Covid Inspired Entrepreneurial Pivots

Have you made a Covid-inspired pivot? Here are a few that we made, and are aware of others making.

The past thee years of the pandemic have been a spark that has ignited creative problem solving and innovation in so many ways. Here is our story. Please tell us yours in the comments below.

Things are picking up in the consulting world, but I have to say that I have enjoyed one of the surprising and unpredictable pandemic pressured business pivots that the “main office” New & Improved crew has made over the last (almost) 3 years.

At New & Improved, we don’t just talk about the innovative entrepreneurial spirit of #creativeproblemsolving, we do our best to live it every day.

So, as travel to our clients ended for safety reasons, and training/facilitation went virtual (but way less than what normally supported our primary business), we made a hard, but fun pivot.

We have done three things that really made a big difference for us.

1. First, in the primary business, about two years prior to the pandemic, the team had decided to build a fully virtual version of our flagship training program “Innovation for Results“. And it has kept the basic cash flow running for the company during COVID19. We actually built this at the request of one of our larger transnational clients, and did so in an unrushed way. It's an amazingly good program, in part because we spent about 100K building it. The video production is top notch, and the learner's path through the learning management system is really smooth.

• Of course other technology innovations helped us, most notably the emergence of Zoom, which we use for the four 90 minute instructor-led sessions that are interspersed in the 8 week self-led process. But even with a good amount of "during the pandemic marketing spend" it was not enough to fill our days, and keep everyone financially viable after our face to face programs paused. We could have just kept trying to market virtual trainings and virtual facilitations and coaching, but we did something different. So...

1. Second, we've become involved in a fascinating startup, Elevate.ac, an elite speaker/trainer marketplace that has a mix of on-demand masterclass style educational videos (link is in comments) and a wide variety of human development programs that can be found and booked from one central location. We have a standing meeting for presenting members on Fridays where we teach each other from our varied expertise's. We've collected an amazing group of trainers, speakers, coaches and consultants, all of whom want to help: Elevate the way that humans think, interact and innovate -- for themselves, with others, and with the natural world. It is reminiscent of the work Sheila Delarm and I did do many years ago with Young and Teen Peacemakers, who's mission was "Peacemaking with self, peacemaking with others, and peacemaking with the natural world." You can connect with and learn for free by following the hashtag #elevateelite or you can join us at elevate.ac. But still, as is typical of the New & Improved crew, we were not satisfied to only do these two things and wait out the pandemic. So...
2. Third, and perhaps the most fun -- and our biggest surprise -- we leveraged my “hobby” of building fun activities and structures on our 50 acre tree farm.

We’ve created Adirondack Adventure Base.

The Adirondack Park, where our main office is situated, is a location and culture that absolutely supports Polymathic Thinking and behavior. It is a culture that believes that it is wise to always have a side hustle or two.

In our case, this is always been our tree farm/maple syrup operation, and a number of seasonal and year-round rentals and camping opportunities. But we had never fully thought through the opportunity to a create a business that leverages both of those side hustles. Covid created the pressure, and opportunity, to think even more creatively.

Our creative mashup is a glamping business we call Adirondack Adventure Base. We had no idea how successful it might be, and how much we would enjoy this pivot. The extra time made available by the pandemic gave us the opportunity to really build it out nicely. Both at an infrastructure level and in the business processes. Now, after that build out, the business is running well, efficiently, and profitably.

As the normal work patterns begin to return at New & Improved, our side hustle has become a business that supports a few more jobs here in the Adirondacks.

Just like the innovation textbooks tell us over and over, being willing to take a calculated risk (at opportunistic times) can make for great success.

Of course we could have failed as well.

In this case, I credit the tenacity and creative thinking of the polymathic headquarters staff, the insights and help of our early guests (and the supportive friends who wanted to make us successful) with bringing this new business forward. Oh my, it has been fun!

Many of my readers and friends have also taken some smart pivots. Top of mind at this moment of writing are a few:

• Dr. Ralph Kerle has opened a gallery and extended his art form spectacularly.
• Robert Clarke founded www.elevate.ac a marketplace for elite speakers and those who seek them.
• Sharon de Korte has stepped into the real estate world with great vacation rentals on two continents.
• Nanette Perrotte has strengthened her Lux Lifestyle product brand and created a great retreat location.
• Allie Middleton has published her book "Yoga Radicals".
• Gail Brill, the artist who did our map above, started the Heart Banner Project in our area because "The world needs love and we need to bring kindness back."

(Links to many of these stories are in the first comment)

And I'm sure there are SO MANY MORE stories of adaptive pivoting during the pandemic. Tell us yours!

#glamping #entrepreneurship #businesspivot #innovation