What are you thankful for? This is, no doubt, probably the one of the most asked questions of the week. There are always highs and lows for everyone, but when it comes down to it, you can always find something to be thankful for.

The same is true in business. There are good times and bad times and better years and economies than others for all businesses no matter what industry you’re involved in. Still, as we approach this season of thanksgiving, let’s consider what any and all businesses can be grateful for this year.

First of all, let’s think about the foundation of your business – passion. This is how it all began. A business is not only born through its passion, but it is also driven by it. While it’s true that passion isn’t the single factor in building a business, it does serve as a great motivational tool. If you’re not passionate about what you do, new ideas and improvements will be hard to come by.

What’s more, passion translates into commitment, which further means a dedication to create amazing products and services. This kind of passion is not something money can buy.

Another area that we don’t really like to think about, but we should be thankful for is our mistakes. You read that correctly, and no, I don’t think I’ve completely lost it yet. J

Every business makes mistakes. It’s completely natural. Even though these mistakes might come with some bad consequences, they provide valuable learning opportunities if we let them.

Alina Tugend wrote a compelling argument on mistakes over on OSU’s Eminence blog indicating that you need to make mistakes in order to advance.

“When we fear looking dumb, when we emphasize results over process and effort because we’re afraid of messing up,” Tugend wrote, “then we’re going to miss a lot of what’s fun and stimulating in life.”

Sometimes the biggest ideas of a business are the result of an unplanned circumstance or outcome. When the going gets tough, it often brings the team closer together and increases focus, which again, makes mistakes yet another area to be thankful for.

Thirdly, and going right along with mistakes, is the power to make a change. Whether you’re a business owner or a team member, you have the ability to deliver improvement. This change does not have to happen from the top. It’s great if it does, but it can actually start at any level since the impact will be seen throughout the company.

This attribute, if used, could take team members and the overall business to an entirely new level. Everyone gets in routines and ruts, but complacency does not profit anyone.

What else are you thankful for? These remaining two items that businesses should be thankful for involve the digital space. Our worlds, both personally and professionally, have changed drastically in this digital age. For all the cool innovations and gadgets it has produced, we should be thankful. From smartphones to tablets to cloud technologies and beyond, doing business has become easier.

The accessibility of doing business whenever and wherever you are breaks down so many barriers. Business can be done more efficiently and in a much more timely fashion. Information is at our fingertips so that we can research and find answers on the go. This ability of being able to respond to your biggest client over a concern while traveling with your family definitely makes innovations and gadgets something to be thankful for.

Lastly, ANY business should be thankful for social media. It’s a big surprise that we would say that, right?

In all seriousness, social media as with other innovations and gadgets has completely transformed the way business is conducted. We could seriously talk all day about the many great things about social media, but we’ll try to keep it to a minimum here, especially since we talk about it all the time.

For starters, it allows you to have a direct line to your customers and clients. This is absolutely huge. It’s no longer just about getting customers to come into your physical workplace or land on your website. Now, you can go where they already are! Social media also allows you to format content in exactly the way your clients want it. For instance, tools such as Pinterest and YouTube offer 2 very different means for reaching audiences based on user preference.

Social media also allows businesses to communicate with its audience in real-time. It provides value and solves problems when necessary. Beyond these benefits, social media creates very targeted advertising opportunities.

Although there are many other areas in which social media impacts business, it’s clear that the concept of social business has clearly taken off. While this infographic from Eloqua came out last year, it still shows how dramatically social media’s involvement in business has evolved:

As you contemplate these and other things that you and your business are thankful for, it really helps to put the season in perspective, doesn’t it?

Display image courtesy of MaryAndrey.blogspot.com.