I second james's opinion. As a newcomer (2years) operating capital is king, and very necessary. Nothing sucks more than laying out 30k for labor and equipment and the waiting 30-60 days to get paid, and then waiting another amount of time for retainage.

Welcome to the forum BBWolf! You certainly have a sound plan for developing experience before you "hang out your shingle". The first thing to do is develop capital. Having the right start up funds is crucial to growing a business anywhere. The second that I would concentrate on especially for demo work is insurance and bonding. Research your insurance needs carefully, you want to have enough to bid and perform but you don't want to overpay or have insurance for things you may not need. Thirdly, you need to have a business plan covering how you plan to market and implement your services. Actually, I would do this first, as most banks or capital lenders would like to see this to determine how much money they can lend for startups.
I am sure there are others here who can add to these things.
Best of luck!