This weekend India will celebrate its 75^th Independence Day. For entrepreneurs the concept of independence has meaning beyond marking a day on the calendar. For most business owners, independence is an extension of their personality and defines their core thinking. It's not merely a once a year celebration, it's a day-to-day determination about how to run a business and lead their lives.

Workplace autonomy is a powerful motivator for business owners. According to a survey, having the independence to make your own decisions is considered the key benefit of being an entrepreneur. The number one reason most people want to become their own boss is the freedom, satisfaction and flexibility it offers them.

Let’s explore some facets of ‘freedom’ that entrepreneurs highly value and cherish.

Freedom to follow passion

For entrepreneurs, there is nothing quite as exhilarating as seeing their idea take shape as a viable business. Freedom nurtures creativity and business owners thrive on pursuing their passion and coming up with innovative solutions to real problems.

Serial entrepreneur Arnab Ray shares, "Entrepreneurship is probably the only profession that allows cognitive freedom – the freedom to think, freedom to dream, freedom to innovate, freedom to create and freedom to change the world around us. Entrepreneurs always question the status quo through creative thought process and execution, bringing in true independence and empowerment of human beings."

Flexibility is freedom

Entrepreneurship ensures that the person at the helm enjoys a certain amount of flexibility in terms of managing their work-life schedule.  Being able to do what one wants, when one wants and where one wants can be a huge motivator to start one’s own business. Being in control of their schedule and spending their working life doing what they really enjoy doing is vital to entrepreneurs.

Transformation Coach, Khyati Shah opines, "Freedom for me is the ability to explore different opportunities, have flexibility in managing my work and life balance and to be able to follow my intuition and achieve my dreams."

Inner Self Coach, Gopalakrishnan Subramanian believes, "Freedom for me is when I can be myself without having to worry about what others may think."

Economic freedom

There is no greater joy for an entrepreneur than to see their efforts and business idea generate income. Financial freedom and the opportunity to make profits are very important to most entrepreneurs.

Saikat Basak, owner of a construction and interiors firm, shares, "Freedom for me is ownership of time and opportunity to explore my full potential and creativity, to attain financial freedom and success."

Freedom to collaborate and create value

Running a business is rarely a one-person show. Success depends largely on having a competent and enthusiastic team. As an entrepreneur, one has the freedom to work with the people with whom one shares a great business and personal rapport and who have common ideals and values.

Founder of an HR Consultancy firm, Debashish Das states, "Freedom to me as an entrepreneur means freedom to live a full life where one can spend quality time doing what one believes in, work with like-minded people, contribute to society and create value for clients. Also one requires freedom from worrying about finances to do all the above."

Being an entrepreneur is a liberating experience but it takes passion, endurance and perseverance to succeed. Also with freedom comes great responsibility. The responsibility to inspire your team, lead by example and do everything to ensure that your business thrives.

Wishing you a very happy Independence Day!

Also read: Leaders of India’s freedom struggle: Lessons for business owners

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