By Ed McLaughlin and Wyn Lydecker Since 2009, Small Business Saturday, has claimed its own traditional time-slot on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Put in motion by American Express, it was started to promote a “Shop Small” mentality and supports the contribution small businesses have made to develop the fiber of America’s economy. The Small Business Website sports the question, [...]
There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure. -Paul Coelho, The Alchemist By Omar Douglass Contributing Writer for The Purpose is Profit Blog In a recent blog post, Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained, I shared the story and several valuable lessons learned from the failure of my [...]
I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man! -Jay-Z™ By Omar Douglass Contributing Writer for The Purpose is Profit Blog What’s really in a name anyway? If anyone knows the answer to this question, it is definitely Shawn Corey Carter. The Hip-Hop mogul, multi-industry entrepreneur, and business-in-himself clearly understands the value of branding and [...]
By Ed McLaughlin and Wyn Lydecker This is the second of a two-blog series on giving great presentations. So you have a presentation to give, and you've figured out who your audience is. That first step has helped you to decide what order to put the pieces in and how detailed they should be. Now [...]
By Ed McLaughlin and Wyn Lydecker Imagine this: an expert in your field is coming to speak at your local library. You get excited, you block off a couple of hours on your schedule weeks in advance, and plan a special lunch just for the day. You arrive early, picking a seat near the front [...]
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” – Winston Churchill. By Ed McLaughlin and Wyn Lydecker If you center your startup around profit, your company can use its economic strength to become an ambassador for social impact on any level, large or small. Just as [...]
By Ed McLaughlin and Wyn Lydecker The ideal formula for business success is when your passion and distinctive competence align. Only nine months after opening USI – a business based on my distinctive competence – I launched a second business called Sigma Communications Inc., or “Sigma” for short. Starting Sigma was the culmination of my [...]
By Ed McLaughlin and Wyn Lydecker A profit-centered startup often suffers the mistaken identity of self-centered ambition. The truth is, when entrepreneurs diligently plan for profit, they can reach beyond themselves and support socially noble causes in their own backyards, their country, and around the world. A startup centered on social impact instead of profit [...]
By Ed McLaughlin and Wyn Lydecker Every startup needs a handle on its money, but the deliberate handling of your emotional budget is important, too, and is often overlooked. In previous blogs, we’ve talked about basic competency in money as a staple of every entrepreneur’s repertoire. Budgeting is a practice that really only works if [...]