Grant Cardone is the author of several entrepreneurial guide books, including “The 10x Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure.” He also operates the $2.2 billion investment fund Cardone Capital. We asked him about the tools small business owners can use to bounce back post-pandemic.
What challenges do you see entrepreneurs facing today as they look to reopen operations? What advice would you give to these small business owners looking to overcome these challenges?
For businesses that were closed, one of the biggest challenges they will face is communication to their customer base that they are back open and operating again. There are three groups of people they need to focus on re-engaging in order to accelerate their growth out of the previous closure of their business:
- Past customers who bought their product but haven’t been there for awhile;
- Recurring customers who come back on a regular basis; and
- New customers
Their main goal right now should be massive promotion out into the marketplace that they are back. Incentives are also a great way to create traffic back into the business.
What guidance do you give to small business owners looking to more effectively train employees during the ongoing pandemic?
- No matter what, it has to be consistent. You have to do it everyday.
- It has to be accessible. It has to be delivered in a way that is not solely relied upon by the business owner. For example, our Cardone University platform was designed so that any client employee can have 24/7 access to it on their own time.
- There has to be accountability built into it. Whether that is through active roleplay and practical application of the skills, or through a testing component built into the training.
What digital marketing strategies do you recommend for small businesses looking to boost sales in the coming year?
They really need to double down on content marketing using social channels. These are low-cost and free platforms that will allow you to connect with your customer base and articulate the problem you solve at scale.
What advice would you give to an entrepreneur whose business has struggled over the past year and is questioning whether to continue moving forward?
The devil loves a doubter. You need to be all-in committed and give yourself no other option than to win big. That means doing whatever it takes, investing in yourself, investing in developing new skill sets, and delivering to your customers in a 10x way.