In my years helping small business start-ups, I’ve seen the same mistakes repeated over and over. Many of these mistakes are the same ones I made with my first business two decades ago. They’re really easy to avoid for start-up entrepreneurs who are willing to learn the secrets and short cuts of other successful entrepreneurs. With each, I’ve included the rationale behind the mistake and how you can avoid it. Depending on where you are in the start-up process, use this information to avoid unnecessary struggle, wasted time and money.

1)No business plan

Before you start your business, you need a simple, written business plan, even if you’re solo. The plan should explore:

Your products and services

Your pricing

Your projected year one gross revenues

All your projected expenses

Your market research

Your marketing plan and budget

Your projected gross profit (profit before taxes)

You need these plans so you’re in control of your business; otherwise your business is being run on default and you end up spending money without a clear strategy. Many small business owners don’t have written plans because they think writing them will take too much time. The ones who do, succeed. Why not join them?

2)Under funding

Even if you’re starting a home-based business, you need some money to start up. If you plan on hiring employees, purchasing inventory and leasing space, it’s obvious you need seed money, but you may underestimate how much.

For a small service home based business, you’ll need office furniture and supplies, marketing and branding materials, a strategically planned website, some technology (software) and a healthy marketing budget. If you’re bricks and mortar, you’ll also need money for expenses like equipment, supplies, six month’s rent, payroll etc.

To avoid underfunding, refer back to your business plan. How much money do you need? Funding is available from many sources: family, friends, personal savings, credit cards, home equity, independent small business loans, the SBA and through Prosper.com. Figure out how much you’re willing to invest in yourself. What are you telling others if you’re not willing to invest in your own business? If you set a budget and develop a smart plan for how you’ll spend that money to launch your business, you’ll get the results you want.

The next mistake is made often by under funded start-ups.

3)Amateurish marketing materials

Don’t hire the first graphics or web designer you meet. Worse yet, don’t entrust your business’s marketing image to high school or college students because you’re trying to save money. How you’re perceived in the world will depend heavily on your business graphics, logo and website.. It’s important to think about how you want your business to be perceived, what colors will reflect that image, and what marketing materials you really need. Certainly you need business cards. But, do you really need letterhead and envelopes? Not everyone does. Do you need a brochure? Uniforms? Signs? How will all of this work together to present a unified image.

The key again is planning. Look carefully at the work of any graphic designer you’re considering using. See if you really connect with it. Speak with a minimum of five professionals, comparing price and style before deciding. Ask for recommendations from other businesses that have a “look” you find appealing. Finally, don’t skimp on your marketing materials. They represent your business.

4)Wimpy Website

The wimpy website was usually done by a start-up web designer who may create something pretty and charge you very little. The website hangs out there in cyberspace collecting cyber dust and you end up disappointed because it’s not generating leads or sales.

You need to do a lot of research before beginning to build your website, like keyword and domain name research. Writing content that’s compelling to visitors and search engine optimized is key. Constructing a map of your website with all the navigation options well thought out is also important. I discourage clients from building their website until they understand the tactics that will make it a magnet for prospects, and a profit center in their business. I’m sure you don’t want to waste hundreds, even thousands of dollars on a website that doesn’t give you a return on investment.

5)Poor time management

We aim to become entrepreneurs because we want to be our own boss and be in control of our lives. But when we first start, we suddenly realize that no one but us is structuring our time each day. So many start-ups have told me that they work all week and don’t seem to get anything accomplished, or that they sit at their desks not knowing what to do next.

If you have a clear vision of where you want to be in a year and a detailed roadmap for how to get there, you just need to follow the directions! It’s easy to get distracted by daily tasks or new ideas and opportunities. Set aside time each week to review these opportunities to see if they serve your vision. Otherwise file them in an idea folder for the future and stay tightly focused on those priority activities that will grow your business now.

Be a smart start-up; get ahead of the curve by avoiding these discouraging and costly mistakes. You’ll experience less stress, reduce the first year learning curve, and increase the bottom line.