Pivot

COVID-19 has forced a lot of businesses to pivot. 

While it’s not fun and can be stressful, pivoting can result in short and long term benefits for creative companies and their customers.  

Instead of closing and laying off employees, some restaurants are taking take-out to a new level. Better packaging. Improved websites. Delicious new menus. Faster prep. Speedy, discounted home delivery. Even beer/wine to go (authorized by AZ law). I expect much of this will endure post COVID-19. 

Some auto manufacturers are streamlining the car buying process. Websites quickly update when new cars with different colors and features arrive. Salespeople walk you around the lot showing you cars virtually using remote video tools like Facetime and Zoom. The ability to buy a car, trade your car, finance your purchase, and take delivery of your new car at home looks to me like a big improvement over having to drive from dealer to dealer. I expect it will endure post COVID-19.   

My real estate brokerage literally worked around the clock to develop a way for clients to buy and sell homes with no physical showings. It took a significant upgrade in online and video technology so buyers could see homes like they were physically there. We even retained a bio-cleaning company that specialized in hospitals so we could deliver bio-certified homes. We have already sold 75 homes this month so I know it works. We will continue this program as an option to physical showings post COVID-19. 

The Louvre Museum is the world’s largest art museum, and also a historic monument. Like the Louvre, many iconic galleries, museums, and zoos now offer fabulous online live tours, some giving you the ability to ask questions during the tours via video or monitored chat boxes. This is benefiting millions who would have never had the experience of seeing the world’s great treasures. I hope it endures post COVID-19.   

Pivoting can be hard, requiring creativity to do it successfully. A few years ago I developed a thinking technique I call 7 Dimensional Thinking, a way to help me think creatively. When you need to pivot, try looking at your business in 7 different ways: 

BIGGER – what if I did it bigger?

SMALLER – what if I did it smaller? 

FASTER – what if I did it faster? 

SLOWER – what if I did it slower?

OPPOSITE – what if I did it in reverse?

DIFFERENT – what if I did it differently (i.e. shape, color)?

GONE – If the traditional way went away, how would I do it?  

Pivoting can be stressful and taxing. I know. I just did it.

But it’s better than giving up, sitting around:

    Hoping this virus goes away (which you can’t control), 

    Watching the stock market fluctuate (which you can’t control), 

    Checking the new COVID-19 cases (which you can’t control)

    While your business dies (which you can at least try to control)

Think of it this way… “Pivoting is not the end of the disruption process but the beginning of the next leg of your journey” – Jay Samit