A Five-Step Guide to Reinventing Your Business How do you know when it's time to alter the strategy of your business? Here's how to pivot to a better business model midstream.

From gallery owners who want to turn the masses into art collectors to DIYers who blend art and science, creative arts entrepreneurs are building new businesses while--purposely or not--reinvigorating cities and towns across the country. We checked around to see who's creating what--and what this growing creative class contributes to economies small and large.

A few months ago, Steve Strauss noticed a fairly popular Italian restaurant in his Portland, Ore., neighborhood had gone out of business. He didn't think anything of it until a week later, when it reopened as a burger joint with a new look, a new name and the same guy behind the counter. "I talked to the owner and said, 'You risk losing your brand. Why would you make such a huge change?'" says Strauss, a business speaker and author as well as a columnist for USA Today. "He said the economy had shifted. That upscale Italian brand wasn't letting him grow the way he wanted. He felt the need to reinvent."

To most business owners who have spent years or decades and hundreds of thousands of dollars building their brand and developing a client base, chucking it all away to reinvent your business probably seems like the height of insanity. And if you do it on the fly or haphazardly, it probably is. But there are many reasons to tweak your business model--or to try out a whole new one--that make perfect sense. If you do it thoughtfully, it could be the best business decision you ever make. Here's our guide to reinventing your business, one smart step at a time.