How to Distinguish Between a Pivot and a Career Shift

How to Distinguish Between a Pivot and a Career Shift

With our world turned upside down, many entrepreneurs are scrambling to find work that is in tune with today’s economy – social distancing, lack of gatherings, and a wait and see attitude.

As a result, these business owners are taking any work with the attitude of “Oh, I can do that too.” Wrong! Branding dictates that you are the expert of one niche; you are not the jack of all trades.

There’s a difference between a pivot and changing your core competency

1. If you’re a photographer specializing in cars and now you’re aiming your camera at people, you’ve simply shifted your target.

2. If you’re a teacher and now deliver content via Zoom or virtual reality, you’ve changed your delivery method (aka channel of distribution.)

3. If you’re a speaking coach and you’re now coaching on how to create a killer-good acceptance speech, you’ve broadened your product offerings.

In short, these small changes are pivots, they are NOT pretending you’re something that you’re not.

During this pandemic, I’ve turned down work for publicity, writing a business plan, and even designing a website because they’re not in my wheelhouse. Conversely, writing, branding, and speech coaching are firmly within my core competencies.

So, here’s my recommendation: go with your gut and your experience. If you’ve never created a publicity plan, perhaps today is not the day to start. Instead, develop relationships with complementary vendors to create a strong referral networking.

And, if your gut is telling you that this project doesn’t feel right: listen. It might just preserve your reputation and a stomachache.