Assuming you are using DA, I usually put five factories on a planet, a lab, and (if needed) a star port to build ships.
I do a colony rush, but to keep my economy in balance, I focus on economic improvements and build survey ships to look for anomalies with money. I play on a huge galaxy with 2 opponents. Later I build stuff to keep people happy which helps population which helps with the money.
If you are doing a military win, what ultimately makes you win is by having a larger production amount than you opponents. I don't do military til I need it and that is after I have a clear advantage in planets and production.
I play with Drengin set to Godlike, and i prefer them to have a massive production advantage to me! I win because i build ships with the right equipment, not because i build allot of ships.
Finances in this game are so pitiful i build just markets on all my planets (along with a farm, a morale building and a starport). Only if there is a bonus will i build something else on a planet. Then when i am conquoring worlds i will have to demolish most factories and labs i encounter - once again because funds are so pitiful. I will usually have at least two planets dedicated with labs and 1 planet dedicated with factories (my manufacturing capital). Finances are too pitiful to support much more than that, especially once i have lots of starbases around!
Just remember.... markets, markets, markets, markets and more markets. This game should be called market civilisations, not galactic civilisations!
