Across South Africa, small-to-medium businesses have absorbed much of the economic fallout caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. In every sector, companies are being forced to adapt to survive. It’s a time for businesses to be creative and to use their skills to find gaps in the market. Let's take a look at how you can pivot your business.
Eve Duron, SMB Sales Manager, Tarsus Distribution
Pivoting can provide avenues to growth once the economy starts to recover and will place your business in a position to leverage opportunities in the future. How are you thinking about the future of your business?
Are You Bold Enough To Pivot Your Business?
One of my customers contacted me to ask for advice on making changes to his business. He had been in hardware for more than two decades, selling PCs, laptops and servers. The slowdown in the market, coupled with the global shortage of hardware, had placed his business in a vulnerable position.
We agreed that he would experiment with selling security solutions. Opportunities in security are plentiful, particularly as the number of people working from home has skyrocketed overnight. Following a period of training and certification, his business has gone on to grow exceptionally well, picking up new customers and providing additional services to returning customers.
This is just one instance of what can happen when you make a bold move with the understanding that if you don’t make a change, you run the risk of going out of business.
What Could You Change In Order To Fulfil Customer Needs?
While it remains uncertain how economic recovery will happen, we need to ask questions about what comes next. The most successful businesses are those that solve their customers’ wants and needs.
What is keeping your customers awake at night? Gathering information from them through virtual meetings and questionnaires can give you essential insights into the kind of problems they are facing, and how your business can solve them by taking advantage of new opportunities. Feedback from your customers also lets you identify problems with your current business model and how you can change to meet those demands.
Take Advantage Of Partnerships
The pandemic was a surprise that had people everywhere asking how they will keep their businesses running and productive. Partnerships can give you access to new customers, new products or new markets. Helping our partners take advantage of their capabilities and diverse opportunities in times of disruption is central to who we are. Talk to us about finding new products and services for your customer base.
As Charles Darwin is credited with saying, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”
Click here to read a great article we found on ways to pivot.