Things Businesses Should Be Thankful for This Thanksgiving
Be thankful for the alarm that goes off early in the morning, because it means you are alive.
As the holiday season gets into full swing and the end of the year approaches, it's a good time to reflect on the things that are going right in business and what managers can be grateful for.
Be thankful you've made it through. 2012 was still a tough year for many entrepreneurs, but I think most of us would agree that the light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer. If your business has survived the past few years, you've got something to be proud of.
Be thankful for your employees. No business can survive without its employees. If your employees are like most, they've risen to the occasion; pulled together and done everything they can to help sustain your business.
Be thankful for your customers. Customers have more options than ever in this constantly connected world. It's easy for them to seek out new solutions when you're no longer meeting their needs. Don't ever take them for granted.
Be thankful for the internet & social media. Innovations like cloud computing, social media, and a myriad of free online tools to help start and grow businesses, have helped small businesses do more with less. From Facebook to Twitter to eBay to email marketing, the Internet's impact on small business is impossible to overstate.
Be thankful people are still buying. Reports go back and forth as to whether this economic downturn is over or still raging. It all seems to depend on who you talk to about it. Thankfully, even with times being tough, people out there are buying like mad!
We are and may always be a capitalistic society. While some find this troubling, what it means for anyone willing to get out there and do the hard work is there will be money to be made if they have the right product or service. If there's a niche, fill it, and they will come...with lots of money!
Be thankful that being an entrepreneur is possible. We sometimes take for granted the idea we're able to even entertain the idea to start up a business and make it on our own. So many countries around the world don't offer this privilege, and we need to remember that every day we wake up and get to work on the day's activities. This is particularly difficult to recall when everything seems to be going wrong and your customers are driving you crazy, but it's all part of the fun!
Be thankful for the lessons you've learned. You don't make it through an economic landscape like today's, without being smart and savvy. Tough times teach us things, and the lessons we've learned in the past few years will help us run a better, smarter, and more profitable businesses in any economy.
Thanksgiving is the perfect time to pause, assess our strengths and weaknesses, count our blessings, and be thankful for all the encouragement and support received in our personal lives as well as in our business.
