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I think you've received some excellent advice, particularly about keeping a day job until your business is established and profitable. The 24/7 observation is also a good one. That's something I didn't fully appreciate with my business, there is no quitting time. It happens in ways I didn't expect. The website is constantly probed/attacked by script kiddies and bots for example, and every morning for me includes a review of the security logs. Also, buying my own health insurance was an eye opener. If you have employer-provided insurance, you may not realize how expensive health insurance is. Also realize that as a small-business owner, you do not qualify for unemployment insurance. If your business goes bust, you're still on your own.
A couple of random observations.
$450 for a good general business attorney is not expensive, not for Northern California. Attorney fees, for me, were shocking large. Their use of Westlaw, a database of case law they used to research my issues, was billed at $3000/hour. That's not a typo. Three thousand. And for a physical product you will want to investigate patents. Patent litigation can be phenomenally expensive. Also I would consider liability. I wouldn't start a business, even a service gig side hustle, without some measure of protection. Either insurance or corp structure. If you have a 6-figure concept, you will want to consider business taxes and corp organization. The time to have your tax planning in place is before revenue starts rolling in.
I think it's unrealistic to expect to be competent at everything you will need. Putting a public face on a small business has many facets and can be a bit of a weakest link thing. One of the mistakes I think you can make is thinking this looks easy and I know enough. Designing a slick marketing plan and designing a slick website are related but very different skills for example. Be prepared to outsource and hire independent contractors and accept your limitations. I used the basic IC contract from NOLO's small business guide to get started.
I started with a consultation through SCORE/SBA. Then I paid for two separate consultations with attorneys to review my business plan and to talk risk and liability with me. One of the things I most wanted to say to you was to get an objective outside opinion early on. Get an objective outside business plan review even if you have to pay for the review.
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