A challenge that we face when trying to develop a successful organisation. Is understanding when to pivot & when to stop persevering…
It can be many factors which cause you to pause & think when you should pivot. Like market conditions, competition & technology advancements.
There’s only so long you can carry on kicking the can down the road, until the Penny finally drops where you need to pivot & change a few things. You’ve just gotta make sure it’s not too late.
It’s happened to us a few times over the years…
The 1st time it was a right wallop & a mixture of all 3. The 2008 recession, the internet shopping revolution & then massive supermarkets landing in town centres selling everything.
Honestly. We persevered doing the same things for much too long. Watching our customers & profits dwindle. Eventually though the penny dropped & we pivoted big style.
Developing pay monthly printing solutions for families, home workers & small organisations. Creating a complete office supplies portfolio of stationery, workplace solutions & furniture. And relocating into 1 operations centre, so we can provide a professional service to all customers.
Our last pivot happened not so long ago…
Customers we’re growing & needed bigger printing technology loaded with extra features. We’d learnt from our earlier experience & after some research, quickly decided to pivot.
But we’ve not just copied the market. We’ve listened to what people are unhappy about & we’ve pivoted in a different direction.
Instead of charging people £1,000’s for high end printing & photocopier technology & tying people into long-term contracts, with built in price increases, hidden extra charges & high termination fees.
We’ve developed a product where the equipment is installed & supported for free on flexible monthly agreements, all you pay is an affordable guaranteed price for each page you print.
History is littered with organisations pivoting…
- Netflix pivoted as soon as technology allowed. Moving from posting to streaming movies.
- YouTube started out as a video- based dating service, before pivoting into what it is today.
- Shopify was an online snowboard store, before pivoting to sell online ecommerce stores.
You don’t have to be a start-up to pivot. Established companies need to pivot too. History is littered with those that persevered too long. Including brands like Blockbusters, Woolworths & ToysRus.
Pivoting is not for the faint hearted. It takes research, guts, determination & a good plan. But if we carry on doing the same things forever, eventually, they’ll be no can left to kick down the road.
