The thought of opening my own studio has occurred to me from time to time. Costs in doing so in a decent area can be prohibitive though. Unfortunately, many people won't work with someone who is a 'home-studio' or 'no-studio' shooter as they see it as a mark of amateur status.

So, which to do and what are the pros and cons?

Doing it from home is tough. Can you share with another person starting out?

*edited*

Tough call. It would all depend on whether or not it would bring in enough business to make it worthwhile. I've got a cousin who's a pro photographer. When she quit working at home and opened a studio, she got a little more business, but not enough to pay the added expenses, like power, heating, etc.

It lasted about 8 months before she shut it down and moved the operation back to her home.

I would say it depends entirely on the type of photography you want to do and the cost of having the studio. You might be better off doing what the others have said, sharing space with someone else, also if you can find a place that you could regularly rent from if need be, that may also be the way to go...