Theorizing ‘pivot’ in small and micro business

Abstract

‘Pivot’ is an appealing idea for dealing with uncertainty. As established in the lean startup methodology, it is prescriptive, atheoretical, lacking evidence but boosted with vivid digital examples. Studying the pivot practice and its variation across different contexts helps us with better conceptualization and theorizing. In doing so, we conduct a constant comparison between the literature and five cases of everyday micro-business. We find the literature largely preparadigmatic; descriptive, discussing dimensions but failing to nail down pivot as a concept. However, the review provides an informed account of pivot’s possible scope. Thus, equipped we turn to several examples of pivot in the unglamorous world of everyday small and micro-business and juxtapose it with pivots in the lean startup methodology. We find that pivot belongs to a theory of practice in everyday small business and show how this could shape helpful research. Pivoting as a process in the lean startup is an everyday structured experiment that is triggered in confirmatory search. Differently, in our cases of micro and small business, it is an everyday operational practice that is emergent, organic, and experiential.