After selling my businesses, I decided to help out other businesses dealing with the same issues I had during my pivot. I found a way to break my methods down into 5 essential steps. All of these steps emphasize the importance of constantly pivoting to stay on top of the market.
1. Who is your customer?
Really get to know your customer, and you can discover the target audience and market that your business can tap into. Communicate to your customers and peel back the layers beyond just demographics. With this knowledge, you can shape your products based on what your customers need.
2. What products and services are your customers buying elsewhere?
Look at the products you’re selling, and see what other products are connected. For example, one of my companies was selling hand sanitizer, and we realized many of our customers also bought masks since both were related to the pandemic. Understand your customers and the full scope of products they buy.
3. Who is your competition?
Once you find out what you’re selling, look at your competition. Who is in the top 3, and how competitive is the market? You need to find out if there’s a place for you in the marketplace you choose. Look for a niche or space that is missing in the market that you can provide. You also need to ensure that you are able to produce the product, or even improve on it to stay ahead of the competition. If you can’t make this product or make profit from it, you may have to move on to something else.
4. What’s the easiest path to market?
In other words, which path to market has the highest probability of success? Weigh your options and go through pros and cons for each pathway. It’s also a good idea to bounce ideas off of friends, business coaches or even trusted customers. Keep in mind that the choice you’re most excited about may not be the right one. Put logic and data over emotion when making this decision, and listen to the feedback you’re given.
5. Game plan and test, but remember to take action
This is the most important step. I’ve seen many businesses with great plans and presentations, but no action steps to follow through
on. Often times business stay in the planning phase of a project and never move on. While the planning phase is important, time is also limited. Any plan you have is being thought of by other businesses that want to beat you to the market.
Don’t be too impulsive, but don’t stagnate in planning for too long. Give yourself a due date for your plan and work backwards from there. Stick to that date, and make the plan happen.
Note: This article was created from a presentation given by Jeremy Kean, at a LevelUp conference shown on YouTube.
Jeremy Kean has been an entrepreneur since he was 13, selling various products such as laundry detergent, soy candles and hand sanitizer. He now works as a business consultant, giving advice to companies on how to pivot and grow.
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