Pivot Ideas for Local Businesses
We are all hopeful that we will stay open for business and make enough to survive through this pandemic. However, there is a chance we could be shut down again. Now is the time, if you haven’t already done it, to plan a pivot in case we are shut down.
What is a pivot plan?
A pivot plan does not necessarily mean you are making permanent changes. Rather it is getting creative with your current business assets. Finding additional ways to make revenue for your business can make all the difference in paying next month's bills. Who knows? Maybe, this will become a whole new line of your business.
Pivot Ideas For Different Industries
Here are some ideas that I hope you can take and make your own. We are all in this together!
Décor / Retail
Rental Options: Create a rental option for new décor packages and have curbside delivery. Shutdowns can cause depression. Changing our personal space is a way to create happiness.
Offer Delivery: Put your items online for sale with delivery. Take a note out of Uber Eats and Amazon’s playbook. Find different ways to post your products online and get creative with contactless delivery.
Combine Resources: You can collaborate with other like-minded/complementary businesses to create an online website so that customers can combine items from different vendors. The business owners can take turns doing deliveries and share the costs.
Hair / Beauty Salons
Product Sales: Offer your customers the chance to buy some of the products you use and offer delivery!
Personalized Hair Color Mix: Let your customers know you will create a custom hair color mix for a fun DIY. Order cute containers now so you can mix your customers' specific hair color. Don’t forget to include plastic gloves and the color brush.
Create A Masterclass: Create Zoom styling sessions for long hair or hair coloring with your mix. You can expand this to include how to cut men's and children's hair! Price by the hour or package.
Sign Makers/ Stationery Designers
Yard Signs: Create yard signs and rent them out with delivery and pickup. They could be rented to the homeowner or post them as a surprise for family or friends.
Drive-By Signs: Drive through birthdays, holidays, baby showers, and other special occasions are the new normal! Find ways to create beautiful designs that loved ones can treasure.
Restaurants / Food Industry
DIY Dinner Box: If you are trying to cut costs but stay in business, create your own Hello Fresh-type meals! Put all the ingredients in a box along with the recipe from your restaurant!
Donate Meals: Give customers the option to donate meals to those at the frontlines. For an extra fee, they can help feed a nurse or doc who could use our support right now. This can bring awareness to your community that we are all in this together.
Pivot Your Menu: When Covid-19 first hit, we quickly bought up to-go containers. However, now that we realize this may be long-term, maybe reconsider your menu and incorporate food items that will hold well with delivery.
These are just a few types of businesses that could pivot successfully in a shutdown. Simultaneously, they provide stress relief to those stuck at home. These ideas could still be money makers after a shutdown. Get creative. Ask a bunch of people for ideas and theirs might spark a genius idea of your own. You never know, this could be an amazing change for you and your business.
