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The best place to develop a good reputation and the necessary relationships is in an existing commercial studio that already has a pretty good track record. Engineers and producers get paid for having plans b, c, d and e instantly available for when plan a fails. Interning or at the very least recording with seriously experienced people at the helm is the only way I know of to really learn how to record music in depth. In any case, I would take one of Michael Wagener's workshops before spending a dime on anything else. Without offering real depth, you are only renting gear to people. Quiet as it's kept, almost all of us are standing on the shoulders of our mentors.
You'll also need to look really hard at the local competition. It's an unfortunate fact of life that studio rates even for people having a pretty good reputation are frequently lower than just the cost of maintaining empty office space. In wealthy neighborhoods there are also numerous people offering free time in lavishly equipped studios to anybody who is good enough musically to enhance their reputation. There'll always be somebody offering more gear for less money or free.
Skill along with who knows what you know are the only things that make one competitive.
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