The Art of The Pivot

Lean startup guru Eric Ries recommends that start-ups refine their business models through small tweaks—or pivots.

These days, Chegg, a Santa Clara, California, company, bears little resemblance to its original form. In 2003, its site—then Cheggpost.com—offered free classified listings for college students.

In 2006, Aayush Phumbhra, one of Chegg's co-founders, began rethinking the company's business model. He noticed that the site's traffic was heavy only at the beginning of each semester and that many visitors were buying and selling mostly textbooks.

What's Your Plan?

In the old days, which in our entrepreneurial world is not too long ago, business owners were advised to have five-year plans. Today, that concept seems almost quaint. To succeed through good and bad economic times, you should add business planning to your monthly--if not weekly—to-do list.

It’s not just the economy that’s riding a rollercoaster. Depending on what industry you’re in, what market you target and even where that market lives, the plans you made a year ago aren’t worth much today.