I can think of many companies that, at their inception, raised money anywhere they could in order to get to the stage that they could test and develop their ide

I can think of many companies that, at their inception, raised money anywhere they could in order to get to the stage that they could test and develop their ideas. If you have family or friends that can give you some cash to get your business going, I say go for it. Plus, it's going to be VERY difficult to get angels to invest in the pre-"getting cracking" stage if you don't have those existing relationships.