Small Business Part 2: Let's Pivot! So...Now What?

Hey small business friends! Welcome back to Rock Talk. Thanks for coming back in for Part 2 of the Small Business Saturdays discussion we started yesterday!

To review yesterday's post, pop back to the Rock Talk most recent posts and check out Jan. 11. 

Let's hop back in here. I hope my experiences so far have been giving you food for thought on the stage your own business is at. If you're feeling like you might need to make changes, let's look at what a pivot might look like for you!

Part 2: Let’s Pivot! So...Now What?

The next step in this process: how will a pivot happen for your business?

Changing your products or pricing structure?

Changing your sales strategies or environment (this was me)?

Changing your work schedule or hiring extra help, or

Changing your entire business model?

Considering the answers to the earlier questions should help you begin to identify a possible direction to head in. Finding mentors within your industry, or feedback from small business resources in your community, can help you start exploring options, and tailoring the pivot to your individual goals. Keep an open mind; try to be forgiving and gentle with yourself during this time of change.

The big unknown for most of us is the last question to consider: what happens when we pivot? 

As a small business, every decision we make has weight, and this is a big one. You may pivot and decide that it wasn't the right time, or the right direction to take it. For Phenomenal Gems, we made a big pivot from online to in-person events. You may determine the exact opposite, and decide that you should be focusing completely online instead. Pivoting our business to a new environment was worthwhile...but now that I have the bandwidth to do so, addressing the need to continue adapting and evolving in my original environment feels just as crucial.

Here are a few things that I experienced during this process:

Pros:

For my own experience, I struggled (and still do) with accepting the loss of a reliable income stream. But without it, I would've never been willing to branch out into the event schedule we do now, and that's made all the difference. With focusing on in-person events:

• I relearned the value of face-to-face sales, professional relationships and connections with other vendors, and the power of networking.

• I learned to research and reach out to events and organizers.

• I got more flexibility in my schedule, and autonomy in choosing events.

• I leaned more on my husband for help with the business, and it became more of a team endeavor than before.

• My finances to work ratio improved as a result of better gains from fewer hours worked.

• I gained a lot of confidence in trying new endeavors for my business, and the time and ability to dig minerals is becoming a core part of the identity of the business.

• Most importantly, I gathered as much advice and experience from fellow vendors and mentors as possible--many thanks to all of the amazing friends who have helped and advised us this year!

"Cons" (but really just areas for growth):

• I not only had to learn a new realm of the business world, I had to invest financially in complete setups for in-person events. There are booth fees, hotels/lodging, gas, dog care, and a myriad of other costs that the online world doesn't usually demand.

• It's a continuing process to learn my customers and what each specific show calls for, and it is much more physically demanding than running an online shop.

• Most days are long and hard--and a bad day can feel REALLY bad. A tough experience can also feel highly personal, in a way selling from behind a computer may not.

• If you're not a people person, in-person selling likely won't be for you.

• My finances got more challenging in the area of consistency--feast or famine is an apt way to describe the world of in-person events (and self employment in general), and it continues to be a learning process for me.  

The overall lessons I took from pivoting:

While it was the right choice for my business to focus on the in-person arena, it's just as important to address why Phenomenal Gems needed to pivot in the first place. While Etsy may never play the role it once did for us, optimizing the shop and listings could help it become a reliable side income once again. Building our own website (and yes, blogging!) has been an interesting new step toward carving out a healthy place in the digital world for my business. With the bandwidth I gained from switching to in-person events, I'm doing more research than ever on SEO (search engine optimization), keyword research, and more. Seeking out online resources to help me learn what elements could be improved is something I try to do daily now. By pivoting, I learned that in order for Phenomenal Gems to continue adapting and growing, we need to keep our minds open. We have to identify what works and what doesn't in both the digital and in-person spheres, and that's a continous process. Some customers will only see me face to face at events, and some I'll never meet in person--our paths will never cross unless I have a healthy online presence. We need to actively work in both arenas.

The most important step for YOU to take is to identify what you want and need from your business, and to determine what steps you can take to achieve your own goals on your own path. Don't let your unique process isolate you from the experiences of others--seeking advice from others you admire in your industry, and looking into mentorship and small business resources in your community, can make you feel more focused than ever. Be kind to yourself, and remember that we're all on a path of learning, always. 

What feels like a negative change can become an opportunity to find new sources and new strategies. As I continue on the path of improvement in business, I hope you are also discovering new ways of thriving and adapting in the business world. I'd love to hear more about your personal experiences in the comments. Feel free to share this post (give us credit and a tag, please!) and add your own discoveries. We're all in it together, and this is as true in small business as it is anywhere else.

Be well, and rock on, my friends!