Mike Rama is the Founder of Brands Meet Creators, he joined me this week on Founders and Empanadas to share his tips for pivoting a business successfully.

In this episode, Mike explores this theme more in depth and gets into:

• His experience with hiring and managing a remote team in the Philipines
• The challenges and benefits of running in-person creator events
• His approach to building a community-driven business model

Below, you’ll find some of the strategies for executing and surviving pivots Mike walked me through during our conversation.

Recognizing Market Signals

Mike found himself in a situation with Brands Meet Creators where the initial business model was being taken over by unexpected demand:

"About 90% of our inbound leads, 90% of my DMs actually weren't brands asking. It was always content creators. They were like, 'Hey, next time you get a brand, hook me up. I want one of these brand deals.'"

At first, Mike saw these requests as a distraction. But as they continued, he realized the market was pointing him towards an opportunity. To catch these signals early, set up a system to regularly analyze patterns in customer inquiries and pay close attention to repetitive requests or complaints. Most importantly, be willing to challenge your initial business assumptions - you have to be flexible in terms of HOW you execute your vision.

Evolving Services Without Sacrificing Vision

One of the challenges of pivoting is knowing what to change and what to keep. Mike's approach is a great example of how to evolve your services without straying too far:

"We've had one core vision the whole time, which is helping brands and creators to connect. Right? And we've kept that core vision the same. But how we've gone about doing that has changed quite a bit over the years."

Clearly define your company's north star from the jump and use it as a filter for evaluating potential pivots. It helps steady things during change and can guide decision-making around potential pivots. Also, consistently communicate the mission to team members and stakeholders during transitions. This way you can be sure everyone's on the same page, even as the details of your offerings evolve.

Building Transferable Assets

Mike also stressed the importance of transferrable assets as something that helps companies survive pivots. He highlighted their email list and network as being particularly valuable. By focusing on these assets, Brands Meet Creators built a foundation to work from, even as they made big changes to their business model.

When developing your own transferable assets:

1. Start with building a community around your brand - create a core audience that can be leveraged across business models. Aim to own this audience rather than relying on “rented platforms” like Instagram or TikTok - email lists, for instance, give you direct access to your community.
2. As you grow your audience, create content that provides value regardless of your specific offerings. This keeps your audience engaged but also helps keep you at front of mind as your business evolves.
3. Don't forget to focus on building transferable skills within your team, this way your human resources are as adaptable as your business model.

The Power of Incremental Testing

Pivoting doesn't have to mean flipping your whole business model on its head overnight. Mike's learned that the best moves come from small experiments that you can run alongside your main operations.

"Constantly test stuff, right? You don't have to think about a pivot as this massive, like we're changing everything. I wish along the way I just threw out more of these small tests."

With incremental testing you can gather data and insights without risking the farm. And if you do decide to make a bigger move, you're not shooting in the dark - you've got results to back up your decisions.

Incorporating this iterative mindset into your culture will make the pivoting process a lot smoother. Instead of big, scary changes, you're making informed tweaks based on what you've learned. It's a more data-driven way to evolve your business, and it can take a lot of the guesswork out of pivoting.

Leading Through Transparency

Guiding a team through pivots is no easy task. Mike spoke to the importance of clear communication and strong leadership during these times.

"I think it was just a matter of painting that vision for the rest of the team, showing them hey, this is where we're going. This is why it's going to get better."

The value of transparency during pivots can't be overstated. Being open about the reasons behind pivots, the potential challenges, and the expected benefits goes a long way in maintaining team trust and motivation. It's also helpful to involve team members in the process - this can build buy-in and bring different perspectives to the table.

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