What Does Pivot Mean in Business?
Last week I had an excellent opportunity to hang out with the guys from Picatic, and the CEO, Jayesh Parmar. It was a great night hearing about their journey and steps to their goals. They are fellow entrepreneurs focused and motivated on being the website people turn to for Event Crowd Funding.
I gleaned much knowledge from the evening, but the one word that stuck in my head more than the others was PIVOT. Until that evening, I had never heard the term “pivot” regarding business. I was reminded of high school basketball, where pivoting means keeping one leg stationary while turning the other one, thus causing the body to change direction. In business, pivoting means revising your business strategy to reach the broader market.
Alignment in Business
Although the business world considers a simple change of strategy a pivot, it is probably better termed an alignment. Business pivoting does happen, as it did in the case of Picatic, but most businesses align. They align and realign through client feedback, investor advice, or simply brainstorming at a company meeting. Alignment occurs when a business understands the clients and markets dictate and realigns its product. This may be as simple as a price change or a new feature that improves the product.
The key to business growth is learning your market and clients' needs.
Picatic was a business pivot because they had a product and a market; though a small audience, they took the company in a completely different direction with a brand new idea. As a result, their audience grew dramatically, and their product had traction. As a result, they began leading the industry with plans for future growth.
If things are slowing down in your business, it may be time to realign your products or take a more drastic approach and pivot. First, review your goals and products in the coming weeks and consider what your clients say. Then, you may need to send out an email survey, a personalized letter or even do the old-fashioned thing and get on the phone. In the great words of Red Green, “Remember, I’m pulling for you. We’re all in this together.”
Update
Picatic History
First Version - Oct 2006

Date of This Article - Apr 2013

When Acquired by EventBrite - July 2018
