My name is Liudas Kanapienis, and I have spent over 15 years in fintech and business development, currently serving as the CEO of Ondato. One significant pivot we had to make in our business model came early in our journey with the initial launch of our ID verification module. Initially, our business model was focused solely on providing a comprehensive suite of KYC and AML compliance tools directly to financial institutions. However, we encountered significant challenges. The market was more competitive than we had anticipated, and our initial product had technical issues that impacted its reliability. Customer feedback indicated that our solutions were too broad and lacked specialization, making it difficult to stand out against established competitors. Recognizing the need for a change, we decided to pivot from offering a broad suite to focusing on a single, highly specialized solution. We chose to hone in on our ID verification module, refining its technology to ensure it was the most robust and user-friendly solution available. This decision was prompted by the clear market demand for reliable ID verification and the opportunity to address the pain points our customers were experiencing with existing solutions. We invested heavily in improving the module, incorporating advanced AI and machine learning algorithms to enhance accuracy and speed. We also adjusted our go-to-market strategy, targeting not just financial institutions, but also other industries with high compliance requirements, such as healthcare and telecommunications. The outcome of this pivot was overwhelmingly positive. By specializing, we were able to differentiate ourselves in the market, quickly gaining traction with new clients who valued our focused expertise. Our refined ID verification module became one of our flagship products, driving significant revenue growth and establishing Ondato as a trusted name in compliance solutions. Pivoting from a broad KYC/AML suite to a specialized ID verification solution allowed us to address market demands more effectively, leading to significant revenue growth and market differentiation."" This experience taught us the importance of listening to customer feedback, being adaptable, and not being afraid to make bold changes to our business model when necessary.
In 2018, we had to pivot ZenMaid's business model. Competitors were drawing our customers with simpler, cheaper options. To counter this, we introduced the ZenMaid Free Plan. It was a strategic move to showcase our value and make it easy for customers to upgrade later. This pivot was pure gold. It taught us to adapt, deeply understand our customers, and even allowed our team to work from anywhere. The outcome was a stronger, more flexible business, turning a challenge into a growth opportunity.
I recall a significant pivot during my time as a software engineer at Amazon. Our team was working on a product that wasn't gaining traction. We realized that the market demand had shifted, and our product was no longer relevant. We decided to pivot and focus on a new feature that aligned with the changing market needs. The outcome was a successful product that resonated with customers, resulting in increased sales and customer satisfaction.
My background was in outbound sales and I recognized that software companies were always willing to spend money if it helped them acquire new customers. I built a software broker business where we helped match buyers to the appropriate software platforms. Our initial business model was a pay-per-lead model, which made sense to us and allowed for faster revenue collection. However, we quickly found out that the most important software vendors in our industry were not interested in a pay-per-lead model; they had too much of a brand reputation for that model to move the needle. Instead, what those brands wanted was a commission-based model where we would get paid only when we helped them sign new customers. We switched to the commission model for all of our software vendors and it's been a homerun. First, it's allowed us to sign up every major software vendor in our space because it is such a risk-free proposition for the software vendors. Additionally, since we aren't paid until a client makes a selection, we are incentivized to help our clients through every stage of their selection, not just the initial hand off. This has allowed us to deliver a truly consultative and agnostic service
My online business was heavily dependent on Google search traffic. For years, it was smooth sailing with a steady flow of visitors from organic search results. However, everything changed when Google released a major algorithm update called the "Helpful Content Update" (HCU). Overnight, my website plummeted in rankings, leading to a catastrophic drop in traffic and revenue. It was a harsh wake-up call that relying too heavily on a single traffic source, especially one outside of my control, was an incredibly risky strategy. This forced me to pivot my business model urgently. I doubled down on diversifying my traffic sources, investing in email marketing, social media, and paid advertising campaigns. I also revamped my content strategy, focusing more on genuinely helpful and informative pieces rather than keyword-stuffed articles. It was a challenging transition, but it ultimately made my business more resilient and less susceptible to the whims of a single platform or algorithm change. The outcome was a more well-rounded and sustainable online presence.
