This guest post is part of our ongoing Small Business Perspective series, and is written by Katharine Napoli, owner of Computerized Office Services in New Jersey.

Gratitude.  It’s thankfulness in a different wrapping.  Lately the word has come up repeatedly through print media, blogs, and talk shows.  It’s an emotion that can have powerful effects on our lives.  Being grateful for the customers we currently have helps us give better service or produce better products.

It’s a filter-down effect – we’re thankful for what we have and it’s reflected in service and products which eventually webs out to bring in more business.  Maybe in a lot of ways business is just business, but when “heart” is put into your product or service, it shows and affects people in ways that come back to us.  Yes, there have to be boundaries in the business world, but within those boundaries can be a heartfelt thankfulness for the business we have.

Yes, we’re all financially affected by the economic turndown and each of us has both business and personal problems, but there is still so much to be grateful for – and when we take a moment to list the good in our lives and be thankful for each one, it webs out to affect others and comes back to bring us more.

Katharine Napoli is the President and Owner of Computerized Office Services, New Jersey. To learn more about Katharine and all of our Small Business Perspective Authors, click here.