Pivoting in business could be a daunting move during midlife, but it doesn’t have to be. It is never too late to shift your business, as many flourishing entrepreneurs choose to pivot within their due season. Women, particularly Black women, are the fastest growing group of business owners. During certain mid-life milestones, entrepreneurs are faced with pivoting their business and personal lives to accommodate new opportunities. By transferring and remodeling their life’s work, they can pour that knowledge into a new business model that works best for them and their customers.
There may be various reasons a pivot is necessary—a market change or damage from the pandemic—even so, it’s never too late.
About six years ago, I decided that it was time to transition from my primary branded focus as a magazine publisher helping women in business, to a new passion of self-care for midlife African American women. Although, I still stayed in the communications business, after so many years of operation, I was already well-branded. Ola Jackson’s name and the business were known for creating public relations and marketing strategies, conducting business conferences, and producing leadership awards.
Those same women who evolved with my magazine were getting older along with me. Their needs were changing and their demands and desires were shifting with time.
Like so many older women, considering change was scary. The question of, “Am I Too Old to be Starting Something New?” came about often. My best response to that question was simply to jump right in and worry about it later.
I slowly created a plan and then executed my strategy to build a following for my YSW: Your Stylish Ways blog. A blog that infuses style and self-care for evolving middle-aged women. My new role included creating content, finding a team to manage certain tasks and delegating responsibilities.
When it comes to pivoting your business, you must realize that just like starting anything new you have to ask if there is a need.
For me, I recognized the need for more African-American women to engage in self-care. I acted and transitioned my business model to focus on that market.
If you’ve considering you own pivot, be mindful that change takes time and is a process. If you set goals with timelines along the way, it will be easier for you to see progress and celebrate your successes! And remember, just because you start out working within one entrepreneurial endeavor doesn’t mean this is where your journey ends.
Many women have pivoted their businesses and lead fulfilling lives by following their passions—and so can you! Don’t be afraid to take another leap forward into something even more fulfilling.
Getting organized was almost like starting over again, but here are some tips:
- I had to decide which services I was and was not going to do any longer, which meant I had to clean out my files, bring in the new and throw out the old.
- What about organizing my contacts? Will the same people that I used to have as clients before pivoting still be around for my new ventures? If so, that would mean either cleaning out my contact list or revising for new networks?
- How will I balance the new with the old since I wasn’t necessarily dropping my entrepreneurial education and leadership platform? This meant I would need a new email address for my new blog along with new domain names.
- Trademarks: I immediately trademarked my blog and YouTube channel names.
- So how do I keep my files organized? I made separate drawers for my YSW brand and my Onyx Woman Network work. I even decorated my office to be more style-oriented than the structured business look I previously had.
- What about organizing my time? I divided my time up into three’s. One segment of my work life focused on maintaining the old brand, the other was dedicated to nurturing the growth of YSW and the remaining time focuses on the general operation of the business.
Many women are pivoting their careers to follow their passions and lead a more fulfilling life, and you can too!
Click here to listen to my interview with Ola, To connect with her directly visit her website.
After reading this blog are you ready to pivot? Please share! If you would like to join a community of women who are on their personal journey to pivoting by organizing their lives click the following link to my Get Your Life Totally Organized Facebook Group
