There’s a quote that I was reminded of recently, when I was reading Cameron Herold’s book, “Double Double: How to Double Your Revenue and Profit in 3 Years or Less.”

You might remember that I was going to be hosting an incredible “exit strategy” event in Ottawa in May – a workshop for business owners to get together and to sit down and take a strategic day to look at their business from the inside out, and Cameron was my guest of honour.

Of course, like so many other things lately – that event had been put on hold until November because of Covid-19. But, delays aside, Cameron is a wealth of information and, as his book has really inspired me, I wanted to share some nuggets of his genius with the Self-Made Nation.

Sorry, went off on a tangent there – back to that quote: “Never miss an opportunity like a great recession.”

Do you know who said that? Jack Welch, the infamous and insanely successful CEO of GE. Take from THAT what you will.

And that quotation opens chapter 11 (<< funny!) - “How to Grow When it's Slow” - of Cameron’s aforementioned book.

Business Growth in Times of Uncertainty

Cameron was also here as my guest on a previous episode of “I'm a Millionaire! So Now What?” so if you want to hear from him directly, you can check out Episode 106. I’m a bit of a Cameron Herold fan. He's quite simply a business guru.

In chapter 11 - “How to Grow When it's Slow” - he shares the top 10 ways to make money in a recession. And I’m going to share five of them here with you today (you can hear all 10 on my latest podcast, Committed to Growth in the Face of Uncertainty).

Some of these tips sound a bit counterintuitive. Some might make you squirm a little bit.

But that's okay. Because, you know, if we don't get a little bit uncomfortable, then we don't grow, right?

So, here are Cameron Herold’s top five tips for growing your business in the face of slowdown and uncertainty (AKA during a crazy pandemic).

Five Tips to Help Grow Your Business During Covid-19

1.      Increase your expenses: This might be prime time to actually get out there and deliver your message.

2.      Fire clients: Remember the 80/20 rule - 80% of your clients are only giving you 20% of your revenue and 20% of your clients are giving you 80% of your revenue. Need I say more?

3.      Eliminate competitors: Wait. What? Yes, indeed, you don’t get to the top of your game without a touch of ruthlessness. And Cameron’s examples in the book are pretty aggressive. But I'll let you get the book and read more about that.

4.      Start stealing: I mean, legally, no, literally, the title of that section is start stealing legally. Really, what we're talking about is offering incentives for customers to either increase what they buy from you, or to switch from their competitor to you. Or both!

5.      Find money under your company's pillow: It’s there. You know it is. I see this happening everyday right now. People are being REALLY creative, taking services that they already have, and then pivoting a little bit. Think restaurants moving from dine-in only to take-out. Think outside the box and find interesting ways to repackage what you're already doing to fit into “life with Covid-19.”

There you have it. There are five other ways to drive growth during an economic slowdown in Cameron’s book, and in the podcast episode I mentioned above.

These are really extraordinary times. Life as we know it all over the world has had to adapt to this pandemic. But as much as it might not feel like it some days, all is not lost.

This too shall pass! There will dawn a new normal. Let’s work together to make sure your business is ready to jump back in when that dawn comes!