5 Steps to Pivoting Your Business During Pandemic Times

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me, there lay an invincible summer.” — Albert Camus

Whether it’s the COVID pandemic, an out-of-nowhere job loss, or just challenging times in general, sometimes we find the rug pulled out beneath our feet.

And still, we have to make money, provide for our families, and contribute to society.

I faced this same exact issue when COVID first happened back in March. My business dropped away just like many other people’s and I was worried we wouldn’t make it. But after taking a quick moment to pause, I followed the steps I’m about to share with you, pivoted our entire business, and EBW was able to go from our business streams dissolving... to doing significant deals in 10 days and creating EBW Cares Distributors.

The 5 Steps from this blog post are the exact steps I took to turn adversity into opportunity. 

Let’s dig in!

Step 1. Mindset

Mindset is the foundation of everything. It’s one of the most important things in success and life. 

Mindset is all about making the decision to “make something happen” right up front. We must shift from scarcity and fear to understanding that there is no better time than NOW. 

We must set our minds to win.

Because we have to understand—everyone is going through the same thing. Everyone is experiencing challenges (of course, at different levels and with different experiences), but we can’t let the challenges take over our mind and bring our mindset down. When BIG issues like the pandemic started, we must realize that all people are facing struggles, so we have to move forward.   

We have to reflect and think—what is our mindset?

Is it strong and solid? Is it ready to pivot? Is it ready to shift and grow?

Is what’s going on something that is completely going to take us down OR are we going to look at this as an opportunity that opens us (and our business) up to new opportunities that we haven’t seen before?

Let’s choose the latter.

Let's move forward and identify there were “pre-COVID” times and now it’s time for us to take the mindset of growth, pivoting, and move forward into new times.

The answer must be YES! We must confirm our mindset that we CAN do this and we CAN find new ways to make our lives happen and have a hopeful vision for the future.

Because once we have that mindset, we know that with the right support and the right strategies… we can do this. 

Step 2. Level Set

Level 2 is all about, “Getting real. No sugarcoating.” 

Let’s really “Level Set” (a.k.a. set the levels of our reality) and look at:

Where are we at? What assets do we have? What do we have to work with? What’s the reality of the situation?

Be brutally honest here. It may not be fun, but it will help you understand the situation and make the right choices and decisions to move forward.

The process of level setting enables us to make the decision that we’re going to get through whatever situation we’re in and figure it out.We want to analyze our financial reality, our work reality, our relationship reality, our network reality, and so on.

Some internal tools to level set:

• Acknowledge that this is your real situation. Let’s not sugarcoat it. Let’s just acknowledge it. Yes, it’s tough, but promising.
• What in that reality check can you leverage? Relationships? Funds? Previous work?
• Be super honest and look at your finances.
• Choose where you will focus to move forward.

I love this image of the mom and the bridge.

What are we going to focus on? What’s in the middle… or the end?

Don’t focus on the rickety bridge and all the intricacies and fears of the middle. Focus on the end. The outcome. The goal. The other side.

Whenever I’ve been in a massive crisis situation, I always focus on “What is the end result? Where do I want to be?” The process of getting there can be so challenging that if you get lost in those details you can get stuck in the muck and not be able to cross to the other side.

So, before we cross the bridge, make sure to set your levels and know where you are at.  

Step 3. Reset

The Reset is a vital point where we analyze what we are doing (or what we are offering) to make sure it fits the market.

One of the big things I teach is asking yourself:

“Is your offering a NEED someone has or a WANT?”

In a time like this, when everyone is conserving their finances and the marketplace can seem shaky, ask yourself—what is it that YOU do that somebody absolutely NEEDS to move forward? Or... are you still trying to sell a WANT?

This reflection might cause you to say, “Oh my gosh – what I’ve been working on is a want – and it's not really a need.”

Wants are nice-to-haves. Needs are essentials.

And in times of crisis, like this pandemic, people and businesses shift from want-based offerings to NEED-based offerings. And it might be time to create that pivot.

So, we have to reset, think, and analyze—what is it again that we are doing that can be a NEED versus a want?

When we think back to that end result and we blend what we are focusing on as a need for the market (without thinking of the distractions in the process in the middle of the bridge) – then we can create value.

For EBW and me, when we eventually come out of the pandemic—I want to reflect on these months and see that when the world was truly struggling, we found a way to create value for the world economy, leveraged our network in a way we never thought we would, and created a really big opportunity of what the world needed at the time. 

And that’s exactly what we did with EBW Cares Distributors in creating a women-led marketplace for PPE medical supplies.

So, how does someone figure out what people need? It involves positioning and purpose.

For a simple example, let’s take food delivery/grocery shipping services.

Before COVID, having food and groceries shipped to your door was definitely a “nice to have” and a “want” for certain people.

But, once the pandemic came and lockdowns in cities happened, for many people, especially those in a more vulnerable population, getting groceries and food shipped directly to their doorstep was an important need.

Companies who did food delivery and grocery shipping had a boom in business, increased their offerings, and amplified their marketing to fit that new marketplace. They did extremely well and continue to do well as people find this new need in their lives.

So as we brainstorm on new offerings and positioning, think on the marketplace, potential offerings, and customer needs—and where you can supply those needs.

