Given that the season of thanks is upon us, I thought it was appropriate to take a few moments and reflect upon all that I am thankful for. From a personal perspective, I am thankful for my loving wife, my wonderful 4 children, my parents and the rest of my family, my friends, my health, the roof over my head, my career, all of my colleagues that have extended a helping hand when they had nothing to gain from it, the list could go on and on. Needless to say, I am thankful for it all, and I am thankful to get the opportunity to see another day and all the goodness (and badness) that it brings.

From a business perspective, it is important for companies from time to time reflect on what it is that they are thankful for, and then they should react on all that they are thankful for by expressing their gratitude. The two greatest assets any one company should be thankful for are their employees and their customers. After all, those two groups of individuals make or break any company. Companies should be thankful to their employees for believing in what the company stands for, for dedicating their time to making the company better, for building quality products that their customers love, you get the picture here (and it goes without saying that each employee should be thankful to the company for taking a chance on them and employing them, but I am not focusing on what each person should be thankful for, just what the company should be thankful for).

Companies should also be thankful for their customers, after all, they are the ones who pay the bills and ultimately provide salaries (and then some if the company is wildly successful) for all of the employees. There are many ways for a company to express their gratitude to it’s customers, from open letters of thanks to promotions and give aways, to discounts and rewards, these are all just simply little ways to say thank you.

A simple thank you can go a long way and can have a great impact on the individual or individuals in ways that the giver of the thanks may not imagine. So in the spirit of the Thanksgiving season, take a moment to think of all that you are thankful and make sure you tell those people how grateful you are for them and what they do.