My main business has always been working within the live entertainment industry. I've consulted with companies like StubHub, Vivid Seats, Ticketmaster, Ticket Utils and many others. Over the past few weeks, I've been deeply involved with these companies helping them pivot to be profitable in this new pandemic world we live in.
If this pandemic has taught us anything, it's that we need to be flexible and our businesses have to be built with the ability to pivot. Before COVID-19 most companies focused on one main industry and now, this shows us we need to think outside the box as new companies open.
Let's start with how I could get tickets brokers to pivot their way of thinking and look outside the box. Then we'll discuss how to get major exchanges and tech companies in the live entertainment industry to pivot. Ticket brokers are a tough crowd, It's like teaching an old dog new tricks and no matter what you do, they'll never accept it. The conversation I had with over 300 of the top brokers started by looking at what this pandemic would bring; people would be locked down in their homes for months, no events, no social life so we had to focus on selling products that most people wanted.
The first step was to teach these brokers the art of reselling on platforms like eBay, StockX, Craigslist, Facebook and LetGo. Yes, it's not the best thing to do but when you're backed into a corner with a family to support, you need to change. We started looking at electronics like Nintendo Switches, Playstation 4's and Xbox, things that people would need to stay sane or keep their kids busy. Next, we took the approach that more people would be home and wanting to do things as a family. We started looking into consumer products like bicycles, pools and sporting goods.
It took one month to teach these brokers how to pivot and make money selling different products. At the end of the month, these brokers were happily making money again.
So, I was able to get brokers to pivot their businesses and stay profitable during this great pandemic. Now, I had to focus on our bigger technology companies...
Understanding the challenges ahead is the first step, so I held a Zoom Conference with my clients at the start of June to figure out how best to approach working together. Most of these businesses are ticket exchanges or tech companies within the live entertainment space with limited ability to pivot, so I knew I had to dig deep.
We looked at their current technology offerings and ways we could adapt those systems to fit something new. We looked at the staffing and understood who we could bring back to help us make this pivot. Once we had goals laid out, we started the work. A few companies found it extremely hard to pivot initially, but most of my clients were able to achieve their goals.
I have to say; I'm excited to start testing the new technologies we were able to come up with!
What have you done to pivot your business? I'd love to hear from you.