Business success also involves being thankful

Editor’s note: Michelle Stockman is an independent consultant with her company, Fort Smith-based Msaada Group. Stockman earned a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University-Chicago in communications and fine arts, and earned a master’s in entrepreneurship from Western Carolina University. Her thoughts on business success appear each week on The City Wire.

As time reminds us that another calendar year is about to pass and the season reminds us to give thanks where it is due, what are you grateful for in your business or career this year?

Statistics noted the recession is over, elections have brought us new faces and technology has continued to evolve, so there are events in everyone’s life to share gratitude.

As many businesses end the calendar year with planning for 2011, now is a good time to reflect on the months that have passed. Take time to be thankful for the business successes that occurred. What was the success? Why was it successful? Who was involved? What was your role as the business owner?

Oddly, it is also good to give thanks to the lessons that were learned throughout the year. What was learned? What happened to create the lesson? What can be done to prevent the lesson from happening again?

Be sure employees know they are appreciated, so give thanks to them for work done well. Management recognition has been shown to be more valuable to employees then their paychecks. To create a workplace where everyone feels welcome and grateful to be there, communicate to employees in a manner that shows respect and appreciation for work done well.

Give thanks to your customers and clients who are the life blood for business survival. While communicating to customers throughout the year is as important to communicating to employees, take the time to show your appreciation to your core customers. Share your gratitude with them and you’ll be surprised how such a simple act can impact them too.

While some may argue this, be thankful for your vendors too. Vendors play a large role in how smoothly your business will run. If you’ve never seen the problems that can occur when a company struggles with a vendor, then count your blessings. Taking the time to thank your vendors can create the kind of relationships that the business will benefit from at some point.

Lastly, business owners and others should show gratitude to the family and friends that support the business. Being an entrepreneur is not easy, being related to one is equally as challenging. Take the time during this season of thanks giving, to show how your outside support allows the business to survive. Let the spouse, children, siblings and others know that their support of your efforts has meaning and value.

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Stockman can be reached at [email protected]