In today's business world, it's essential to be ever-evolving, innovating, and constantly adapting to change. If you're not doing those things, your company will die off. And that's exactly what happened to guest Scott Walker’s team when the iPod Shuffle was discontinued. But Scott is a master of pivoting, and he was able to anticipate and change the direction of his business to prosper. On this episode of What’s Working Now, Scott shares with host Katie Richardson his advice for other businesses who face similar challenges today.
3 Key Takeaways
- Being in business is about money but money isn’t the only thing that matters. Decide what’s worth sacrificing for success financially and what isn’t from the start.
- Have a plan for pivoting your business as needed; understand that there will be a time that the market changes and you’ll have to adapt to new customer needs.
- Learn to be okay delegating things you both aren’t and are good at to other team members so you can focus on doing what no one else can do.
Resources
Leadership and Self-Deception by The Arbinger Institute
Underwateraudio.com
Aquagardswim.com
LinkedIn
About Scott
Scott Walker is a successful entrepreneur who has mastered the art of pivoting. He is the founder of Underwater Audio, a company that began by waterproofing iPod Shuffles and has since evolved into creating its own product for swim hair defense. Scott is a great example of a CEO who is always looking two years ahead, and he has used Kickstarter advantageously as a tool to determine the demand for his product and how to drive traffic to his campaign. He is a man of integrity who is dedicated to his customers and delivering on his promises.
Show Notes
[00:00:00] - Scott Walker shares his story as an entrepreneur, starting as a sophomore in college and growing up to $3 million in revenue. Business has to ever be evolving and innovating.
[00:03:46] - Their underwater audio company launched a Kickstarter campaign and got funded beyond what they were asking for. They wanted to keep their promises and deliver on their deadlines.
[00:07:45] - Scott shares the ways his team marketed their Kickstarter campaign.
[00:11:12] - Scott’s team didn't deliver their product on time. They spent three months in China over six different trips going back and forth.
[00:25:44] - In 2015, Underwater Audio pivoted into a new product category called Aqua Guard.
[00:43:02] - Scott talks about the ways he finds balance between spending time with his wife and 3 kids and running a business.
[00:44:16] - The most difficult part of scaling a business is learning to delegate both the things you're not good at and the things that you're good at.
[00:45:50] - Scott answers questions from WWN’s rapid-fire question round.
[00:46:52] - Money is not the only thing that matters in business. It's about balance and making time for other things.