Evan Britton, founder of www.famousbirthdays.com, is no stranger to the hectic environment of entrepreneurship. During the early stages of his startup, he discovered that the market was changing and something needed to be done if he wanted to succeed. He says, “The market is always changing, it can be stressful. For a lot of people now there is a movement away from web designing to mobile designing. For me, it was evolving from a web marketer to a social marketer.” Although adaption is important for upstart business owners, it’s not everything. Britton adds, “Don’t give up on the things you are doing well because times are changing. Just be creative.”

Britton did just that by using a social strategy that does not cannibalize the non-social user experience. Famous Birthday’s allows users to interact socially by ranking celebrities popularity based on Facebook “likes.” These rankings show a range of different criteria such as birthday, birth year, profession and birth sign. Furthermore, users benefit from the interface because they can boost their favorite celebs statuses based on their participation. It is now one of the top 10,000 most visited US sites and one of the most popular entertainment pages. However, Britton’s interface and social marketing didn’t always run this smoothly. He says, “It was difficult to incorporate both social and non-social on the same site. After a long process of trial-and-error, it was worth it. Now, you don’t have to be on Facebook to enjoy the site, but the rankings still collaborate with Facebook input.”

It is never an easy road for entrepreneurs, but Britton preaches on lesson to all up-and-comers. He explains, “You don’t always have to be a part of the next big thing. People take time to adapt. Don’t completely abandon what you do well to catch up with the times.” The conclusion, one should slowly integrate his or her fundamental strengths with future trends.