This is a guest post by Terry Crenshaw. Terry is a writer who has focused her attention on what political professionals and their advisors, such as Peter Orszag, have to say about current economic policy. Through her work, Terry hopes to develop the public’s understanding of how politics can influence the economy.

So you have decided to start your own company. Now what? Do you get business cards printed? Sign a lease on office space? Hire your first employee? No!

You can handle all these things in due time, but the first thing you need to do is pump the breaks and take a second to think about the structure of your business plan. You may think you are on the fast track to success, but that road will end quickly if you aren’t prepared to keep up the pace.

Many new business owners forget this and get swept up in the creativity, excitement, and liberation that come with owning your own company. This, of course, leads to some pretty difficult challenges that can be avoided.

How? Well, stay away from these five things that will cause your start-up to fail.

1. Jumping in head first. Yes, you have strike while the iron’s hot if you wish to gain a competitive edge, but you have to know what kind of a hot iron you are looking for to make sure you don’t grab the wrong end of it.

Drafting a well-developed, structured business plan is your first task. How should you go about doing this? First, you need a mission statement, a purpose that your company will fulfill. Then you need to go systematically through every aspect of the organization to plan the structure of the business and prepare for challenges that it will face.

Keep the business plan flexible, though, because the market will change and whether or not you succeed will depend upon if your company can meet the new demands of consumers.

2. Relying on word of mouth. Marketing is an important aspect of building your business, some would argue the most important, and cannot be accomplished by simply talking your company up when at dinner parties or your son’s t-ball games. Get organized and get your marketing materials ready to go before launching your company.

The key to having your marketing campaign ready to go is to develop a well-rounded strategy that will utilize all aspects of modern marketing. What does this entail? A great website, social media networking, blog posting, press releases, SEO articles, and other tricks of the trade. You want to create a positive impact on your industry while drawing people in with well-written copy, which should inform and interest consumers.

3. Being the “cool” boss. No one wants to invest in your company if you can’t run a staff. Staffing your business is a difficult task but it is one that you should have full control over. No fluctuating dress codes, no perpetually late employees, and NO forgetting that you are the owner of the business, not the shift leader’s best friend.

You should establish positive, professional relationships with every member of your staff that allow you to enjoy your employees’ company while also retaining control over your business.

4. Ignoring the future. Many businesses that fail do so because their owners weren’t able to foresee the challenges ahead. A perfect example of this is rapid business growth; some entrepreneurs focus on the here and now instead of on what next week or month will bring, making it impossible for them to react quickly to new obstacles.

Preparing for the future is something that you should do from the very beginning. When mapping out your business plan, have an idea of how you want your business to be structured as it grows.

Sure, you may start with one or two other employees that are able to work several different angles at once, but as business keeps up do you want to create different departments? Do you want to head them all or do you want to promote from within, allowing managers to take responsibility for their teams?

These are all things that you need to think about.To accomplish this, you should look at your business in phases. Phase one is the beginning, you and your core team. Phase two is the first tier of growth, which should be implemented when the business reaches a set level of revenue or volume of work. Think this through and adjust your tiers as needed.

5. Being complacent. You may not want to run the next conglomeration, but you certainly don’t want to limit the possibilities of your business. Keep trucking and you will continue to grow your brand.

What mistakes have you made when starting your business? Help others learn from your mistakes by leaving a response in the comments section below.