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When you start a business, remember to use your freedom

Ask anyone who works the grind of a regular daily 9-5 job and they will probably tell you one of their biggest gripes is that they feel sheltered from the outside world. If you’re in an office for 40 hours a week and spend another 10 hours a so each week commuting to and from work, you tend to miss some things going on in the world around you. Sometimes, you might want to see what’s going on out there, but your responsibilities may prevent you from doing so. When you leave to start your own business, this shouldn’t be the case, at least early on.

Sure, you have to work hard and you may spend long days and nights at a computer or in a store working hard to make sure your company succeeds. But when you get to be your own boss you can make the rules. You don’t have someone telling you to stay at your desk for eight hours each day. You get to go out and explore the world, meet new people and make connections. In many cases, this is not only a perk of starting your own company, it’s a necessary action to ensure your business’ success.

Cosmopolitan ran an article this week providing tips to aspiring entrepreneurs on how to start their own company. Nina Vaca, CEO of Pinnacle Technical Resources, was the featured subject, and she offered readers advice that ranged from surrounding yourself with smart, talented people to knowing what and when to outsource. She also suggested that entrepreneurs should not fall into the same routines they were in as regular business employees and that they shouldn’t be confined by four walls.

“It’s so important to get out there and spend time seeing what opportunities are available,” she said. “There’s a whole world out there that we sometimes don’t have a chance to appreciate if we just have our heads down. The way I can sum up my experiences is ‘you can’t be what you can’t see.'”

There is a lot of truth to this. While your company will need quality products and services, you must also make sure you are getting out there and making connections. Getting outside and using your freedom and flexibility to your advantage may be just what your company needs to be successful, particularly early on.

This, of course, is only part of the equation. Incorporating your business is still perhaps the most crucial element of starting a company, so make sure you do the necessary legwork ahead of time to set yourself up for success.