While plenty is written about just how challenging and time-consuming running a small business is, much less is said about the many benefits.

But believe us, the benefits are vast: be your own boss, build something from the ground you truly believe it, spend your working life doing something you love, and revel in the flexible lifestyle that 9-5 can’t offer.

Not just that, you might make a lot of money along the way.

But with any potential benefits, come the potential risks: perhaps the market changes unexpectedly. Perhaps the road to profit is not as smooth as you were hoping. And perhaps you just get it wrong.

So to give yourself the very best chance of succeeding in small business, make sure you get off on the right foot by actively avoiding the following three commonly-made mistakes:

1. Not making a plan

Many people look at others who are successful in business, and think it looks easy. But just as you wouldn’t set off on a round-the-world sailing trip without a rudder and a map, never go into business without specific goals and a basically plotted course.

Once you’re in business, you’ll realise the many different roads that are available to you along the way – and if you don’t know basically which direction to head in, you could find yourself off the beaten track very quickly.

2. Trying to do everything yourself

Above all else, your small business needs to be successful – and the ultimate measure of that is making money. So while initially your budget and resources will be limited, it can be very tempting for entrepreneurs to try to ‘do it all’. That means marketing, sales, product development and even bookkeeping. If you do all of them well, each one will probably be slightly neglected simply because there isn’t enough time. Do any of them badly, and your entire business is at risk.

3. Getting the market wrong

Another common mistake is to make a great product or service that you are really passionate about – and there’s no one there to buy it. In that way, it doesn’t matter how awesome your business is in every single aspect, if you overestimate demand, the entire house of cards can fall apart very quickly.

Another mistake is that even if you did read the market well, you then need to keep reassessing it at regular intervals, because falling behind or missing a trend simply means handing the advantage to your faster-moving competitors.

While there are plenty of potential mistakes you can make, starting and running a small business can also be the best decision you ever make. So don’t be put off and make sure you look in all the right places for help – the Australian government has a great Twitter feed, for starters.