Any failure to follow-through on a commitment is a failure to do what one says they are going to do. It represents a lack of discipline and is one of the surest ways to make less money in business. People who fail to follow-through on actions cannot be relied upon to be accountable for specific results because they aren’t likely to complete the required actions.

Any person who is failing to follow-through on actions needs to be subject to progressive discipline to stop them from wasting cash and time.

Overview

When business owners fail to follow through on an action, they put both their profits and cash flow at unnecessary risk. The lack of reliable follow-through is the number one challenge holding small-business owners back from owning profitable businesses with more predictable cash flows.

Follow-through on your commitments is how you overcome the second and third highest killers of small businesses: complacency and procrastination. Overcoming these business killers begins with your commitment and that of your management team to do what you say you are going to do before this same commitment manifests in your employees.

People who follow-through on their commitment take steady, earnest, and deliberate in completing the actions they are accountable for completing. They complete the “critical few” things they need to do to experience better results because they honor their commitment to follow through on promised actions.

When people are committed, they fully intend to do what they have promised to do. You can recognize a committed person because they will fight through many obstacles and challenges to accomplish their goals.

Both successful and unsuccessful people manifest through their actions, what is most important to them. What differentiates the successful from the unsuccessful is the successful person will deliver on their commitments that are highly important to them to accomplish a goal. Whereas the unsuccessful will fade when the going gets tough in doing what they set out to do.