CEOs, share the story behind your biggest business/professional pivot so others can learn from you?

The biggest professional pivot and decision I made was to turn all my knowledge and experiences about land investing into an educational program that our company, Land Investing Online, is offering now. Finding individual success in land flipping is one thing, but creating a successful eLearning business model out of personal boots-on-the-ground experiences is another. I needed to pull ideas from memories and project these into a step-by-step land flipping educational program. I felt the most creative during this time. I like the idea of imparting financial skills to other aspiring real estate investors through our bootcamp course.

My biggest professional pivot was leaving a lucrative career in trading and finance and opening a dropshipping business. I enjoyed my job but felt stagnant. I was attracted to an online business's flexibility and location independence, so I researched and learned all I could about online businesses, enrolled in a high-ticket dropshipping course, and got a coach. I started with my dropshipping store while still employed and quit my job after six months as the numbers were looking good. I was 25. Now, I'm mobile, able to travel, visit friends and family, and gain varied life experiences. The excellent earnings and flexible lifestyle from running a remote company are worth the hard work and long hours I put in at the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey. I learned valuable lessons from mistakes I've made along the way that enabled me to lead and manage a fully remote team and business successfully.

As the CEO of a technology startup, I made a major pivot in my business strategy recently. We had spent two years developing a product that we were sure would be the next big thing in our industry. However, during market testing, we realized that while people liked the idea behind it, they weren’t willing to pay for it. The pivot that I decided to take was to focus on a whole new product. We pivoted away from our original idea, and instead focused on developing software that would help businesses in our industry automate some of their processes. The result was an incredibly successful product, and it allowed us to expand into a much larger market. The lesson that I learned from this pivot was that sometimes you have to be willing to take risks and go in a different direction, even if it means leaving behind something that you’ve worked hard on. You never know what the outcome may be, but taking the chance might just pay off in the end. That’s certainly what happened to me.

Just a few years ago, I was a very successful consultant for a tech company in Germany. According to society, I had it all; a very well-paid career, a home, a family, and my whole life planned out. Then I decided to leave it all behind and risk it all for an idea. My wife and I found an opportunity in the language market at the time, which was to offer lesser spoken languages. We started by coding and developing an app ourselves; the first language app to teach Thai. We tested the market and saw the potential was huge. Using money we had bene saving towards retirement, we took a leap and quit our jobs to create our dream. Having that private and personal capital to fall back on put less pressure on us to succeed for someone else's needs and increased pressures to achieve success for ourselves. Ling now has over 10 million downloads and a language blog with over 800,000 views a month.

After graduating from college I joined a wellness tech startup as their skincare expert. I then pivoted to starting skincare companies of my own. This allowed me to carry on my family legacy as founder of natural brands with international recognition. This pivot changed my career because it eventually led me to co-found Furtuna Skin. My advice is to not be afraid to take a leap of faith. Learn as much as you can where you’re at, network with leaders within your industry, and don’t let others tell you can’t start something of your own.

I pursued an artistic career after studying premed in college. I was gaining recognition as an artist and enjoyed the creativity it provided, but I felt isolated and like something was missing. I had always loved beauty products, and I saw a gap in the beauty market for high-quality magnetic lashes that worked and looked great. So I sought to create my own. Within a year, I taught myself everything from product development to marketing, and Glamnetic was born in July 2019. Glamnetic did $50m in revenue without receiving any outside capital in the first year in business. We secured impactful retail partnerships with Ulta, entering into 1000 stores across the US, Sephora, and Nordstrom online. I was recently placed on the Inc 100 Female founders list. I've learned never to hold myself back or be afraid to change.

I founded my first company in 2014 with the intention of helping to simplify the investment for people in Argentina and Chile. Unfortunately, I couldn't access to the financial licenses required to offer my product, so I pivoted to providing software services to other startups using remote teams. Today, we have over 10 employees and have been servicing clients for 8 years. So, whether your business is struggling or you are simply looking to pivot, be sure to listen to your customers and find a way to make their lives easier.

Our company is one of many that have decided to use technology to be an educational disruptor for kids around the world. By creating an online learning platform that is both fun, engaging, and fosters real new friendships, we have created a diverse online learning community that is pandemic proof. Covid-19 showed us how fragile our way of life can be, and Primer aims to make sure that children won't feel cut off from friends and supplemental education in things they are interested in

The technological advances as well as widespread health knowledge that now circulates online has informed more people than ever about the many benefits to different forms of HRT and other hormone replacement therapies. We are on the precipice of a biohacking revolution where people won’t have to age the way we did in the past and with proper care, we can lead longer, healthier, and happier lives. With Covid-19 still in the rearview mirror, people everywhere have wanted to make a change in their lives and improve their health in any way they can control, so that they are better prepared for the things that they can’t. At EliteHRT, we are here to offer you a choice in the way you age.

