Pivoting vs. Positioning

They made cake on a stick. And it didn’t quite work. Then they offered meat on a stick. The change from cake to meat is a pivot. 

But how many companies don’t have to pivot when a simple repositioning might work? 

It’s not cake-on-a-stick. It’s a Cake Pop. For some reason, the latter works. 

A pivot is when you go from cake on a stick to meat on a stick. The product completely changes, and you're selling a different thing to a different market.

But why pivot when you can try re-positioning what already exists?

Too many startups pivot their entire product into a different market before they explore their positioning. 

Don't pivot until you reposition. Check out Obviously Awesome! for further exploration on all-things positioning.