Nearly every entrepreneur will make mistakes when starting a business. Some mistakes are minor and can be chalked up to learning curves and trial-and-error, but some mistakes could have a long-term effect on your business. Here are some common startup mistakes to avoid when starting your small business.

Skimping on planning

Without a solid foundation and a secure plan in place, your business is at risk of crashing before it gets off the ground. This includes everything from researching your business idea and market potential to drafting business, financial, and marketing plans to goal setting to calculating and securing startup costs. A good rule of thumb is to secure at least six months’ worth of income at the start to allow your business some room for growing pains while you grow a client base and generate income.

Assuming that if you build it, they will come

The saying should really be: “If you employ a good marketing strategy, they will come”. Marketing should be brainstormed and put into action before you’re officially open for business. From word-of-mouth referrals to traditional print and radio advertising to internet advertising and social media marketing, the avenue (or avenues) you choose to focus on will depend on your business and your target audience.

Overspending

Not all businesses require a large investment, but you also don’t need to purchase the best and most cutting-edge of everything to get your business up and running successfully. Keep in mind that your business won’t see profits overnight, so it pays to be frugal by doing research and spending wisely.

Going it alone

You may be a solo entrepreneur but that doesn’t mean you won’t want someone to bounce ideas off of, so you’ll need supportive people in your corner. Once you’re able to hire on employees, you’ll need to learn to delegate effectively. Though you might be willing to be the jack-of-all-trades for your business, it might be a smarter move to, say, delegate invoices to someone and social media presence to someone else and IT troubleshooting to someone else. Learning to effectively delegate will build confidence in your employees, free up your time to focus on your specific expertise, and help build a team of people invested in the success of your business.