My biggest business pivot happened when I decided to go all-in on my new business, which meant moving away from a traditional job. It was definitely a risky decision as there were no guarantees of success, but I had developed a business plan and done my research to make me confident that it would pay off. I started by raising capital from angel investors and hiring an experienced team to help me get the business off the ground. With great determination, hard work, and creativity, we were able to launch the business successfully. It’s now been one year since I made that pivot, and I couldn’t be happier with the results. I’ve learned so much about business and entrepreneurship along the way. Looking back, I’m glad that I took the plunge. I would encourage anyone considering a big business/professional pivot to research their idea thoroughly, create a business plan and hire an experienced team – these three things will make any business venture more likely to succeed.

I've promoted myself and my business as a "digital marketer" for many years. For several years, I promoted my "full service agency" which also provided web design and development services to clients. There is value in providing a one-stop shop to certain clients. However, this isn't always the best way to grow. Lately I've pivoted towards focusing any new client acquisitions on one aspect of my business. Specifically, I am focused on creating content around data storytelling, and promoting that content in a way that positively impacts the search engine optimization (SEO) of a business. One of the biggest pain points that many companies have with their SEO is that they can't seem to build legitimate, authoritative links. My goal is to become a top data storyteller who people seek out to augment their existing SEO programs. Although this service has been an aspect of my SEO offerings to clients in the past, this pivot clarifies the way people think about me and my service.

Following an injury that had my doctor unsure if I'd walk again, I left my banking job in order to pursue something I could work at and grow from home. A few years later, taking that leap has led to my SAT tutoring business booming with over 100 tutors and thousands of students. Taking the risk to leave behind my previous job and pursue my own company was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

I started my first business in college, a small t-shirt printing operation out of my dorm room. It was a great way to make some extra money, and I quickly grew the business by partnering with local businesses and organizations. After college, I decided to pivot the business and focus on online sales. This was a big risk, but it paid off. The online platform allowed me to reach a much wider audience, and I soon became one of the leading t-shirt retailers in the country. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that pivoting your business can be a risky but rewarding move. So, if you're thinking about making a change in your business, don't be afraid to take the leap. You never know where it might lead you.

Pivot to passion. The biggest pivot I ever made was when I stopped working for others’ passions and started working for my own. While it’s not necessarily bad to work for others, building something that’s important to you is the pinnacle of entrepreneurship.

To sustain profitability as soon as possible is the main objective of my business pivot. You need to survive any sudden or brief interruptions in business, thus it is important that you have additional time and financial resources available. As a result, adjust your business tactics to reflect changes in your marketing materials. The key to my long-term performance and the foundations of my financial success are the tactics required to take into account the ensuing financial swings. The new company tactics should be more flexible and successful than they were in the past.

We followed the data and pivoted from an email-focused marketing strategy to an SMS marketing strategy. Did you know that 98% of recipients open texts? That’s especially high compared to the 20% open rate that emails carry. Since we developed an automated SMS marketing strategy, we’ve seen higher engagement. Best of all, our conversion rate has increased by 20%.

Businesses that make a pivot for growth typically notice a number of natural indicators that point to a change that will improve the company's reputation and revenue. These similar indications will serve as a warning shot that a company model is unsustainable and calls for an instant course correction in order to stay afloat if survival is the ultimate aim. Doodler's change focused on taking advantage of fresh prospects and long-term company development. We had sufficient organic proof that an educational focus would be successful, and we wanted to design our goods with a long-term legacy in mind. Even if it meant undergoing the rigors of turning the whole company to engage with education, the potential customer reach and income opportunity were too excellent to pass up.

I use the sailing analogy. You have a lot to worry about when sailing in rough waters. The sail is it effective against the wind? Do I account for the tide and the wind? You worry about the stability of the boat, your own behavior, etc. All of these things need to be handled at once, but depending on your surroundings—such as the size of the waves or the force of the wind—certain tasks will be more essential at certain points. CEOs must be able to bounce back and grow. In addition to making sure the company is responding appropriately, it is your responsibility as CEO to avoid becoming overwhelmed by the crisis and to have a longer-term perspective on what to do next. Humility and resilience go hand in hand. Being rooted in the mission of your company provides you the strength to weather the storms. Being humble also enables you to admit your limitations, which makes it easier for you to ask for assistance and pick up new skills as necessary.

No doubt a lot of CEOs place a premium on hiring exceptional leaders. In contrast, great CEOs pay more attention to the team's dynamic, the group's psychology, and the way in which they collaborate. The classic example of this is the U.S. men's Olympic basketball team, who famously lost their first pre-game scrimmage to a college team. As the coach could tell they weren't working together, he allowed them to lose the game, knowing full well that in order to win again, his best players would need to adjust their approach. CEOs, like any other business leader, should put resources into their teams' operational framework. If we don't know how to decide, then what do we do? To what extent do we make an effort to support one another?

Always consider where your business is and is headed in relation to other macro trends around the world. As the CEO of a 3D printing company, our growth has paralleled the mass adoption of 3D printing tools that we have seen budding their way into virtually every way we will do construction in the future. Although I would love to take credit for our success, so much of it has to do with the direction of macro trends in this new technological revolution. A rising tide raises all boats, and we among other 3D printing companies have benefited from that global investment.