In food systems work, change is the only constant. Partners, funding, and community needs all evolve in unforeseen ways. What appears to be a setback—a stalled project, a lost funder, or an idea that proves harder to execute than expected—can often become a valuable reset.
At New Venture Advisors, we’ve seen how pivots sharpen purpose, strengthen partnerships, and create space for innovation. A pivot is not failure. It’s a strategy.
Why Pivots Happen
Pivots are often born out of circumstances that feel beyond our control. They may come from inside your organization, or from outside forces shaping the environment around you.
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- Internal triggers include losing a key partner, hitting feasibility roadblocks, losing access to a facility, realizing the scope is too broad, or reassessing organizational capacity.
- External triggers often come from changing funding priorities, shifts in the political landscape, or emerging community needs that demand a new approach.
The important part is not why a pivot is needed, but how we respond to it. With the right approach, pivots become clarifying moments that help organizations focus on what matters most.
Pivots remind us to ask: Is this project still aligned with our mission? Do we have the right partners at the table? Are we scaling at the right pace? Do we have the right skills and bandwidth to undertake these next steps? These are not just survival questions—they are strategic questions that often lead to more resilient, more impactful initiatives.
Scaling with Intention
One of the most common traps is trying to “go big” too quickly. The urgency to solve systemic food challenges can make it tempting to design large, ambitious projects. But pivots can be an invitation to slow down and consider a phased approach. Pilots, pop-up operations, programmatic headstarts, or informal partnerships often provide the real-world test and proof points needed to unlock further funding or support.
A phased mindset asks: What’s the smallest, most meaningful step we can take right now? How do we prove the concept incrementally? What is critical to evaluate, test, or fund first to improve our impact?
Feasibility studies are critical here. Rather than treating them as static, one-time documents, organizations can revisit these studies as living guides. As conditions change—whether in funding, partnerships, or community demand—so should the assumptions and projections. By using feasibility analysis as an ongoing touchstone, organizations can scale with intention, avoiding unnecessary risks while building momentum in a steady, sustainable, and evidence-based manner.
| In Practice: A client with a vision for a transformative food economic development enterprise decided to begin with a small grocery market and pantry pilot, rather than building at full scale all at once. This phased approach created space to refine the product mix, test pricing strategies, and gather feedback from the community. By starting modestly, the organization is building a sustainable foundation that can grow into a larger model without overextending resources. |
Openness as a Strategy
Organizations sometimes hesitate to admit when they’re struggling, fearing it will reflect poorly on their capacity. In practice, transparency builds trust. When you name challenges or ask for partnership to reshape a strategy or approach, partners can step in to help, new collaborators can emerge, and funders can see that you are thoughtful and adaptive.
The stigma around pivots is often self-inflicted. In reality, stakeholders understand that projects evolve. What matters is how clearly you share what you’re learning and where you’re headed.
Practical Guidance for Communication During a Pivot:
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- Share updates early and often, even when the future is uncertain.
- Be upfront about changes in feasibility or partner alignment.
- Frame pivots as intentional; demonstrate how the new approach strengthens the vision.
When leaders communicate openly, they invite trust and collaboration, making it far easier to navigate a reset.
| In Practice: When a client’s vision for an expanded food processing facility encountered delays, they leaned on an established community-based planning approach that emphasized local input and transparent communication. This process allowed them to pivot into interim programming and short-term services while maintaining community trust and engagement. The willingness to adjust course publicly was not a weakness, but a hallmark of effective community-driven planning. In the long run, it set them on a clearer path toward a facility that will be more resilient and successful. |
Building Networks, Not Silos
Pivots become easier when you’re not carrying the work alone. Just as food systems thrive on cooperation, so do the organizations that drive them. Too often, well-intentioned groups try to “go it alone,” but systemic change requires networks, not silos.
When an initiative hits a roadblock, it can be the perfect opportunity to broaden the table, inviting new partners to bring ideas, capacity, and resources. Cooperative or network models, shared infrastructure, and cross-sector collaborations not only mitigate the project’s overall risk but can also amplify its impact.
These connections often reveal unexpected opportunities: perhaps a community organization has underutilized kitchen space, a nearby hub is facing similar challenges, or a regional network can amplify buying power. Pivots are moments to step back and ask: Who else should be here? What could we accomplish together that we can’t accomplish alone?
| In Practice: An aquaponics farm is working with regional partners to explore ways to address gaps in both distribution for farmers and food access for communities. Through these conversations, they developed the concept of a Community Nutrition Alliance to help food access programs reduce costs, improve storage, and support last-mile delivery, as local organizations lacked the capacity to lead it themselves. This conceptual planning process allowed stakeholders to identify systemic opportunities and needs across the regional food system, creating a foundation for future collaboration. The effort illustrates how intentionally engaging partners can strengthen networks and lay the groundwork for more resilient and equitable food system solutions. |
A Framework for Healthy Pivots
If your project is at a crossroads, use this simple framework to reset with intention:
- Listen & Assess – Revisit your feasibility study, talk to your community, and identify what’s changed.
- Map the Increment – Choose the smallest, most meaningful next step or impact goal that will advance your vision.
- Engage Partners – Invite others in or identify stakeholders not yet at the table.
- Prototype & Learn – Test a limited version of your idea, collect feedback, and refine.
- Scale or Reset – Use what you’ve learned to either expand, shift again, or sunset gracefully.
This approach takes the fear out of pivots. Instead of feeling like a detour, they become a structured, strategic process that builds resilience.
Embracing the Reset
Pivots are inevitable in complex, evolving systems. The question isn’t whether you’ll face one—it’s whether you’ll treat it as an obstacle or an opportunity.
Every pivot is an invitation to pause, reflect, and realign. When organizations pivot with clarity, humility, and collaboration, they emerge stronger. They prove not only that their ideas matter, but that they can endure, adapt, and grow alongside the communities they serve.
At New Venture Advisors, we’ve witnessed how pivots can transform projects and accelerate impact when handled with care. If your organization is facing a moment of uncertainty, or if you’re simply curious about how to plan for pivots more intentionally, we’d love to talk.
Let’s explore how a pivot could become your most strategic next step.
Photo generated by Google Gemini, "Diverging Paths in a Rural Landscape", Sept. 19, 2025
