When to pivot: Is it time to retool your business?

I can also report, happily, that I have invested funds in companies with wonderful entrepreneurs who see and respond to challenges both great and small.

They are teachable, humble and willing to adjust their positions as needed. They recognize their ideas are imperfect and need to be enhanced. They are open to customer wishes. They seek to solve problems with the help of bright minds. They will continue to pivot and refine their operations until they achieve excellence.

What a difference!

As investors, we embrace these founders. We are behind them. We will go out of our way to provide funding and support. We know they will chip away at knotty obstacles, morphing until they get the strategy just right. The result is sometimes a work of art. In the end, we know our investments are solid and that in time we will attain the financial returns we desire.

If you are an entrepreneur looking for money from investors, consider carefully what I have described. Could your success boil down to your personal nature, and your ability to listen and learn and to retool and pivot?

It should be clear to you the kind of founders investors prefer.

Do you have a story to tell or a question to ask? You can reach me at @AskAlanEHall, or at my personal website at www.AlanEHall.com.

Alan E. Hall is a cofounding managing director of Mercato Partners, a regionally focused growth capital investment firm. He founded Grow Utah Ventures, is the founder of MarketStar Corp. and is chairman of the Utah Technology Council.