Are You Ready to Start Your Entrepreneurial Journey?

By Ed McLaughlin and Wyn Lydecker

You know you want to start a business, but you are not sure how to do it. Like many entrepreneurs, you are chomping at the bit to lift off, but you are struggling with a healthy fear of failure. You need a step-by-step process to guide you through the uncertainties of starting up.

If you are determined to build, lead, and grow a profitable business, The Startup Roadmap is designed for you. For a limited time, you can get a complimentary eCopy of The Startup Roadmap: 21 Steps to Profitability by clicking this link.

Prepare to Take the Plunge

You need a way to filter your ideas and figure out if they are bankable, sustainable, and worthy of your time, money, and reputation. You want to get started, but you do not want to take unnecessary risks. As much as possible, you want to look ahead and figure things out before you take the plunge – but you do not want to lose momentum, hamper your creativity, your energy, or your enthusiasm to get started – for fear you never will.

Don’t Just Roll the Dice

As I see it, you have a choice. You can invest the time upfront to plan your journey, or you can roll the dice and launch without a plan, figuring out the inevitable problems and challenges as they present themselves. While I understand the need to pivot and make adjustments as you develop your business, I am not as confident in the concept of repeatedly trying, failing, and restarting, given the risks and costs to your livelihood. I believe you need to think through the essential steps to profitability before you launch.

Ensure Your Success

When I created the plans to launch my own business, USI, I followed a similar process. I could not afford to fail. I had a young family that relied on my income. Even though I couldn’t wait to go out on my own, I had to consider the ramifications of leaving my corporate job. Prior to liftoff, my team and I invested six months of our time – without compensation – in careful speculation, answering the 21 questions included in The Startup Roadmap. It paid big dividends. We grew USI into an Inc. 500 company and then sold it 14 years later to Johnson Controls, a Fortune 100 company.

Once again, click this link to get your complimentary eCopy of The Startup Roadmap: 21 Steps to Profitability. If you prefer the print edition, you can purchase it directly from Amazon for $9.99.

Once you have read The Startup Roadmap, please let us know what you think by emailing us at: ed@ThePurposeIsProfit.com.

Ed McLaughlin is currently co-writing the book, The Purpose Is Profit: The Truth about Starting and Building Your Own Business, with Wyn Lydecker and Paul McLaughlin.