Download or read book The Startup Roadmap written by Ed McLaughlin and published by Blue Sunsets Books. This book was released on 2015-06-01 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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: 21 Steps to Profitability is designed for you.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 - 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. I want to share this Roadmap with you to help put you and your business on the path to profitability.As a bonus, we have included a preview from our upcoming book, The Purpose Is Profit. The preview includes the Introduction and Chapter 1. It puts you in the shoes of an entrepreneur preparing to take the risk to start up and then provides chapter summaries outlining the journey from startup to exit.Unlike visionary "change the world" books, The Purpose Is Profit is for every one of you with the desire to start your own business - no matter the size, type, or scope. The Purpose Is Profit uses a personal story to describe the mental struggle to start up, the funding challenge, lessons learned from good and bad decisions, the scaling process to Inc. 500, and the sale to a Fortune 100 company. It is a realistic exposé of what worked and what didn't. The Purpose Is Profit is scheduled for distribution in the Fall 2015.