Well said Furry. Don't NOT do it because you are waiting for that record deal. You can still make a product and profit. Every step along the way you will learn and be more prepared if that deal ever comes along by having done it. And do it up right if you want it to succeed! You can do a lot on your own with a little effort. It depends a lot on what your expectations are.

BTW
What killed our project was when four of the five (I was the odd one out) started using the name to play cover gigs. I had no interest in that. It ruined the branding we had done. Instead of being a new 'original' band it became a cover band that played some originals; the kiss of death around here. But they continued to sell CD's, even at cover gigs, which was a plus for me. Took about a year for the whole thing to fizzle out after that. They got burned out, had diluted the name, and wondered why interest had died off. Marketing lesson in there; at first they got some nice paying cover gigs because of the name and could show numbers from the shows we had done, but that faded as well as the name became devalued over time.
So depending on your expectations, give it all you got and have fun with it.

Make your sound your own!
.. I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome