Working through this with us?
Your stage, what you sell, where you sell it. Out come the three locks, name, downside and claims... and when each one goes on.
Your name. A trademark matters the moment you are visible. Before launch, an intent-to-use filing (1(b)) holds your place in line. After the first sale, a use-in-commerce filing (1(a)). Amazon Brand Registry needs a filed mark.
Your downside. Insurance is the one thing you cannot buy after you need it. For anything people eat, drink, take or put on skin, it binds before the first unit ships, because the co-packer requires it and a claims-made policy never reaches back. For everything else it is cheap and quick, and retailers will ask for it.
Your claims. What the label and the ads say is regulated. For ingestibles and cosmetics that check happens before the label prints. For everything else it happens before the first ad, because a borrowed photo or an unproven claim is what advertising-injury lawsuits are made of.
This is education, not legal or insurance advice.
Working out your first-month cash? The Monday Numbers.