When do you pivot or persevere with scaling and growth strategies?

1 What is a pivot?

A pivot is a significant change in your business model, product, market, or value proposition. It is not a minor tweak or adjustment, but a fundamental shift in how you create and deliver value to your customers. A pivot can be driven by various reasons, such as discovering a new problem, finding a better solution, validating a hypothesis, or responding to a competitive threat. A pivot can also be a proactive or reactive decision, depending on how much you anticipate or react to the changes in your environment.

2 What is perseverance?

Perseverance is the opposite of a pivot. It is the commitment and persistence to follow through with your scaling and growth strategies, despite the challenges and uncertainties. Perseverance is based on the belief and confidence that you have a viable and scalable business model, product, market, and value proposition. Perseverance can be driven by various reasons, such as having a clear vision, validating your assumptions, building traction, or creating a competitive advantage. Perseverance can also be a strategic or emotional decision, depending on how much you rely on data or intuition.

3 How to pivot effectively?

Pivoting is not a sign of failure, but a sign of learning and adapting. Nevertheless, pivoting is not easy or risk-free. It requires careful analysis, experimentation, and execution. To pivot effectively, you must first identify the problem or opportunity that triggers the need for a pivot – is it a customer problem, a market gap, a product flaw, or a competitive threat? You should also define the hypothesis or assumption you want to test or validate with the pivot and design the minimum viable pivot (MVP) that allows you to test or validate your hypothesis with the least amount of resources and time. Furthermore, you should measure the results and feedback of the MVP and learn from them in order to decide whether to persevere, pivot again, or abandon the pivot. Finally, you must identify the key metrics and indicators that you track and evaluate in order to gain insights and lessons from the MVP so that you can take your next steps and actions.

4 How to persevere effectively?

Persevering is not a sign of stubbornness, but rather a sign of determination and resilience. However, it is not an easy feat to accomplish and requires constant monitoring, optimization, and innovation. To persevere effectively, you must first identify the goal or vision that guides your scaling and growth strategies. This will provide you with the ultimate value that you want to create and deliver to your customers. Then, define the strategy or plan that outlines your scaling and growth actions and milestones. This will give you an idea of how to achieve your goal or vision step by step. After that, execute the strategy or plan with focus and discipline while allocating and managing your resources and time efficiently and effectively. Additionally, monitor the progress and performance of your strategy or plan by tracking and evaluating your actions and milestones along with the key metrics and indicators that you measure and review. Finally, optimize and innovate your strategy or plan based on the progress and performance while improving and refining your actions and milestones as well as addressing any new opportunities or challenges that arise.

5 How to decide when to pivot or persevere?

When deciding whether to pivot or persevere with scaling and growth strategies, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Factors such as business stage, customer feedback, market trends, and financial situation must be taken into consideration. To make an informed and rational decision, ask yourself the following questions: what is the problem or opportunity that this strategy is addressing? What evidence or data supports or challenges it? What is the risk or cost of pivoting or persevering with the strategy? What potential benefit does it offer? And what advice do customers, partners, mentors, and peers have to offer?

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?