3 Important Takeaways From A Business Pivot

Bill Lewis

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CRE Tech

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2 min read

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Apr 9, 2016

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We hear the word “pivot” all of the time.

Many people think that the word “pivot” is associated with “failure”, “downsizing”, “unprofitably” as well as many other menacing terms.

In fact , its the furthest thing from the truth. Here are the 3 takeaways to always remember about the word “pivot” . None of them will give you a nightmare, I promise.

1) It’s a Decided Change in the Business Plan. Our initial plan for Space HQ 18 months ago looks nothing like the final model that we’re releasing this week. We went through 3 distinct product market fits and knowledge learnings before we built the current product. Each and every one of them was critical to our future success. If we had launched on one of those there models, our changes for success would have been greatly diminished.

2) Not All Ideas Are Ready For Customer Acceptance — Your idea may be ahead of the curve as mine was a year ago to use augmented reality in the office furniture business. The technology is getting there — it’s close but not quite what it needs to be. Your idea also may be too forward thinking for the majority to understand. Remember that you have not wasted you time. Shelve the project and wait for the masses to catch up. You’ll be ready to strike anew when the time comes.

3) Traction Did Not Happen — — Your product/market fit was off. Revenue didn’t happen. Funding ran out. Now is the the time to get a pad and pen and go into a room a write down every single thing that happened both good and bad. You’ll have an honest record the next time that you embark on a project of what went wrong and hopefully history does not repeat itself.

Turning ideas into business models is not for everybody — it takes over your life in every aspect imaginable. I’ve been running my company full time as well as getting Space HQ off the ground for the past year 90- 100 hour weeks have been the norm Believe me when I tell you this that nobody likes to fail — and in the end the word “pivot” is not an automatic sign of failure.