Many start-ups believe in the popular myth that the key to founding a successful company is perseverance and an iron will: a heroic founder has a brilliant idea and fights through lots of setbacks until the idea finally becomes a hit.

But this way of thinking leads most start-ups into the so-called land of the living dead.

Like mindless zombies, they just can’t take a hint and will keep working hard to sell a product that the market simply doesn’t want.

To avoid this, you should keep asking yourself how you need to change your product to improve it and help it find its market.

Also, you should periodically ask yourself whether a pivot might be in order – a fundamental change of course.

A pivot can take many shapes, such as:

redefining the core value or your product; choosing to pursue a different customer segment and; changing your main sales channel.

A main characteristic of a pivot is that the core assumptions behind the start-up have changed, and therefore new hypotheses must be tested.

Deciding to pivot can be tough, and hence start-ups will often avoid and postpone making this decision. This is why it can be beneficial to hold pivot meetings once per month.

In these meetings, you take an honest look at the data you’ve gathered and ask yourself whether you might be a zombie in need of a pivot.

Many start-ups had to pivot a couple of times before finally becoming successful businesses. Take Groupon: they started as a platform for activism and fundraising, and only later turned into the daily deals platform they’re known as today.

To find the right business model for your company, you usually have to pivot.