VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

[bisonvoice]

Hi,folks:
I'm ready to put together a plan for a VO biz. What I would like to find out is how you went about putting them together,ie how many pages they were & basically what to include in it?
Thanks,
Tom

[Philip Banks]

The truth is that I didn't prepare a business plan. First question has to be why do you think you need one, is it to present to a bank for funding/support?

Should you need one you need to examine and explain the following.

The market.
Your market.
Set up costs.
Fees charged and projected first year income.
Anticipated borrowing and on what the money will be spent.
Needs analysis - How much you need to earn in order to fund your lifestyle, run the business and repay borrowing.
The first 2 years will be marketing heavy so you will also need to show how you will market yourself and the costs.

How many pages? As many pages as it takes to cover all of the above.

I've said in other postings that out of 100 people starting out as voice overs 95 will not make anything. Your business plan should show how you intend to get yourself into the 5% of people who make something, a living or do extremely well.

Your approach is a good one as you're thinking like a business person. If as a result of your research and plan you manage to convince yourself that your business is one with potential then you will have no problem convincing anyone else.

Just out of interest, when I started 15 years ago my goal was 3 sessions per week at my minimum session fee 46 weeks per year. My bottom line goal remains the same.

I know of one voice who put a studio in his home, set up on ISDN, managed to get a voice over agent in London, publicised himself of pay and non-pay websites, sent out demo's, made phone calls and networked like a pro'. End of year one voice over income £100. Not good for a man with a wife, child and mortgage. The key was that he knew THE market but he didn't know HIS market.

Here's wishing you good fortune all the way to the 5%

[Deirdre]

"Business Plan", eh?

Here at Camp Cooper the business plan was for my husband to support us while I got my professional act together. Now I'm supporting us for the most part.

Damn. I'd be mighty reluctant to go into debt if I were just getting started.

Banksey has offered a great spectrum of considerations.
_________________
DBCooperVO.com

[audio'connell]

Step 1: Hold your nose

Step 2: Jump

Step 3: Paddle or swim

Step 4: Repeat step 3 or drown

I don't know that anyone plans on becoming a VO. Basically its what you do when Harvard says no, Yale says yes but you never really saw yourself at Yale anyway.
_________________
- Peter
audioconnell Voice Over Talent
Your friendly, neighborhood voice over talent

[steeleman]

First of all plan to stock up on Macaroni and Cheese....
You gotta eat...

Next, realize...it's not going to happen overnight. I've wanted it to
happen for me...It's basically a side job for me STILL after 13 years.
The money is finally coming in but it's taken me about 2 or 3 years of
really marketing and networking. Do some trade deals....if you have
talent and can crank out the work. Find a small ad agy and volunteer
to do work for them IF they'll pay for a DSL internet service.

Figure out how much it's worth and do one, two or three spots for
nothing every month. You'll boost your demo material...get some
work and make a contact.... Let that agy work for you in the area
of references...

I could tell you more...but wife just called me to dinner....
Tonight it's HOT macaroni and cheese!!!

[Deirdre]

We still eat generic Mac n Cheese. I guess we developed a real taste for it over the years!
_________________
DBCooperVO.com

[mcm]

Never developed a taste for that boxed mac & cheese-- I make mine with whole wheat mac and Vermont cheddar.

That is why we can never seem to get ahead....

[Deirdre]

Yeah, Mary. Your snooty Mac n Cheese tastes and that fancy "super" gasoline you put into your car are really keeping you down.
_________________
DBCooperVO.com

[mcm]

(hanging head in shame) A well deserved barb -- except for that gasoline thing -- thinking seriously about getting an old diesel and converting to vegetable oil.

But of course, I'd probably have to use the purest olive oil...

