Introduction
Welcome to the Coaching Hive Podcast! I am thrilled you’re here for today’s episode.
It is a new month, and at the start of every month, I find myself sitting down with Carrie Green inside the Female Entrepreneur Association to participate in our CEO Power Hour. Now by sitting down with Carrie, I mean I, along with a hundred or so other people, all hop on Zoom with Carrie, who shares her time and energy with us.
We reflect and talk about the past month. What were we thinking, doing, and feeling inside the business? What were the outcomes of our actions? We also examine the monthly metrics, what stays, and what goes.
Then we shift to the future, take these reflections, and decide how to proceed with the upcoming month. The coming month may include changes or pivots we want to make and goals we have for our business.
The process is eye-opening, no matter how many times I do it. It provides insights that you don’t get from just regular goal setting. Goal setting alone doesn’t have a reflective nature by default. It is prospective, and your goals can become detached because of that forward look.
When you combine the review of the previous month with a look to the coming month, it is easier to know when you need to pivot.
I recently introduced this idea in the Coaching Hive Elite program, and they were head over heels in love with it.
While this is the first day of the month, and I encourage you to engage in your power hour, this episode is about pivoting that comes as a result of a power hour reflection.
If you’re ready, grab your notebook and a pen, and let’s dive in.
Pivot!
Do you remember the Friends episode where Ross, Rachel, and Chandler are carrying a couch up the stairs, and Ross yells, “Pivot!”? Ross is yelling Pivot, but Chandler and Rachel aren’t sure how to pivot. They figure out, long before Ross, that the pivoting isn’t working. That little clip has a few valuable lessons for business owners:
- Pivoting in your business isn’t always tidy.
- Pivoting doesn’t always happen the way you say.
- Pivoting takes coordination of efforts.
These lessons lead to the question, how do you pivot in a way that allows you to keep your sanity, keep your clients happy, and create the change necessary for your business to grow in a way that is congruent with your goals?
Pivoting with Data
The first step is to look at the data.
Pivoting can bring about considerable anxiety. You build your carefully-thought out business and then realize something isn’t quite right. But the challenge lies in not wanting to let down your clients or feel like you are giving up on your business.
It is during this time that data can be particularly beneficial. What do you look at? Well, that will depend on your business. If you are a course creator thinking about shifting your course offerings, look at the completion rates, engagement with the content, feedback, and market stats on what people are searching for and willing to purchase.
If you are a membership site owner making changes to your membership, look at retention and attrition rates, examine your exit survey data to see why people are leaving, and explore how your members use your deliverables each month.
What if you have a product that you sell? Look at the cost to produce vs. what you can charge. Explore what customers typically buy with the product. Do they often purchase it as a single item and never return to your business for other products, or is this something that provides the foundation for future or same-day purchases?
By looking at the data, you can better make an informed decision about necessary or desirable pivots in your business.
Pivoting with the Heart
It isn’t just about the data, however. After all, you started your business as a way to feed your heart and soul. At least to some extent. What happens when you look at the data, telling you that a pivot isn’t necessary, but you “feel” deep down that you need to make a change?
Perhaps this piece of your business is draining you or doesn’t feel in alignment with what you want to pursue for the next 15 years. But, on the other hand, maybe it is as simple as not fitting your life in this season of time.
What are you supposed to do? The data says it works, but your heart and mind are saying no.
You have to find a balance. You might be able to pivot simply by engaging some help to deliver the service or create the product. Does this “buy” you enough leeway that you can work through the season with ease?
But what happens when your business no longer feels in alignment with what you want to do?
Pivoting with the Client in Mind
You have a more significant decision to make. The pivot isn’t a slight veer to the right or left; it might be a 180-degree turn.
The business you built might be doing well, or maybe it is floundering, but it isn’t in alignment with you any longer.
Pivoting becomes necessary, but you must keep your clients in mind to make the pivot successful.
Let me give you an example. Recently I began the process of closing one of our Coaching Hive memberships. Looking at the data, I could see that the members’ needs weren’t what the membership offered. They needed help implementing their business ideas in a more hands-on way, help with messaging and marketing their business, and accountability. The Coaching Hive Elite membership does precisely this, but the regular membership wasn’t hitting these needs similarly.
The alignment was also off for me. When I started the Coaching Hive 2 years ago, I had no idea I would dig into messaging for businesses. It allows me to do group and 1:1 work as my time allows. I get a creative outlet, and I have an opportunity to serve new entrepreneurs working on getting their businesses out into the world to help even more people.
I had to release what wasn’t functioning optimally to focus on a new vision. So I closed the doors to the Coaching Hive Membership at the end of September.
But I didn’t just close the doors. I pivoted with my clients in mind. Although I stopped their membership payments, they have three more months of live calls and the opportunity to join the Elite program at a special rate. I met with them individually to help them identify the next steps in their business.
I am pivoting with my clients in mind. I am helping them think through the next step.
Pivoting isn’t easy, it isn’t neat, and it takes time. But pivoting can help you reach your goals when you plan them out.
Action Item
That brings us to our action item for today. I want you to take a look at your business. Look at what is working and isn’t working the way you’d like.
With the data, your heart, and your clients in mind, what can you shift in the upcoming month? How can you better serve your needs and those of your clients?
You might need a tiny adjustment or a significant pivot. Either way, begin exploring what needs to happen for your business to be in alignment and profitable.
Conclusions
Let’s take a moment to bring everything back together from today’s episode. Pivoting isn’t easy, it isn’t neat, and it takes time. But when you plan it out, pivoting can help you reach your goals and build a business that is congruent with you.
You need to look at the data, explore what is in your heart, and keep your clients or customers in mind as you pivot. Pivoting is normal. It is a part of being in business. It signifies that you are engaged in your business and always looking for ways to improve.
This brings me to something I shared in Episode 91 last week, the Entrepreneur Resource Bundle. As an entrepreneur, you need resources to run your business. It helps when you have guides, mentors, and experts who have gone before you and explored what works and what doesn’t.
It can be hard to find in our online world. But, coming up on November 14, you will have access to 14 experts in the business world, and they are offering you their wisdom at no cost. You will have the opportunity to learn about content creation, sales pages, getting into a creative state of mind, accountability, creating a one-liner for your business, Instagram growth, wealth generation, internet security, and so much more.
You might be thinking there is a catch. The catch is that the Bundle will only be available for 4 days. But, beginning on November 14, you can access the Bundle and choose the resources you’d like access to before the vault closes.
To prepare, mark November 14 on your calendar and then list the areas in which you struggle in your business. The list will help you better identify your most meaningful offers, but honestly, you will want to grab them all!
Fourteen business experts in one place at no cost to you. What could be better? Maybe apple pie, but not much else!
If you have any questions in the meantime and would like guidance, send me a message on social.
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/coachinghivelife
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/coachinghive
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/coachinghive
Alrighty, that’s all I have for you today. So start thinking about the upcoming month. What will you keep the same, and what will you change? Do you need a slight veer off your path or a complete pivot as we finish the year?
I trust our conversation has provided value as you continue to build your business. I always love hearing from you about your business, what challenges you’re experiencing, and how you’ve put into action these podcast episodes.
I look forward to seeing you back next week for another episode of the Coaching Hive Podcast, where a focus on mentoring and community removes the overwhelm of building your successful and profitable business and adds in a dose of momentum.
Until next time, have a healthy, safe, and happy week!
