Empowering Your Brand’s Purpose

How to Find the Pivot Point and Boost Your Brand

When it comes to running your business, thoughts of empowering your brand may be one of the last things on your mind. As a company owner, you’ve got to think about cash flow, staffing, sales, marketing, and HR hiring and firing issues. While having all that responsibility does come with the territory of owning your own business, the day to day tasks of running that business may make you lose sight of what inspired you to start it in the first place. And if you lose sight of your business’ purpose, the company’s direction can shift from becoming a powerful and sustainable brand to being one that grows stagnant and is stuck always chasing down the competition.

So how do you get back to basics and back to getting the original message of your business out there? They key to empowering your brands purpose likes in finding your pivot point. What exactly is a pivot point? Simply put, it means to find the spot in your business that everything else revolves around. You need to find that key steady point in your company and build on it from there with different options and opportunities that will help boost your brand.

How do you find your company’s pivot point? Well, first you’ll need to identify what the primary area of focus is for your company. What is your brand’s identity? You can do this by figuring out which of two categories your area of focus is…either attribute/benefits or products/services. In order to identify the pivot point of your business, you’ll need to first ask yourself if your company is more about product or attributes.

If you’ve decided that your business is not about products but rather attributes, you’ll need to single out the attribute that best defines your company. Are you focused on outstanding customer service, unmatched quality, or many the lowest prices around? The best brands out there are the ones that have successfully identified their key main attribute and have marketed themselves as that. The most important thing to remember is that you stick with one attribute. Having more than one can convolute your brand and confuse potential customers as to what you offer as a business. So, pick that excellent attribute you offer and stick with it. Let it drive your business and define who you are as a company.

Now that you’ve identified your pivot point, next you’ll need look at your current business model. Does that business model reflect your company’s pivot point? It’s time to take a look at your products and offerings and ask yourself which ones highlight your company’s pivot point and what other ones distract from it. Your products and services need to align with that attribute you’ve specified as your company’s core. For example, if you have established your pivot point as a business that touts’ quality, it’s not a good idea to have low price, cheaply made versions of your products or perhaps a “bargain bin.” If your pivot point is stellar customer service, then make sure you don’t have an automated answering service. Have real time, real human interaction as your customer service go to. And if you’re pivot point is being innovative, be sure to always be the first to offer a state of the art products. The bottom line here is to make sure your products and services are always updated to be aligned with your pivot point.

When it comes to getting back to your company’s purpose…its pivot point, it means getting back to your business’ roots. What are those motivations that made you want to start your company in the first place? What made you want to pursue a specific product or service? Maybe your original purposes don’t line up with your current business model. By identifying and aligning your business with its intended pivot point, your company will be on course to continue to thrive and profit. It means competing with and outperforming your competition. By creating an enduring company brand revolving around a solid pivot point, you’ll have a solid foundation to build upon and establish yourself as a company that knows its roots and maintains its missions to be the best choice in the products and services you provide.