Entrepreneur & Business Strategist Team Up to Demystify the Truth about Startups

Darien resident Ed “Skip” McLaughlin felt the pull of entrepreneurship from the time he was a teenage lifeguard on the Jersey Shore. But it took him years of struggling to come up with the right business to start before he took the leap from his high-level corporate position into the life of an entrepreneur. McLaughlin bootstrapped and grew his new company, USI, into an Inc. 500 company and later sold it to a Fortune 100 corporation.

McLaughlin has teamed up with business strategist and fellow Darienite Wyn Lydecker, and his son Paul McLaughlin, to co-author The Purpose Is Profit: The Truth about Starting and Building Your Own Business. Their new book seeks to help entrepreneurs increase their probability of startup success.

McLaughlin tackled startup obstacles that ranged from making the decision to launch, to securing preorders, to funding and scaling the business, and eventually to getting the business ready for a sale. At the same time, Lydecker made a career helping entrepreneurs plan and fund their startups. They combined forces to pursue the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Award, work on McLaughlin’s offering memorandum, and to write The Purpose Is Profit. Paul McLaughlin lent his millennial voice, combined with the practicality of his recent business school education, to the literary endeavor.

“When you consider the time, the money, and the reputations that are put at risk, it’s frustrating that 75% of new businesses fail within the first five years,” said McLaughlin. “There is a genuine need for change. Our primary goal for writing The Purpose Is Profit is to turn the tables on this failure rate by openly discussing the levers and gears of what it takes to build a successful business.”

Each chapter combines a portion of McLaughlin’s entrepreneurial journey with the tools and processes aspiring entrepreneurs need to launch a successful business—including:

• Why distinctive competence trumps passion in selecting the business to build
• Where and when to get funding without losing control
• How to build an entrepreneurial brand that lasts
• Why profit should be factored into every business decision
• How ethical behavior breeds trust and unlocks profit

As a special feature, the appendix includes two essential manuals: The Startup Roadmap and The Startup Funding Guide.

“We believe that the purchase of The Purpose Is Profit will be an entrepreneur’s lowest startup expense with the greatest potential return,” said McLaughlin.

“When I left my corporate job to launch my own business, people told me I was crazy and that I’d fail. But my late friend and mentor, John Stanger, entrepreneur and past head of General Electric Credit, said, ‘Do it! Do it! Do it!’ I followed John’s sage advice, and I think you should too.”

The Purpose Is Profit was published this week in hardcover and eBook editions by Greenleaf Book Group. The book was rated a 9 out of 10 by getAbstract, a company that summarizes notable business books. The Purpose Is Profit is available at Barrett Bookstore, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, 800CEOread, Books-a-Million, and airport bookstores. You can learn more at: www.ThePurposeIsProfit.com.