In the words of Leonard Cohen via Bruce Mau, "the mythical split between creatives and suits ... is a charming artifact of the past." Just as animation production itself requires serious, granular planning, so does the creation of even the smallest animation studio. Begin by imagining your studio and how it will operate, and then draft a business plan. What type of work will you do? Who are your clients? Will your studio be a for-profit venture that produces animated commercials, or will you operate as a nonprofit -- for example, creating animation for museums or education? Answers these questions and many more as you create a detailed plan for your business. If you find that searching the Web for information on business plans leaves you with unanswered questions, take an extension course at a local community college or contact your local chapter of the Small Business Administration, a government agency who can provide you with one-on-one coaching as you envision a plan for your studio. Though a solid business plan certainly may attract investors, your primary reasons for drafting the plan should be get focused, get organized and acquired an enhanced vision of your scrappy little animation studio's future success.
Research software covering all aspects of animation creating, from pre-production to post-production. Software tools for animation pre-production may include a basic mindmapping program, a word processor -- possibly of the distraction-free variety -- and screenwriting software. Commercial options include Final Draft and Masterwriter. Freeware options include the Hollywood class for LaTeX or the much more user-friendly Celtx. For production, you will need a good project management program, or at least a screenwriting program such as Celtx, which includes limited budgeting features for doing breakdowns and estimating costs. Post-production will require decent audio and video editing software. If on a limited budget, research freeware and open-source titles to keep down costs. Consider Linux as a potential alternative to commercial operation systems. Many independent animation studios have developed their own, proprietary Linux distros for the very same reasons.
The hardware you will need depends on the type on animation you would like to create. For example, a small animation studio focused on stop-motion and pixilation will require a huge amount of hardware for building and shooting characters and sets. But for a studio focused on fully-digital 2D or 3D animation, hardware will mostly mean access to a decent computer with a significant amount of processing power and potentially a high-end scanner for digitizing roughs.
The scope of your studio's projects will dictate how many collaborators you will need. For a truly small project, you may be able to complete all of the work yourself. Keep in mind that animation production takes a significant time investment, and that bringing in collaborators may increase your studio's production potential exponentially, as well as ensuring your ability to successfully produce finished animated work on time and under budget.