Hi
Sorry I didn't see this thread till now but you seem to have had some good advice, Ann, so there's very little I can add.
The best piece of advice I was given when starting up my own business was to sort out the insurances. If you are working from home, check your house and contents insurance allow this. The last thing you want is for them to wriggle out of paying a claim because you are working from home.
The other thing is to make sure you have product liability insurance. Even though it is extremely unlikely that a customer will be hurt by your work, at least you will have some protection if some idiot tries to claim against you.
As you've found out, the hard way, the best way to stay afloat is to pay for everything as you go. Don't buy anything on credit to start with. If you don't owe anything to anybody, you can't be made bankrupt. At the moment you should be able to negotiate discounts with suppliers by paying up front. Once the business is up and running and producing a regular income, then you can think about buying things on credit but why have the stress?
Zoe