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Business Owners: Celebrate Your Personal Independence Day

The dictionary defines independence as “freedom from the control and influence of others.” The pursuit of independence not only led to the American Revolution in the 1770s, but to the entrepreneurial one in the 1990s. I’ve long thought America’s founders and entrepreneurs have a lot in common. I don’t mean the actual act of owning a business — although Benjamin Franklin is considered by many to be America’s first entrepreneur — but rather a shared mindset.

Whether you aspire to lead a huge corporation or simply to be a solopreneur or freelancer, your goals are the same as that of America’s founders: to achieve freedom, liberty, and independence; to choose what you want to do and when you want to do it; to be responsible for your actions and reap the subsequent rewards.

Most people inherently understand why we’d want to be the next Mark Zuckerberg or Martha Stewart. But many look at solo entrepreneurs and freelancers and think, “They can’t possibly be satisfied with that existence. They must want more.” And while some certainly do want (and plan) to grow their small businesses, others consider their freelance careers to be an assertion of their independence.

This is underscored by the results of a new survey conducted by Elance, a leading online employment platform. In the Freelance Talent Report 89 percent of participants reported that “working independently” is an important part of their career strategy. Although the most popular reason people began freelancing (mentioned by 36 percent) was “to earn supplemental income,” 26 percent started because they wanted to be their own boss.

Whatever the motivations for starting, once their freelance careers were underway, there were no regrets. A majority (56 percent) said they “prefer the freelance lifestyle,” and 61 percent reported being happier as freelancers than they were as employees.

The primary reasons respondents said they enjoy freelancing were the same ones almost all entrepreneurs cite for why we do what we do: “control over my own schedule”; “being my own boss”; having “more choice” about the work they do.

Sounds familiar, right? It sure rings true to me. In the three years I’ve owned a business, I’ve been through the ups and downs most entrepreneurs experience. But the only real regret I have is not quitting my job and starting my business sooner. Like the founders of this nation (and I’m sure like many of you) I put up with an intolerable situation for far too long before I got brave enough to declare my independence.

There are other common characteristics entrepreneurs share with our founders. The proverbial tale of a scrappy upstart taking on the establishment is not only the story of America’s birth, but that of nearly every entrepreneur’s beginning. When we’re in the throes of startup we don’t worry about the odds of succeeding, we just forge ahead, driven by faith, guts, and the innate confidence we will succeed.

The U.S. Constitution itself is akin to a business plan. The founders had the foresight to create a document that was meant to evolve as the country grew. It’s a good reminder that our business plans (or business goals) aren’t sacrosanct. It’s smart to take a good look at your initial plans and goals every three or four months and be ready to “amend” them as your circumstances change.

Often we think that being independent means we’re on our own. That is simply not the case. It’s likely America would not have won the Revolutionary War if not for the help of allies like France. Entrepreneurs need allies as well, and luckily we have some. There are trade associations, local Chambers, networking groups, nonprofits such as SCORE, and even government groups like Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) eager to help us. But you have to be a willing participant and be ready to give as well as receive.

The path to entrepreneurship is different for each one of us. For some, like the American revolutionaries, the quest for independence requires a fight. For a luckier few, it’s more about being in the right place at the right time. But whether we achieve freedom by battle or negotiation, the results are the same. Most of us, like the Elance study indicates, wouldn’t trade being a business owner, even for a steady job with a good salary.

But what about you? Leave a comment below and tell me what independence means to you.