Salvas Argues Consistency Beats Novel Strategies for Business Survival

Bob Salvas, a Professional Development Manager for the RI Builders Assn, asserts that consistency is the single most important factor in business success. In a column published on November 2, Salvas argues that many owners focus on finding new ideas or doing more, when their primary challenge is executing existing tasks reliably over time.

Salvas, who also co-founded Brew Work Networking and the Marketing Camp, lists several foundational concepts for professional growth, including relationships, giving, networking, learning, and cash flow. He identifies cash flow as a critical concern for owners because it often determines whether a company survives. However, he positions consistency as the overarching principle that governs all other strategies.

The core of his argument rests on the idea that small, repeated actions compound. Salvas notes that businesses facing difficulties often attempt to expand their scope. He suggests that if these firms instead performed their current duties with greater regularity, many operational challenges would diminish or disappear. He describes this steady application of effort as the primary driver of long-term achievement.

To illustrate this point, Salvas references the book The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. The text argues that minor daily habits, such as saving a few dollars, exercising for a few minutes, or reading ten pages, yield substantial results when maintained over months or years. Salvas calls these "success habits" and emphasizes that their value lies in their repetition rather than their individual magnitude.

He advises readers to identify specific actions they should perform daily or weekly and to schedule them as priorities. Salvas compares this process to long-term commitments like marriage or starting a family, where the initial decision is less important than the daily follow-through. He quotes Denzel Washington: "Without commitment, you’ll never start. Without consistency, you’ll never finish."

Salvas concludes by urging business owners to write down their success habits and protect that time in their calendars. He frames this discipline as a way to gain a competitive advantage through simple, productive actions repeated consistently.