I'd like to think formalizing and legalizing the process has helped.
My guess is that it also helped you gain a more concrete understanding of your rights and responsibilities and what's potentially at stake, making you far less likely to proceed with the business if you're not willing to accept those responsibilities.
It pisses me off no end when people claim that they "can't afford a lawyer" when they start a business. It tells me that they don't care about understanding and meeting their legal obligations or protecting their own or their customers' interests - why the hell would I want to do business with someone like that?
It definitely takes money to make money.
If you're going to start up a business you need a good chunk of savings or an investor lined up that is willing to pay out some significant $$ so that you can get things rolling with an accountant and a lawyer.