting will occur at times when one might not realize it until afterward. Pivoting also involves uncertainty to some extent, where you select specific options and keep many others the same. “The decisions are more steps, and they compile, they aggregate into this complete redirection of what we’re doing as a strategy and what we’re doing now,” she explained.
Pivoting comes with its fair share of complexity, but market research is the secret to ensuring victory. Changes in strategic direction should be made after double-checking and keeping all the necessary information on hand. Harvard Business Review advises ensuring that your pivot aligns with long-term market trends and performs the duties of your company’s existing capabilities, providing a continual track to profit maximization.
Market research helps in better decision-making so that the right changes meet the required conditions. The right market research acts as the company’s SWOT, helping pinpoint market trends, identify opportunities for revenue growth, and understand how the competitive landscape is shifting. The right data enables you to give the company a first-mover advantage or an early warning signal.
Bring new adjustments to the business strategies.
Results may not be instant and demand decision-making with ample research. To begin with:
Identification of undone wants: After inspecting consumer understandings, you can ascertain what your intended audience wants that your company cannot provide currently. You can use this information to guide product development or marketing initiatives to better meet consumers’ needs. For example, when Starbucks noticed a demand for sustainable, plant-based options among buyers, they expanded their menu to include various dairy milk types, including soy, coconut, almond, and oat milk. Starbucks also introduced a breakfast sandwich prepared with impossible plant-based sausage. These small alterations don’t bring significant changes immediately, but if continued, they will help a business stay relevant in the eyes of consumers.
Choosing a different course of action: An accurate understanding of the business environment results in identifying your competitors’ areas where your company can approach itself differently and provide more value to customers. When Airbnb realized that travelers wanted to invest in more personalized, immersive travel experiences, they enlarged their business to include Airbnb Experiences, which allows travelers to book activities and tours hosted by the locals, delivering a more unique and genuine travel experience than traditional hotels.
Verify and try something unique: Use market research to verify and check the available and newly-tasted hypotheses to grab the new idea before implementing it. Regardless of the big opportunity you are planning for a new launch in the market, working on an innovative product, or just thinking about any new startup idea, stakeholders will never approve before completing research on it. It can help you to understand the risk involved and the expected profit. You need to take the right step at the right time. You will slowly learn the process more simply and successfully.