There are many things to consider when planning a recording project, not the least the plan itself.

Firstly, make a list of questions along the lines of: What is the job of the recording? promotion for live work, sales? Once you make a decision, then this informs the rest of your plan.

If promotion, then look at programming of tunes and format - CD is good but MP3 is also useful for electronic press kits (EPK) - bear in mind that a lot of live booking agents will still like a CD to listen to - check out my 11 things post

If for sales, then look at your potential market. How do they buy? CD's at gigs or online, downloads only or a combination? Format, including packaging is important; don't make your product visually conspicuously different. It's the little differences that add value and notoriety. Eg. if your CD public is confronted with vinyl as the only choice then you will obviously lose sales. Vinyl plus CD or CD plus MP3 disc could offer choice and value however.

Rehearsal and Recording - it will come as no surprise that a rehearsal room costs much less to hire than a recording studio. The problem is that we still think we are able to spend 6 months crafting an album at Abbey Road or in a chateau somewhere. On my album Fancy Goods we rehearsed/recorded in a 3:1 ratio. This kept the costs down and the musicianship up. The editing and post-production were easier as well with only one patch required.

Recording 102 - more things to consider