Pivoting Your Business

I pivoted my business twice, originally from a staffing/recruiting company to a recruiting/HR company, then to a live events company. 

Here is how some of this happened:

1. We evaluated the ROI for the various services we were providing.  For instance, Staffing made our financials look good on paper (with high revenues and consistent cash flow), but it didn’t tell the whole story. The actual margin in Staffing was far less than Recruiting but we were spending 90% of our time on Staffing.  We were starting to lose Recruiting clients and our bigger margin and revenue generators.
    
2. We looked at what services/guidance we were already doing for our clients but not monetizing. Human Resources was a big item.
    
3. We drew a line in the sand and “stuck to our guns.” Once it was determined that we were no longer doing Staffing we stopped – even for clients we currently had Staffing Agreements with.
    
4. We partnered with other vendors that could provide the Staffing Service.  Some agreed to shared commissions, but more importantly we had a trusted resource we could send clients to.
    
5. We realized that our current Recruiting clients really liked us for that skill only, and that we would have to build a new book of business for HR consulting.  However, many Recruiting clients ended up being good referral sources.
    
6. We re-branded our website and social media to reflect the new line of business.
    
7. When speaking with potential clients, we led with the new line of business rather than our wheelhouse.
    
8. We found speaking engagements for the HR consulting business (no fees but a chance to get in front of people)

The eventual pivot to Live Events resulted from a career change: I no longer wanted to be a full-time Entrepreneur, and the services and products we were supplying to the event industry had taken over our revenue.  I still remain the face of our company and continue to manage a wide variety of items.