Be Thankful for the Entire Team

As we approach Thanksgiving, take a moment to reflect on your extended team.  There are many teammates for a sole proprietor business and now is a perfect time to thank them.

When you own a larger firm, you likely have a dock for deliveries and employ dockworkers.  When it is just you, our friends at places like the Post Office, UPS, and FedEx take on that role.  Yes, you may have to wait in line but once it is your turn, they likely give you all their attention.  They provide pricing options and delivery time options and help tape up your boxes.  These are your teammates, do not forget to thank them.  While not a consultant or an employee, they play a crucial role in your firm’s reputation.

If you employ virtual assistants or have a business management or administration firm that helps you out, they also are your teammates.  If you provide them with a sincere act of appreciation and let them know you view them as a teammate instead of a vendor, that will likely go a long way in your ongoing relationship with them. 

Last but certainly not least, those who help keep your space clean deserve the respect you give your professional teammates.  The maintenance staff who works for your landlord, the private office cleaner who keeps your place allergen free and brightens up your space, the florist who sends beautiful arrangements upon request, these should be included in your extended teammates. 

Do not minimize any of the help and support you are given for any aspect of your business.  You may be able to organize your business by yourself but you surely cannot keep it humming along by yourself.  

Take this time of the year to thank all those that support you when interacting with them.  And if the opportunity avails itself, give them a shout out on social media.  A surprise acknowledgment will likely be most graciously accepted.

Today’s Blog is dedicated to Finley, whom we lost around Thanksgiving, 2016.💙

Be well.

Joanne