[Bailey]

What business plan...? They didn't tell me anything about a business plan. If you're considering the VO Biz... as you say, that would be a 1st step. 2nd step would be... find someone to tell you that you have a "great" voice. 3rd...Read any of the multitude of books available on the subject of voice overs, and then decide if you really want to get into the Biz. And then you might go down to the local nursery and buy a large "money tree". It will come in handy. And last... but not least... peruse through the pages of this VO-BB. Lots of good info that may answer a few questions,and head you into the right direction.
_________________
"Bailey"
a.k.a. Jim Sutton
Retired... Every day is Saturday, except Sunday.
VO-BB Member #00044
AOVA Graduate 02/2004 ;
"Be a Voice, not an Echo."

[Frank F]

O.K. all joking aside... a Business Plan can be a good thing. It will give you a chance to see and follow guidelines YOU have set-up. It will give you a good indication of wether the market can sustain your lifestyle and the dreams you have. It can give you a basis to prepare your advertising/marketing. It can show you how much expenses you can/will have.

BUT! and I stress this... it will not show if you will actually make the kind of money you dream of. It will NOT show if you have the moxie to see it through the first few years. It will not get you money from the "money tree" or bank. (most banks are reluctant to give money to a low-life VO.) Banks do not like giving money to the self-unemployed.

Remember, you work for yourself, you may as well fund yourself and hope like H-E-double hockey sticks you have the right contacts up-front which will pay you as much as they promise and pay on-time.

Bottom line: keep your day job (or night job) until you have gathered enough clientele to support your dirty habit.

Let's see if they teach that one at Harvard or Yale?

Frank F

[Philip Banks]

Constructive help -

1 - Make 50 demo CDs
2 - Telephone as many people as possible who use voice overs and ask if you can send them the CD. Encourage them to say no "You're allowed to say no if you like" is a good way to approach it.

3 - Send demos.
4- Follow up phone call. Under no circmstances ask for feedback. "Hi it's ....here, just wanted to check that my demo CD arrived safely"
5 - Wait for work offers.
6 - If after around 3 months no one has offered you a paying gig it is unlikely they ever will. Not impossible, just unlikely. If you get 2 job offers then it's worth setting up a voice business.

Item 6 is the painful bit especially if there are no decent job offers but wouldn't you rather know before you re-mortgage your house?

[billelder]

These are really interesting and well thought out replies.

To me, it's also important that when listening to "broad stroke" advice, to know that everyone's situation and level of comfort is different. For instance, I know that any time I buy something fun or nice, an appliance of equal or greater value will break...almost within the week.

So, know your own curses.

[Charlie Channel]

First step to plan for? Get $100 in $20's. Got to a toilette. Flush one down, then another, and another until you're done. If you still feel OK about life and what you're planning to do , you've passed the first barrier to entry in this business.

Sort of on this topic, there's a solo VO named Howard Cogan mention in the following article about Jack Radio. Jack don't use DJ's anymore. That's biz.

C

[lisaloo]

I think Frank has a point. The wisdom about preparing biz plans in general has always held that even if nobody else ever sees it, the exercise of doing it puts your head in the right place and requires you to Think Things Through. Which can't hurt.

Okay, I honestly cannot believe I just used the words "think things through" as it relates to diving into this business, but still and all . . .

You certainly don't need to do a full-scale, formal plan - but a few pages and a couple of financial tables never hurt anyone.

And as anyone who has ever drafted one of these plans for real will tell you, almost everything on the income side will be a wag (wild ass guess). Even when folks propose to open a law firm or sell widgets or hero sandwiches, there is the "if all goes well" factor in terms of generating income. You can really only speculate in that department. That goes triple in VO, even if you have great pipes, great training and great connections. Ya just never know.

However, you can assess what it will cost you to try and break in, what you'll spend to try and stay in and so on. And given where you live, you might be able to make a somewhat educated stab at how much potential there is for making it pay.

All in all, it's not a bad idea to try and draft a plan. And there are several free templates available online, I think. Use what applies to you and ignore the rest.

Hope this helps,

Lisa