Why Every Entrepreneur Needs the Ability to Change Course

Every entrepreneur needs to have the ability to change the course of action every now and then. Some people call it a pivot, while others may refer to this as an ideology of being lean. Whatever the case may be, it’s important for entrepreneurs to be smarter about the way they run their business. In the case of vendor relationships that are long-term and self-sustaining, you may not want to change course. In the case of certain clients, you may want to be.

Changing the course of action for your business depends on many factors, but revenue and long-term growth are some of the most important ones. You don’t want to have to face looming debt or failing business models by yourself. It’s better to be a part of a larger business community that understands your requirements and suggests better paths. That’s why it’s so important for business leaders to reinvent themselves and shift focus on the revenue model that they’re building.

Lack of Will and Passion

Startup success implies a lot of heat, struggle, and long hours. Some entrepreneurs prefer this route, while others have to grind through it. If you’re losing your passion in an area or don’t have the work ethic anymore it's may be time to change. You’re not going to perform at peak levels if you don’t enjoy the subject you’re dealing with.

Whether that’s particle physics or art history, you need to have some form of passion in the space that you’re operating in. That’s the key here. Passion, in this case, simply implies the desire to work towards a certain goal. It’s got nothing to do with mental strategies, motivation or perseverance. You can be highly motivated to pursue an area, but not be passionate about it in the least bit.

It’s important to find an area that has good market space for you, and you can flourish in that space. Having the right will and passion helps you excel in that space. Bringing your work ethic with you can help you immensely as well. However, if you find yourself constantly struggling and not seeing financial gains, it may be time to change course.

Blue Waters vs. Red Oceans

An alternative course of action can prove to be quite beneficial as you search for blue waters across the pond. Being in an overly saturated market with little to no differentiation can lead to all sorts of trouble for your mental and business well-being. You need to have a different approach towards work and business if you want to succeed and a course correction might be at call here.

You can find new avenues, new growth models, new areas of excellence and domains to explore. It’s like an adventure down rough waters. If there’s a high chance that you’ll sink, then there is little to no incentive to traverse. If there is a pathway that doesn’t have a lot of heartaches, you might be one of the first few to explore that journey.

There is also an important element here that entrepreneurs need to keep in mind. There is a lot of research in the space that red oceans aren’t very attractive for areas that rely on innovation, creativity and problem-solving. They’re oversaturated markets that don’t have a lot of scope beyond their initial offerings.

The Right Product-Market Fit

Sometimes it’s important to find the right product-market fit. You may have a startup that’s been successful all this while, but now you’re starting to notice that your existing customers may want different things. That’s why it’s important to find the right fit. Whether that’s a different product offering, or a different market is up to you as the founder.

You may want to explore new options, new markets or new areas of growth. You may also want to tap into your existing network-base and offer unique solutions. It depends upon how profitable a certain area is, or how the product fits just right in that market.

When there is so much uncertainty in the area that you’re focused on, you may want to explore more options with regards to your business. Sometimes, that even calls for new business models altogether, and other times that may require you to explore larger/smaller clients.

You may want to explore a unique model-fit as well, as you offer the same products to your existing customers but with a different pricing strategy. It’s all about how well you can grow your business and how you run it in the end.

Poor ROI

Poor ROI is one of the biggest reasons why entrepreneurs should change course. ROI is deeply important in the startup space and only a handful of them get to enjoy years of no-profitability burning some unlucky sap’s cash. If you’re not profitable within a few months of operations, then you may need to change course.

The media may hype the startup space for their own benefit, but the formula is the same. Running a business that actually makes money is much better than borrowing someone else’s. You also don’t want to have too much debt running your business as that might be detrimental to your business’s health.

Ideally, you want to enter a space where you’re comfortable and are able to offer true value to your customers. Whether that’s accounting software or new research materials, you should be able to have strong ROI when it comes to what you’re doing.

If you’re pushing through and nothing seems to work, it may be time to change what you’re doing. This could be a simple shake-up of processes and systems or a deeper one when it comes to operations and marketing.

Conclusion

Startups should be flexible enough to take advantage of a good opportunity. While they may be stuck in their current roles or situations, they need not worry as there is profitability in bluer waters. You don’t have to stick it out till the end, and you can change things around towards profitability.