The COVID-19 pandemic took the whole world by surprise. With tight restrictions on our everyday activities, exercising, leaving home, and traveling, many have found themselves lost, confused, depressed, or frustrated. Not only did the pandemic have severe consequences on the mental and physical health of the entire world population, but also on the global economy.
Many businesses have faced large-scale layoffs, hardship, and permanent closures during the coronavirus pandemic. According to CNBC and Yelp data, business closure is still on the rise. What's more alarming, 60 percent of all businesses that closed down during the pandemic won't be reopening again. The companies that survived the crisis are now struggling to stay afloat.
For Chris Cavallini, the CEO and founder of Nutrition Solutions, the coronavirus outbreak brought growth instead. He has devised several strategies that allowed him and his company to continue thriving even in the most troubling times. Cavallini and his team were able to scale their business 34 percent in April when the coronavirus outbreak was at its peak.
Cavallini credits the success of his company to his team and applying several straightforward yet effective strategies that were geared around one simple thing - helping as many people as possible get healthy, fit and have a positive outlet to focus on during a global pandemic.
Own the Success of Your Team
Cavallini learned about the importance of discipline during his service in the Navy. By applying strategies that he learned in the military, Cavallini managed to grow his team to 50 people and ensure it continues to thrive regardless of the political climate.
"If your team isn't doing the things that you want them to do, as a leader it's your fault," he said. Cavallini points out that every entrepreneur has the responsibility to provide proper training, coaching, accountability and resources to their team. It's the only way to help every employee grow professionally and personally, so they are then able to add more value to the business.
Stay Calm in a Crisis
Cavallini believes that the key to success for business owners is remaining composed and being willing to adapt quickly when faced with challenging situations.
While companies around the world were struggling to stay in business, Nutrition Solutions was thriving. This is not the first time Cavallini remained calm in a crisis and saved his company from failure.
Cavallini first learned the importance of learning to stay composed in the U.S. Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center as part of his military training. "With the work I did in the Navy, if you don't keep your when all chaos is breaking out around you, someone can get killed. It's the military instructors responsibility to put us in the most uncomfortable situations possible, to see who has what it takes to thrive in those scenarios and who doesn't." "A significant portion of Navy Diving training is spent wheating out the weak, Cavallini admits."
A lot of the lessons Cavallini learned in his military career have been applied in his business, as he says he is no stranger to adversity. "Business is hard. The more ambitious you are, the more you're going to get battle tested. "I decided to make 'Celebrate Adversity' a core value at Nutrition Solutions, because without adversity, there can be no success."
"Never Underestimate the Value of Transparency on Social Media
Advertising on social media is one of the best strategies for reaching the right audience and promoting a business. To run successful social media marketing campaigns, it is essential to discover the right way to speak to your audience.
Cavallini points out that consumers love seeing what's authentic. Whether it's him and his team working behind the scenes, real human testimonials, actual results, especially in the health and fitness industry. A quick look at their website or Instagram and it's pretty obvious, Nutrition Solutions has helped thousands of customers transform their bodies.
"I guess you could say our success stories have been some of our best marketing tools," said Cavallini. "And it's because they're real. They're out in the open, coming from real people who made extraordinary changes for everyone to see. For us, it's not about 'selling' a product or service to just anyone. It's about educating, motivating and empowering people to take action - our company is just a tool to make the process of accomplishing your goals a little easier and more efficient."
Ask Yourself How to Give More
"I attribute a lot of my success as an entrepreneur to the service-oriented approach I take in business and in life," said Cavallini. "I'm always looking for ways to help someone, to give back, to educate, share what I know and empower someone else to be a little better. And as a result, I feel a lot of good things have come my way. I think a lot of business leaders drastically underestimate how much growth they can drive for their business just by being a good person and instead of focusing solely on profits, focus on doing the right thing."
Cavallini's team treats every customer as their first and only. Many companies forget to pay attention to the relationship with their customers once they start expanding. They prioritize quantity over quality. Nutrition Solutions is one of the few companies that managed to scale very fast and very effectively. Cavallini attributes this to the fact that his team is very much vested in their customers' experience and genuinely care about seeing them successfully accomplish their goals.
"If a customer has an issue, messed, we are super proactive in providing them the support and help they deserve. If a customer is ever unhappy, we're going to go above and beyond to fix it and at a minimum, show them through our actions how much we care. And by doing this, not only do we improve upon those relationships, but those same customers become our most loyal advocates," said Cavallini.
Cavallini is focused on personal development, fitness and bettering himself. He applies this very principle to his team at Nutrition Solutions, since the company culture is based on principles of hard work and self-discipline.
Cavallini advises other entrepreneurs to stay persistent, even during the most troubling times. He encourages them to act and not to be afraid of failing. "Failure isn't the opposite of success. Failure is part of success. It's what you do after you fail that matters."
