“It’s the moment many entrepreneurs hit eventually, no matter how much funding they have raised and burned through, no matter how many 100-hour weeks they and their teams have put in, no matter how brilliant their initial idea”, reports The New York Times, which added that “It’s time to pivot — and it’s the moment many entrepreneurs resist.”
The article then sites a number of case studies, including D.C.-based Design Army and that portion of the story is below:
“Pum Lefebure, founder and owner of Design Army, an agency in Washington that creates visual branding for a wide range of clients, made major shifts and is now seeing her company through a period of growth.
“She and her husband, Jake Lefebure, began Design Army in 2003 doing only print graphic design “on a kitchen table with two people,” Ms. Lefebure said. Today her company works in many forms of media; has 20 full-time employees; and is turning an old building in Cheverly, Md., into a new photo studio.
“Early on, the company thrived working on lucrative print projects like designing corporate annual reports, logos and brochures, but after 2005 that business dropped off.
“That meant acquiring wholly new skills, including how to cast and direct fashion shoots and videos. “We had to train ourselves, or we would have become extinct very soon,” she said.
“Their shift also proved challenging. “We made tons of mistakes, and costly mistakes,” Ms. Lefebure said. But becoming partners with their clients — being willing to figure out new approaches together — has helped, she said: “They want to grow, and we present them with a plan of attack.””
(New York Times Photo of Pum Lefebure)
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