So it's a risk huh. I'm not sure how much money i can raise on my own but if that's the case i guess i'll try. How much would YOU like to have if you ever thought of self-publishing? 500 bucks? 1000?
I should note that I am undecided on which path to definitely take. I will likely send in a summary of my novel to reputable agents and see where that takes me. So really, I want to try the publishers first. I also have Author House waiting in the wings for my finished work. They will be following up with me in January to see how everything is going. Note that they won't hound you, if you don't work with them or avoid them, they move on.
As for the money, it depends. The e-book market in reality only accounts for 22% of the world's sales in books, so you'll want physical copies too. I suppose that (and I could be wrong about this one) one may want a small number of physical copies to start. If that is the case, I would want around $1,000 to $2,000.
Richard Adams did this with Watership Down long ago with a local publisher, little did they know it would explode in popularity right off. This netted him a big publisher, but he ended up losing the rights in how it was marketed and sold, so be careful. Again, an agent is important.