Running a blog that focuses on helping creators generate endless, proven content ideas using my AI five-pillar framework has been my passion for the past four years or so. My framework leverages outlier content, authoritative guides, trending subjects, personal stories, and product reviews to help creators skyrocket their views, build a loyal audience, and monetize their content like never before. However, the Google HCU (Helpful Content Update) significantly decreased my blog traffic in 2023, and so I knew I needed to pivot my business model. So, I decided to shift my focus from blogging to creating YouTube videos. The goal remained the same: helping creators generate content ideas, but now I was using video format. This switch in focus has worked very well for me. Since I started posting consistently in February 2024, I've grown my YouTube channel to almost 3k subscribers and got my channel monetized! In my YouTube videos, I teach people to use various software programs to help them generate content and ideas. This pivot has not only helped me expand my audience but also opened up new revenue streams through affiliate programs. I’ve used the visual and engaging nature of video content to build a more interactive and dynamic community. This has been driving higher engagement, more sign-ups to my free content and newsletter, and increased monetization for my business. I'm so glad I was able to pivot from mainly written content to mainly video content in such a short period of time - it definitely worked for me!
When we experienced an economic downturn just prior and during COVID, the limits on many people’s discretionary spending budget took a hit and is why we had to pivot and make drastic changes to the services we offered. Plastic surgery is a very niche and expensive non-essential purchase, so when discretionary budgets get squeezed, it is one of the first items to go, therefore, it was important we had alternatives to our traditional procedures. This is why we spent a great deal of time designing, promoting, and marketing alternative and less expensive aesthetic procedures that could still obtain dramatic and desirable results, without having the cost associated with more involved and invasive procedures. This gave our clients options while allowing us to maintain our cash flow. It was pivoting our business away from traditional procedures and focusing on less expensive alternatives that helped keep us in the black during tough times.
I will give you a funny one. When the feds raised interest rates it really affected our revenue. We were trying lots of new things completely re-packing our model to see if we could sell more. But none of those pivots actually really helped. At the end of q1 this year we closed 7 deals all from the original offering, the market just loosened up. So I am a fan of pivoting but also there are times that the natural macro-economics prove to be challenging. Also give yourself operational cash to weather storms.
When the pandemic hit, our custom event signage business dried up almost overnight. As a result, we tried to pivot in a few different ways: supplying first responder signage and starting a line of face masks with company logos. Each of these worked, although for a short period of time. Unfortunately, the effects of Covid on events lasted much longer. After a year, we decided a change was necessary. We purchased a used laser engraver and began an engraving shop on Etsy. Putting all my focus on a business that had the ability to grow was my “aha” moment. And our small but mighty team went to work. After our first year, we earned over $750,000 in revenue. Now we have two, diversified income streams in different markets.
I once worked on this project and tried to think of a creative campaign to sell to a retail client. We felt good about it and were almost done, approximately 75% of the way through. But after that, we stood back and examined the data. As it happened, the campaign wasn't having the desired effect. and we realized that this isn't working. We therefore had to adjust and modify our strategy. We exchanged ideas and concentrated more on social media than on conventional advertisements. The result? The new strategy worked quite well, though! The audience became more engaged, and we received more positive feedback. It served as a lesson that occasionally changing direction is necessary to find the appropriate course.
We initially had all clients on a month to month model to allow for flexibility. We found over time if a client left, it would cause issues with employee resourcing. Because of this, we began including a two month notice period in our contracts. This still gives our clients the flexibility of a month to month contract, however our team has more of a heads up to use for resourcing.
Our website started as a cybersecurity and privacy blog, then we grew into selling advertising. However, the paid ads that actually appeared on the website never correlated with the content, and we weren’t willing to place more and more ads in order to grow the business. So we broke even for a while, until the owner decided to pivot by nurturing a relationship with a VPN. After we partnered with them, it changed the entire business. First one VPN partner, then another, and another, and we were off and running.
