What articles do not tell you about starting your own business

There are many articles online as well as books about starting a business. In particular with articles, I have found that they often assume you have plenty of money available to pay salaries, advertising, premises, stock and other related items. None of them really cover what you should do when you are starting right from the bottom with super limited amounts of money to try and make a little bit of extra income to get through the month.

What these articles conveniently do not mention either is how expensive advertising is, especially print media and how difficult to see if the advertising actually might have limited use or just be a waste of that super rare cash. The articles often throw around words like "startups" and small businesses, but they really imply having millions in funds and multiple employees, but no mention of when you have to start from home and are starting up small.

The articles also assume having access to a huge market that just happens to want your services from day one. There is also no mention how long it can take to get a customer, how to have competitive pricing that does not leave you poor, etc.