Key Actions When You Need to Pivot Your Biz

[Originally written in 2020 during the beginning of the pandemic but still relevant today]

What do you do when your business needs to pivot?

When your client list dries up and it feels like nobody can afford (or prioritise) your type of services any more?

That's something a lot of business owners have been asking themselves over the last few years, thanks to Covid, and are continuing to ask themselves even now.

So what happens when you can either no longer continue to provide your services in the same way, or you have to provide new services because your old ones were no longer relevant or a priority for your clients?

Or what happens when actually not only do you have to find a new service to offer but you have to find a new audience to offer it to as well? What do you do? And where do you even start?

This is a question I've had a number of clients asked me recently. So I wanted to share with you my ideas for some actions that you can take if you find yourself in this position.

Three key scenarios.

The first scenario is where you can continue to offer the same service to the same clients, but just in a new way, what do you need to do.

The second scenario is where you can continue to work with the same clients and the same audience. But the services you were delivering for them are either no longer relevant or are not a priority for them. So you have to find kind of a new way to support an offer service to them.

The third scenario is a full pivot. You have your current clients, the ones you have been working with, and you have built your business around previously. They are no longer in a position to continue to invest in themselves and in their businesses. This means we need to go out and find a new audience and potentially a new service to provide for them.

Before we start, I want to say, if you find yourself in a situation where you're having to change the way you deliver your business, your services, and potentially having to find new audiences, then well done for asking the question.

That says so much about you and your determination to make your business a success. That you're not letting life circumstances dictate how successful you are. So just in itself, that tells me you're going to make this happen and you are going to be successful.

#1. Same Client, Same Service, New Method

This is where you can deliver the same service to the same audience. You just have to do it in a new way.

Perhaps previously, you did most of your work in person or on-site and you're having to now obviously change that or modify that. You're able to deliver your service virtually or online.

For some services and business models that works fine. For others; hairdressers, massage therapists and so on that's going to be a different situation.

So for those people who can continue to offer the same service to the same audience, but just in a new way, this is really your first step.

You need to reassure your audience. Let them know you can still help them, you can still solve their problems and how they can get in touch with you.

So that's pretty straightforward. Now's a good time to start getting your messaging out there in front of people. Even if that is through social media, like Facebook but also through directly contacting people who you have been in contact with before.

#2. Same Client, New Services

The second scenario is where you can still work with the same client but actually, the services you were providing for them are no longer relevant to their business or they're no longer a priority for their business.

So you're not getting kind of the sales that you were before. It's about looking at how can I continue to help and serve them in this new time with some new challenges.

There's a couple of things you can do to help you work out what that looks like.

Step 1

The first step is to remind yourself who your ideal client is. Simply the ones who love working with, the ones you get the best results with and who value what you do enough to pay what you're worth. Have them in mind.

Step 2

Once you figured out who they are, get inside their shoes, and really think about what they are trying to achieve right now for their business or their lives or their family. Whatever it might be, what they're trying to achieve and where they are struggling. Think about what roadblocks they may be experiencing that are preventing them from achieving their goals.

Right now, there are people who are still in a position to invest in themselves and in their businesses, but they are going to be considering quite wisely where they spend their money.

So making sure you're not boiling the ocean, you're not doing all the bells and whistles, which adds to the cost and makes it harder for people to say yes.

Now is the time to simply ask:

What if there's one thing I could help them with that would have the biggest impact on their health, their life, their business...?

How could I deliver that one thing in the most efficient way to keep the price as low as possible for the client, but still profitable for me?

What makes it easier for people to say yes and continue to invest in your business?

So if you're able to work with the same audience, but the services you used to provide are no longer relevant or no longer a priority, think about what your your ideal client is struggling with, or trying to achieve right now, and come up with ONE THING you could do that would have the biggest impact and start offering THAT.

Okay, so those are the two easier options because you're working with the same audience.

But what happens if your traditional audience is just not there any more...?

#3 New Client, New Services

The third scenario is really more of a full pivot.

It is more complex because this is where the clients you used to work with are no longer in a position to continue to invest in themselves or in their business for now.

That doesn't mean that they won't come back online in three, six, nine twelve months time, but for right now, they're not in a position to invest. Therefore it's gonna be difficult for you to get the revenue you need to achieve your goals.

So you have to go and find new people, a new audience that needs your help. You're having to go build your credibility, build your audience, to some extent from scratch.

However, the more you can leverage existing networks, existing audiences, existing clients and existing credibility so you're not having to start from scratch, the better. This is one of the things you want to do and this is the first step that I would always recommend.

Step 1

The first thing is you want to do is actually talk to any new potential clients, and start to really understand what's going on for them right now.

They may not be experiencing the same challenges that your previous clients were. So rather than make assumptions, thinking we know what this new audience needs, and that we can create a service for them having never actually talked to them or worked with them in detail, it's really important to have that talk.

There are a number of different ways you can go about doing this. There are lots of different Facebook groups out there, other communities or people who are potential clients, be part of them, be part of the conversation, be adding value in there.

Step 2

You can also offer to do a free consult with someone. This is where they share with you what they're struggling with what they're trying to achieve, providing you with incredibly valuable insight (make lots of notes and record the session for reference).

Then as a kind of reward or thank you for sharing you can offer them some steps or actions that they can take to keep moving them forward.

NOTE: you don't have to solve all there problems here! However this is a great opportunity to demonstrateyour expertise by providing ONE ACTION that you know will make a difference, and who knows, they may become your first new client!

Key Tip: Don't Just Rely on Friends or Family

I recommend that you don't just rely on friends and family to tell you what they think. This is because they have a tendency to just tell you what they think you want to hear and that does not grow a business.

You want to find people who you don't necessarily know, who you haven't got a strong attachment to you and find out what's going on for them.

Once you've had a number of conversations with people, and you've maybe had an "aha" moment, which is, "Oh, I see, I see where I can help them." That's when you start to craft up an offering that you can then start putting out there.

So those are the three core scenarios that you might be experiencing right now.

#1 Same Client, Same Service, New Method

The first one being where they can offer the same service to the same audience, but just in a new way. Go out there and let them know that you can still help them right now and how to get in touch.

#2 Same Client, New Service

The second scenario is same client, but your previous services are no longer relevant or priority. It's about identifying the one thing that would have the biggest impact and creating a new service offering for them.

#3 New Client, New Services

The third scenario is we when we need to do a full pivot. Where your previous clients and your previous audience are no longer in a position to continue to invest right now and you need to find a new audience and potentially a new type of service. The first step you want to do on that journey is to start talking with your potential clients to really understand what they're going through right now and how you can best help them.

So I hope that helps give you some actions and some next steps to be taking, but just remind yourself that you are doing the right things. The fact that you're asking this question, and that you are determined to make this business a success is amazing. That says you're going to make it work.

So keep going. Don't give up. And don't be afraid to reach out for help.

When you get stuck, I'm here to help support you. Let's book in a time to chat.

Remember, you've got this.

Alright, looking forward to hearing from you and how you get on. I hope that answered your questions. If you have any other questions, please let me know and if I can help you in any way, message me and we'll jump on a call to help you get started at no charge. Thinking of you guys, Stay safe.