Revolutionizing Legal Solutions with Technology-driven Solutions for Improved Efficiency One pivotal moment for our legal process outsourcing company was when we decided to pivot our business model to focus more on technology-driven solutions rather than solely relying on traditional outsourcing services. This shift was prompted by the increasing demand for innovative legal tech solutions in the market and our desire to stay ahead of the curve. We invested heavily in developing proprietary software and AI tools tailored to streamline document review processes and enhance overall efficiency. While the transition required significant time and resources, the outcome was incredibly rewarding. Not only did we attract new clients seeking cutting-edge solutions, but we also experienced a notable increase in client satisfaction and retention. This real-life experience taught me the importance of adaptability and forward-thinking in navigating evolving market dynamics, ultimately positioning our company for long-term success in the ever-changing legal industry.
TrackingMore started as an order-tracking platform targeting online retailers who needed to provide customers with an effective way to track their packages while boosting their in-house operations with end-to-end shipment visibility. From this initial service, we pivoted the company to a shipment tracking service provider, target tracking software companies, and logistics service providers. This change was prompted by an analysis of our users. We realized that having developed an efficient multi-carrier tracking platform, software companies, and logistics service providers were attracted to TrackingMore because it enabled them to provide reliable tracking service to their end customers. These high-volume users presented a more lucrative opportunity and allowed us to focus on developing the technology they could rely on for their day-to-day tracking needs.
We had a significant pivot early on with Lido.app. Initially, we focused heavily on complex data visualizations for tech-savvy users. But we noticed many of our customers were actually business professionals with limited coding experience. Their feedback made it clear—they needed a simpler, no-code solution that could handle everyday tasks easily. So, we transitioned Lido.app to be more user-friendly, focusing on seamless integration with tools like Google Sheets and Excel. This change opened up our platform to a broader audience. The result? Increased user adoption and higher customer satisfaction. It underscored the power of listening to your users and adapting to their needs.
We saw the necessity of changing our business model after it turned out that we could not proceed with the originally planned strategy of B2C sales of our software product. Market research, expert commentaries, and customer feedback indicated that demand for the same product was higher in the B2B sector, namely among small companies engaged in developing CRM solutions. This drove us to do more B2B sales, design features and offers that could appeal to small businesses, and develop a new sales model. The result was a turnaround: revenue doubled in the first year after, and we created longer-term contracts with a few key clients. We also learnt how being able to adapt and change direction is key based on market insights and customer needs.
The last company I owned started out as a digital marketing agency for e-commerce companies. We were achieving a lot of success for our clients, but that didn't translate to much of an increase in revenue for our agency since our clients were on retainer. I decided to pivot the company slowly by starting our own internal e-commerce brand and utilize our team to scale it. Within the first year we let all of our clients go and focused 100% on our brand as we saw a 1000% increase of our companies revenue within the first year. This lead to an exit of that brand just 3 years later.
Every affiliate marketer knows that this business model is no longer sustainable. To be fair, it's still profitable, but it has totally changed since the recent Google updates. Since lots of affiliate websites were destroyed, I knew I had to change my approach. I started using Youtube as a secondary channel, where competition is not so high and I also launched my own digital product. Email marketing is crucial now because I can convert my subscribers into loyal customers. To be honest, I used to underestimate these strategies, but the outcome was pretty nice. In fact, building a YouTube channel and starting to post on Social Media helped me build my personal brand and website's authority. This was an interesting lesson: you can't put all your eggs in one basket.
Four months after starting my business, I pivoted my business model from sales training and consulting to sales recruiting. After failing to get traction with sales training and consulting and getting massive unsolicited demand for sales recruiting, my decision to pivot was a no-brainer. Nearly three years later, my decision to pivot has proved to be the right choice. We are thriving, and I don't believe that would be the case if we had not pivoted.
Our business model had to drastically change with Google's latest algorithm update. We relied heavily on affiliate marketing revenue from traffic driven to our website from Google. The algorithm changes led to significant drops in traffic, and therefore significant drops in revenue. This forced a change in model to be successful, and highlighted the importance of diversifying our marketing efforts, and building audiences outside of organic search. The pivot has led us to greater brand building, a lower quantity of content production, and a greater focus on industry partnerships. This has allowed us to begin growth in a more sustainable and future proof way that doesn't rely on Google, or other platforms.