Whether you are facing market changes or simply seeing new opportunities, there will come a day when you decide to adjust your business. However, committing to the steering is only the first of many decisions. You need to plan and implement each step of this change while keeping your company and team moving.
If you’re considering revamping your business, here are 16 secrets to success shared by members of the Forbes Business Council. Follow their advice to ensure a smooth transition.
Members are pictured from left to right.
Photos provided by individual members.
1. Taking the interests of the people as the core
A successful pivot relies on one word: people. Then, two questions arise: How does this pivot help the people (customers) we serve better and/or faster? Who on our team can make this happen, and how? Adjusting without people’s interests in mind can lead to adjustment failure. The fulcrum of the people may be a victory for all. A selfish fulcrum risks backtracking. – Jeremy Finley, Quantiem.com
2. Know the “engine” of your business
To tune your business, it is necessary to have a solid understanding of the business being tuned. The key to planning and implementing an effective company transformation is understanding the “engine” of your business—in other words, what makes it run. Transformation will fail if you cannot effectively communicate to key people in the company how each department operates and the strengths and weaknesses of the business. – Blake Fortune, Hamilton Capital Partners, LLC.
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3. Conduct People-Centric Market Research
Conduct people-centered research while reviewing existing and emerging market opportunities. From there, you’ll have what is necessary to design a product or service in a tailored way that creates inspiration to drive understanding and alignment across the business. This allows for the development of the systems and structures needed to support the process and accountability so that things ultimately move forward. – Christine Marvin, Marvin
4. Start small
Implementation is key. Production comes before perfection. It is often more effective to start with a small budget than to plan forever. For example, if someone is looking to build a personal brand online, just starting with videos and other content – and getting better as you go – will work better for most than over-planning, as this can lead to Analysis paralysis. – Adam Fayed, adamfayed.com
5. Get your team behind it
When thinking about company transformation, there are three most important key things. First, communicate the strategic rationale for the pivot in a simple and clear way so you can quickly get everyone behind it. Next, make sure people and culture aren’t severely disrupted, because people are your strongest asset. Share the vision and ambition behind Pivot to ensure everyone is moving in the same direction. -Hemal Somaiya, PharmaForceIQ
6. Consider impact
The key to effective steering is twofold, the benefit to be gained from the steering and the ability to execute it. A pivot should bring your company closer to its true purpose. Whether you’re serving a new market or focusing on a niche, the value of transformation comes from more meaningful impact. Depending on the operational and financial risks you take, the best pivots are those with the greatest impact. -Marcos Rivera, I/O Pricing
7. Gather perspectives across the company
First, really understand why the transformation is necessary by collecting the perspectives of people in different positions in the company (not just the top management), and analyzing relevant data to support the transformation. These steps will help ensure that it is the right move and has the support of the company’s employees who will be involved to help execute it once it is launched. – Melanie Ammerman, VaVa Virtual Assistant
8. Understand your role in the industry
do research. You need to live in a world that you can reasonably expect but grounded in a firm understanding of your current role in it. In higher education, tuition policy, government oversight, consumer preferences, technology, and demographics influence decisions to pivot. It becomes simultaneously an opportunity, a challenge and a matter of survival. – Brian Mitchell, Academic Innovator
9. Maintain market leadership
The decision to have an effective corporate pivot must align with your goals. The key is to stay ahead of the market and stay on top of company trends, so decisions are not made lightly, but with deliberation and planning to achieve the results you need. -Kirt Linington, Linear Roofing & General Contractors, LLC
10. Consider timing
I believe turning a company around is one of the hardest decisions an entrepreneur can possibly have to make. A successful transformation must be well planned and implemented. An important key to planning for turning points is making sure they happen at the right time. New ideas must also be well thought out and calculations and forecasts must be correct. – Abimbola Amusan, Vesti Technologies Solutions Inc
11. Communication changes
Pivots are part of entrepreneurial development. Think about how your product or service might change. Try to focus on the main features. It is also important to prepare for proper communication. Start with the team and make sure they understand and support this pivot. Then, take the information to partners and customers. – Igor Ryabenkiy, AltaIR Capital
12. Fully commit
Either go all out or go nowhere! You as the business owner, the board of directors, and anyone else making these very important and necessary decisions for the company must give their all when they are made – there is no going back. If there is hesitation or doubt, it sends the wrong internal message. Everything has to happen as a team and as a unit – all have to agree. – Dana Neiger, HIVE Talent Acquisition
13. Integrate strategic innovation into company culture
Being a leader or senior executive requires the ability to sense and understand where the market is going and steer the ship accordingly. Embedding the strategic innovation process into the company culture will allow the business to think continuously with a “pivot” mindset. Business transformation is not just a sudden and drastic move, it can also be part of a long-term strategy. – Andrea d’Agostini, SalesJet and Monarchy Media
14. Create a committee
Create a committee. The input of this group is essential, and together they can work out how best to articulate the change to other employees. Employees are encouraged to ask questions and easily access any information they need about the change. Presenting “why,” supporting data and gathering input early on can help prevent resistance that could lead to an unexpected departure. – Colleen Werner, Lulafit
15. Reconnect with your “why”
Reconnect with your company on the “why”. Make sure any decisions you make are in support of the larger company goals, and why the business was created in the first place. From there, it’s all about communicating effectively with the larger team, a strong go-to-market strategy and keeping things as simple as possible – Ravi Swaminathan, TaskHuman
16. Figure out the big picture and future of the business
When making any business decision, especially a major one like resizing your business, the first thing you need is clarity or a business selfie, which means having a clear view of the current situation and the future goals of the business. Once these two points are clarified, the strategy map, including the tactics for how to get there and the resources or people who can do business there, is revealed. Consistency is mandatory for implementation. – Magda Paslaru, Rainbow Idea SRL