Having just completed a new room and having moderate success ( we define that as breaking even even if by very little) over the last 6 months, I'll chime in a little bit.
Unless you have someone bringing the gigs, planting the seeds for the next gig and taking care of day to day biz,phone calls. Hanging out where the potential work is... You may find yourself with your ass in the chair so much as to not be able to do the things that are really important to the health and growth of the studio, and your own.
now, if your are indeed a producer, capable of bringing work to an already exsisting studio I would say that you should leave well enough alone...At the MOST , build an overdub room, a personal space that you can do the stuff that isn't critical to have the vibe and size/gear of an established place to work with. Maybe a mix rig ala/Stealth or e-que.
I think as a biz venture, one that can support a family....a studio, be it one man or larger is a very poor choice on many fronts. You've got to get brutally honest with the earning potential of a studio in YOUR market.
look around you at the competitinon (whether or not you view them as that, until clients just "gotta have you" you are in competition with them based on rates to some degree)
For instance, I'm in the greater San diego area. If you open the local rag (the reader) and look at studio's listed for hire, your'll see MANY rooms listed (10) with full on HD and 2 inch, tracking rooms, etc. The "going rate" is 3-500 bucks a day Including the guy in the chair trying to eek out a living.
Sobering huh? Point is, do the math. figure out what you ate "worth" then figure out what you can actually demand in your area, estimate down on the # of days you can book per month, and start crunching numbers. allow for 3 "dead months" , ghost town months. Allow for gear upkeep, insurance... etc. etc.
I admire anyone that has taken the leap to do this commercially and as a main income. It takes dedication and a love for the craft for sure...whether or not your at Slippys size joint or mine.
all this doom aside...we have a place that is staffed by working muso's, we all write, record, gig,(and currently I am teching on the road) and circulate with folks that need our services. It is a group effort. We're establishing a "niche" thru creative spec deals and having a "residential studio" near the beach. it all helps. Gear (sorry gearslutz) is secondary to good biz chops, good experiences for the clientele. (providing your best work at all times is a given)
We operated at a loss for the first year BTW.
We have an owner who committed to flating us through the first 3 years. this is a rarity, and we are blessed in that regard.
There's lot's of other stuff you can do to generate biz....more on that later.
good luck, and think HARD before you make this move. and , if you have a significant other to put in the picture...make sure they are on board. You won't be home much.
craig
(re read your post to add) :
a good month has been 30 days booked.
a bad month was 4 days
day rate with engineer+ 750.00
we have sliding rates for packages/all in albums
average booking since we opened 15 days a month....that is losing money.
