What’s The Next Right Move? Do I pivot, persist, or wind down?

In this blog post, we’re featuring Starcycle Founder, Jaclyn Siu. Jaclyn recently hosted a series of one-on-one consultations with small business owners. Her insights after completing a series of sessions are below.

Earlier this month, I spent a day inside Welcome to Chinatown’s 1:1 Concierge Program meeting with five founders across different industries, all with different stories and the same inflection point. Each person arrived carrying a version of the same question: What’s the next right move? Do I pivot, persist, or wind down? At Starcycle, these are the questions we hear every day. Partnering with Welcome to Chinatown let us bring that work directly into the community—in the languages and with the cultural context that matter most.

Here’s what I heard (again and again) during the consultations:

1. The founder identity is tender.
   Some hesitate to even call themselves “founders.” Others feel weighed down by responsibilities they never imagined. For many, a single encouraging word from a customer can keep them moving forward for weeks. The emotional math of entrepreneurship is real; it deserves respect in the decision-making process.

2. Big visions, immediate realities.
   There’s often a long-term dream—growth, expansion, or legacy. But the pressing need is usually survival: stopping losses, stabilizing operations, or simply finding a way to breathe. Both can be true at once, and clarity often comes from writing down the very next two steps.

3. Pivots and exits aren’t failure—they’re strategy.
   Some are untangling from difficult partnerships. Others are weighing succession, sale, or wind-down. We broke down options like asset sales (brand, list, IP) versus entity sales (liabilities included), and why clean documentation makes every path easier

4. Money is the forcing function.
    From “I can’t pay myself” to “How do I position a sale with imperfect numbers?”, finances were the throughline. We reframed stories around potential—loyal customers, brand equity, untapped channels—so a buyer or successor can see beyond last quarter’s P&L.

5. Compliance keeps doors open.
    Even in lean months, filings matter. We covered entity basics (LLC vs. C‑Corp), taxes, renewals, and why formal IP assignment protects you later. Boring? Yes. Also: freedom-preserving.

What we  accomplished in 20 minutes

No magic wands—just momentum. Every founder left with clarity on their next step.

• For some, it was beginning a formal dissolution plan.

• For others, naming the pivot point that would let them keep moving forward.

• For a few, something smaller but just as important: the first action to get unstuck after months of hesitation.

Progress rarely starts with a 20‑page strategy. It starts with one step you can take tomorrow.

How Starcycle approaches moments like these

This is our lane: bringing calm, structure, and a humane process to hard decisions.

• Decision frameworks: Right-size the choice—pivot, pause, or prepare to wind down—by mapping reversibility, risk, and runway.

• Operational clarity: Translate goals into steps, owners, and dates. Not theory—checklists.

• Story & positioning: Frame your next chapter for employees, customers, buyers, and partners.

• Compliance hygiene: Keep filings and documentation current so you preserve optionality (and sleep).

Showing up for community matters

Welcome to Chinatown’s mission is to build a future where tradition meets innovation. That looks like embedding support inside the neighborhood, in the languages people use at work and at home, and treating wind-downs, pivots, and succession as normal parts of a healthy business life cycle—not taboos. We’re proud to help pilot models like this and to carry the same founder-first approach to every community we serve.

Do these stories sound familiar?

You don’t need a perfect plan. You need a next step that respects your vision, your realities, and your community.

That’s the work we do at Starcycle: clear, human guidance for moments of transition. Plans start at $299. Tailored to your needs. No hidden fees. If you’re considering a pivot or preparing to close, we’ll help you do it with clarity and care—so you can move forward on your terms.

— Jaclyn Siu, Co‑founder & CEO, Starcycle