For EBW, a vital need is to vet and facilitate the sale of global PPE supplies to those who need it most, alongside teaching the highest quality business content to business women. So I need to make sure those offerings are top notch, aligned, and prepared for our business.

So, once our mindset is right, we’ve reflected and set our levels, and we’ve dialed in on an offering/service/product/business that serves a need, it’s time to…

Step 4. Prep Set

OK, so what’s Prep Set?

Prep Set is how we get prepared to create this business, get to work, and go to market. We’ve done the mindset, we’ve done the reset, we’ve done the level set, we’ve said... OKAY, mentally, I’m ready.

We’ve decided to pivot and now we’ve got a needed product or service ready for the market.

How do we prep and get ready for action? How do we take this to market? Remember, we are on a hero’s journey. And that journey can be long, difficult, complicated, and sometimes terrifying. So we have to prepare and take care of ourselves.

It’s so important to practice self-care and keep ourselves mentally and physically strong. Because, like the reality checks in the beginning, this is not going to be easy. There are moments that are going to be really, really hard.

Accept that and continue on.

Self-care is a part that many people skip over. And it can lead to burnout, overwhelm, and can really tear someone down. That’s why our preparation AND preservation is vital. This involves things like healthy eating, taking rests, doing yoga and stretching, making sure we workout, taking walks and breaks, meditation, and connecting with family and friends.

These aren’t “nice to haves”. These are must haves.

Next, in regards to preparation, we must be working extra hard to make sure we are prepared behind-the-scenes, so we can win in the moment whenever an opportunity presents itself.

As we think about how we can help our future customers… think on how can we make sure we are presenting them a need versus a want? This involves our sales communication.

How do we make sure buyers buy? Are we making things easy so that it’s easy for them to say yes? 

Do we have documents ready, NDAs, payment terms, purchasing docs, etc? Do we have our offering practiced and fine-tuned so when we’re on the phone we’re ready to smoothly speak and sell our product/service/offering?

In the fast moving and strange times of pivoting, we want to make sure we are as prepared as possible so we are READY whenever a deal comes our way.

Step 4 involves answering questions and how do we stay on top of responsiveness.

Which leads to the final step…

Step 5. Set Go!

We must complete Steps 1-4 to get to:

Step 5… Ready. Set. GO! Let’s do this thing!

For us, in less than 10 days we went from absolutely ZERO to MILLIONS in # of PPE supplies deals. 

And just a quick story to show someone else’s win in our circle following this process—this is where we also met (and then hired) Cynthia Barnes, who was in our EBW Virtual Chapters. As I was pivoting, I was on one of our EBW Virtual Chapter calls and shared that I was going to open up the call to hotseats for women to bring their business challenges.

Cynthia brought her experiences and challenges and it turned out she fit the exact need our business had in vetting global PPE supplies. Our communication was fast and she was prepared, so we hired her on the spot and that filled a massive need for our business.

As we were supplying a need for the market, Cynthia supplied a need that we had (and that’s how this whole circle works).

For this step, let’s talk about the brass tacks of making this happen. I encourage you to think about and put this phrase in your mind:

“Who has my money??”

Wake up everyday wondering that. It’s a simple phrase which means… who are my buyers, who needs my product, who are my investors, who can partner financially?

And the only way to get a response to that question… is by taking massive action. 

Every single day.

Make 20 calls a day.

Do at least 20 outreaches a day all while asking yourself “Who has my money?”

And guess what’s next? Do 20 *more* calls or outreaches per day. Anything else is a distraction! Get an accountability partner. Having someone to check in with and make sure we are hitting these numbers is so vital. Here is where the EBW community can be really helpful.

From this point, everything becomes a numbers game. A relationships and numbers game. You can have the best relationships in the world but if you don't reach out nothing is going to convert. You have to keep going. Go for two weeks and CLOSE a sale.

And, if you didn’t close then you:

• Pause
• Re-evaluate
• Go back through steps 1-4
• Check in with your accountability partner
• Adjust, refine, and follow the steps to GO again!

I want to keep this simple. Action, consistency, and calls are the KEY to winning and succeeding when we pivot. Because we must put in the work, we must utilize our outreach and connections, and we must KEEP going no matter what. 

Day after day. Message after message. Call after call.

Keep going until you get on the phone. Then keep going until you close a deal. And then you keep going more and more because times are uncertain and the only way forward is to move and continue on.

Pivoting During These Times

We all can do something to make a difference and move forward in a positive direction during these times. It’s so often in these times of great adversity that the most incredible opportunities present themselves.

So I want to encourage people with hope. At EBW, we are a walking case study of how successful pivots can happen along with all these other women and great men we are working with.

That hope, matched with a vision, a plan, and action—is what creates success. And that’s what these simple, yet powerful, 5 steps are about.

So keep your mindset up. Keep reflecting. Keep moving. Keep doing outreach. Keep doing calls. Stay focused on the end game. Keep yourself accountable to move forward every day. You will get results. They may be smaller, bigger, or different than you think—but you will get results.

And if any of this resonated with you and you want a community of support to assist you in any of these steps—whether it’s mindset, self-reflection, business planning, community, mentorship, or access to resources…

Join a Virtual EBW Chapter here.

If you’re a supplier or distributor or interested in facilitating the large scale buying or selling of PPE supplies, click here.

If you want to apply or nominate a woman leader for SHEforPPE, click here.

Wishing you health,

iV