If you’re reading this article, it might be because you’re just like me: your 2023 New Year’s resolution is to grow your voice-over business! I’m wishing us all much success this year, whether you’re just starting out in the industry or you’ve been here for ages. But in order for my well-wishing to be truly effective, it’s time we put our nose to the grindstone and hammer out our 2023 business plan.
I know what you’re thinking – Hannah, we’re actors! We’re creatives! I can’t just create a whole business plan from scratch, I should be behind the mic making scripts come to life! I know how it is; but at the end of the day, for us to be truly successful in voice-over, we need to treat ourselves like the business that we are – and the best way to get serious about achieving your goals this year is to start with a business plan.
Simply put, a business plan is a written statement of a business’s goals, and strategies to achieve them. There are lots of different ways to do this, and there are tons of templates online you can use to stay organized. In general, your typical business plan consists of seven steps. Let’s go through these together using parts of my 2023 business plan as an example!
Step 1: Write an Executive Summary
This is our introduction to our voice-over business – you can think of it as an elevator pitch. We’re trying to summarize what we do and sell, and we might add an overview of our strategy for the year here too. Mine might look like this:
My voice-over business is called Hannah Trusty VO. I am the sole employee, I’m going to be based out of my home studio in Boston this year, and will be working full-time. I’ve been professionally trained in commercial, narration, and character acting. This year I am going to devote more time to auditions in animation and video games, work on expanding my vocal range to offer new voices to clients, and aim to add five new clients this year.
Start with the basics, and then you can bring it home with answering this question: Why does my business matter?
Step 2: Write a Business Description
This is where you can start to really dive into your marketing goals. Who are we selling ourselves to? What parts of this industry do you want to focus on? What makes you different from the next guy?
If you need help with this part, think about what your coaches or clients may have said about your voice. Positive feedback you’ve received might help you think about how to position yourself in voice-over. Also, consider what you actually want to do with your voice. As I stated in step one, I want to do more animation this year. My target market is going to be places where I can audition for character roles, new casting directors I’m trying to connect with, or maybe even an agency I want to apply for.
Step 3: Market Analysis
This may be a little less straightforward for us actors, but spend some time researching other actors you admire. What roles are they getting? What do their demos sound like? What do their websites look like? You can use your peers as both inspiration and as competitive analysis. Are you up to par with their branding? What is going to make you stand out here?
Step 4: Operational Structure
How are we going to operate on a daily basis as a voice-over business? This part of your plan should be straightforward, actionable, and realistic goals for your daily performance. I work as a voice actress full time, so my operational commitment will look like this:
I will commit to working 4-8 hours daily, five days per week. I will prioritize ongoing projects every morning, allocate one to two hours per day to auditioning, and spend my final hour of my workday reviewing my branding across different platforms as well as marketing myself to potential clients. I will spend 30 minutes per week making social media posts. I will allow myself time to relax and rest on weekends 🙂
Step 5: Product Design
What is it that we’re actually selling here? Our voices! Our personality! Our work ethic! Write down what types of voice-over work you are strongest in. Think about your demos as an example of this – I’d recommend listening back to them and jotting down adjectives to describe your voice and talent along the way. Again, think about what makes you a strong actor and different from the next guy. My top “product” would be:
Smooth, warm, & enthusiastic audiobook narration; cheerful young female characters; raspy teen boy characters; serious, stoic heroines; loud, angry teenager voices; and high-speed, friendly commercial reads!
This will help us know where to focus our auditioning and marketing efforts as well.
Step 6: Raise Capital
While this is more straightforward for a business selling tangible products or running a brick-and-mortar, we still need to consider what sort of investments we’re going to be making in order to make our business successful. Are you going to take on specialized coaching this year? Revamp your home studio? Join a new pay-to-play auditioning website? Think about all the things that will come out of pocket this year and write down what they are and how much they cost.
This will be an important page to return to throughout the year. Keep this info accurate so you have an easier tax season in 2024!
Step 7: Future Performance
With all of this in mind, how much do we expect to profit this year? What is our monetary goal for 2023? If you’ve already been working as a voice actor in years past, you’ll have a good understanding of what’s to come. If you haven’t, focus on setting realistic goals for yourself and detailing how you plan to achieve them (X amount of auditions weekly, setting aside time to email potential clients, etc.).
While all of this may seem tedious, I promise it’s worth your time. Reflect on your voice-over career, set goals that are within your reach for the year, and get specific about how you’re going to achieve them! Coming into the new year with a plan is going to put you leagues ahead of the next guy.
Once you’re finished, celebrate with cheers to your future successes!
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