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The big announcement is out! I have made a difficult decision to take a step back from podcasting and blogging for a while to pursue personal goals and new business opportunity.

Today, I am opening up about my decision and diving into the topic of pivoting in business. I am also sharing the signs that may indicate the need for a pivot in your business, along with practical tips for navigating a pivot with confidence.

Ready?

What lead me to the decision to take a step back from podcasting/blogging

The truth is – I changed. Last year has been probably the biggest year of personal growth in my life.

As I was going through deeper reflection and thinking about my personal goals, I realized I wanted to spend more time with my family in Europe and travel more. You know I am a woman of action – in fact, when this blog post comes out, I will already be in Europe, living there temporarily and finally making my international living goal happen!

I don’t have the same values, goals, and opinions as I did when I started my business in my 20s when all I cared about was hustle and have a successful business. I want to have more quiet time and space for my personal goals, such as having a family. 

This is the 7th year of my fertility journey, and that journey alone has changed my priorities and outlook on life completely. I don’t want to have any regrets. I know my business is replaceable, but this season of my life isn’t.  

With that, I have chosen to streamline and simplify my business to pursue more freedom. This wasn’t an easy decision, but as my business evolved over the last few years, I feel called to explore more deeply different directions that I am wildly passionate about in this season of my life and align more closely with my vision for the future. 

I thought it might be helpful to dive into the topic of “pivot” in business as it’s something I have continuously done in my journey as an online entrepreneur and chances are that you will find yourself in this position one day too! 

Understanding Pivoting in Business

Pivoting in business means changing direction or strategy to better align with market needs OR your own needs as a business owner. 

There are two types of pivots:

1. making adjustments to capitalize on new opportunities or 
2. recognizing when the current approach isn’t working as expected and making adjustments to improve your desired outcomes 

Even though the word PIVOT may sound intimidating, pivoting in business is quite common.

Pivoting doesn’t always mean that you need to throw everything away and start over. Sometimes, you may be just tweaking things like what you sell, who you sell to, or how you sell it to align your business with your current goals better. 

The signs that you may need to pivot your business:

There are several scenarios when you may decide to pivot your business (or parts of it), including:

1. You are not getting the results you want for an extended period of time despite your efforts. 

This could happen if what you’re offering (your product or service) doesn’t really match what people are looking for or if your marketing isn’t reaching the right audience.

So, when you’re not hitting your goals despite your efforts, it’s a signal that you might need to rethink either what you’re offering or how you’re promoting it to better match your target audience’s needs and wants.

2. You are not getting as many customers and sales as you used to for an extended period 

Maybe when you started selling, there wasn’t much competition in your niche. But now, the market is saturated. In this case, you may need to pivot and redefine your unique selling proposition or innovate your products and offerings to stand out.

3. You are not excited and are not having fun in your business anymore 

I went through this when I had my wedding product business. I remember the days when I was excited about every new design, but slowly, that excitement faded and internally, I felt drained. And that’s when I knew it was time for a change, so I started to focus more on growing my education business.

Now, I am not saying it’s going to be exciting all the time. Sure, there are seasons when you are rather exhausted than excited. But if you are feeling that way most of the time, for months, and everything in your business feels like a chore – it’s a sign that something needs to change.

4. Your goals changed, and your current strategy, products or even business model are no longer aligned with your long-term vision 

For example, let’s say you had a custom wedding rental sign business for the past few years, but now you are going on maternity leave and looking for a more aligned income stream with your lifestyle change. You decide to build a wedding online digital product shop that serves the same audience but does not require so much of your time and decide to cut down on your rental business.

5. You have a new opportunity, idea or vision for your business that you are super excited about and want to pursue

Of course, this is not about being impulsive with shiny objects and changing your business with every exciting idea. It’s about carefully weighing your options and making informed decisions that support your business vision for the long term!

Sometimes, as entrepreneurs, we evolve, our interests change, or we stumble upon new paths that align better with our passions and goals in different seasons of life.

Perhaps you’ve discovered a niche that perfectly aligns with your expertise, or you’ve spotted a need on the market and have a great product idea that you are super excited about. If you feel that excitement for a while, it can lead to incredible opportunities, growth and much bigger fulfillment in your business journey.

Before you start changing things in your business…

1. Get clear on your why. What exactly are you trying to achieve with this pivot? What is your why behind it? 

Having a clear understanding of what it is that you are trying to change will allow you to define your next steps with strategy.

2. Evaluate your available options and analyze the potential risks and rewards for each path you could take

Consider the paths you could take in your business pivot and define the potential outcomes, pros and cons of each option. This will help you to make a more informed decision about the best path for your current situation.

3. Do further research before you make major shifts

Especially if you are planning to change your product or target audience, make sure to research and understand your new market.

For instance, when I transitioned from teaching crafters to educating online business owners on using social media for marketing, I had to spend a LOT of time learning about my new target audience at first.

Before making changes, take time to look at current trends, analyze your competitors, and understand your new target audience’s needs, wants, and desires.

4. Map out your action plan

After you’ve figured out what you want to achieve, weighed the pros and cons, and done your research, it’s time to make a plan. Write down the steps you need to take to make your pivot happen.

Think about alllll the things you’ll need to do and make a timeline for when you want to complete each step.

For example, changing your website messaging, changing your branding, developing a new product, writing announcement emails to your audience, developing new marketing content pillars, etc. List it all. It will make your process a lot less chaotic and stressful.

5. Keep your audience in the loop but keep it simple

Sometimes, you are going to have to announce changes to your audience.

For example, if you’re pivoting your business from offering physical products to digital downloads, your message might be something like:

“We’re excited to announce that we’re shifting our focus more to digital downloads! We’ve been having more requests about digital downloads lately, and we have decided to explore this path with our business! Our first digital collection will be launched next week! This way, you can access our products instantly from the comfort of your own home. Stay tuned for more updates coming soon!”

The key here is to keep your message simple and straightforward as you are announcing your pivot, so it’s easy for them to understand and you don’t confuse them.

To sum it up:

You as a business owner can adjust your business so it works for you, not the other way around.

1 – Pivoting your business doesn’t always require a complete change of your business. It can involve making adjustments to product offerings, target audience, marketing strategies or business model to better align with your evolving vision and goals.

2 – When you find yourself in a situation where your business needs to pivot, don’t panic. And no matter what you do, do NOT make impulsive choices.

Get clear on what you are trying to accomplish with this change, brainstorm your options, assess risks and rewards and draft a plan of action you can follow.

3 – Keep your audience informed

Be transparent with your audience about the changes, but try to stick to clear and simple messaging so they know what to expect next but are not overwhelmed with unnecessary details.

I hope this blog will help you navigate a pivot in your business with confidence if you ever find yourself in this situation. If you’d like to learn more details about this topic, dive into today’s podcast episode here 🎧

Talk soon,

Michaela

PS: I can’t wait to share with you what’s coming next for me soon – but first, I want to express my deepest appreciation for you. 

It’s been an absolute blessing to be a part of your small business journey. 

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for allowing me to play a role, no matter how small or big, in your success.

I have no doubt that one day I will be back in podcasting because I absolutely LOVE it, and it was so nice to have this podcast listeners’ community we have created over time. 

Moving forward, you can expect to hear from me at a lower frequency than usual through email and Instagram at @smallbizbabescommunity. 

If you are up to following my personal adventures in the meantime – give me a follow at @michaelafong on Instagram; I’ll be sharing some stories from my workation in Europe.

Hope you’ll stay in touch!