Break Barriers to have a Breakthrough
Some voice over talents grow their smoothly, while others remain stuck and never make a break. Do you wonder why? In every journey there are obstacles. The reason why other voice over talents make it, and why others don’t is because they differ in overcoming the barriers that their businesses face. We, The Voice Realm, were once a startup company. We have faced several challenges like these and we did our best to overcome them, and we are still thriving, and doing our very best to keep afloat!
Since a new year is coming, it will not hurt so much to check where you are lacking, and do something about it. You never know, 2020 might just be your year! In order for that to happen, you have to know what barriers are hindering you from growing your voice over business, and prepare you for the upcoming year.
What are some barriers that you need to watch out for to improve your business?
Poor financial management
Do you know the cost to run your business? What your true gross profit and your real income is?
Poor financial management is the number one reason why a lot of voice over artists have to give up on the business. Even as a freelance voice over talent, there are still costs involved to run your business, and knowing what is your break-even point will help keep you moving forward.
Inconsistent Marketing
Do you work on your marketing every time and all the time? Are you in the trend?
Marketing your business regularly and consistently will help you nurture relationships and remind people who you are and what you do.The feast or famine marketing mindset is common to many businesses. When work is light, the focus is on generating new work, and if this pays off your schedule becomes full. But once you have your schedule full at a certain point, all the activities you have done to generate the projects stops until you have nothing on the schedule again. With no big machinery to back up your freelance business, marketing will be your lifeline. Promoting your business on social media platforms is now an easy way to market your business but you have to be mindful of how you will use it, for it has pros and cons.
Lack of Vision
Where do you want your career/business to be in the next 12 months, 5 years, and beyond? Where do you see yourself in the future?
Knowing where you want your voice over business will be in the future will be really helpful. It will keep you on a clear and straight path. Having a clear vision will help you lay out what activities and priorities you need to work on to achieve your GOALS. Without a clear vision or a game plan you will just keep on going backwards and forwards from one vision to another.
Lack of business skills
Wouldn’t it be great if you have business skills as good as your voice over talent?
Being a talented voice actor is not enough if you are a ‘solopreneur’. Many voice over artists may have great skills in voice over but are not prepared to handle essential business skills like business management, marketing, pricing, technologies, customer experience, and the list goes on. Many either learn these skills as they go along with their career, but unfortunately learning these skills after you have launched your own voice over business may cause a major set back from your goal. So before moving forward, put down your mic and start learning more about how to run a business, or if you are planning on expanding, you should look for business partners that are knowledgeable in business to help you out so you can focus on your expertise instead.
Stuck behind the mic
How many hours do you spend behind the mic? How many hours do you invest to work on the other key components of your business?
If you are consistently behind the mic without taking time to work on the other components of your business such as finances, your marketing, and your future direction, then you cannot expect your business to go further than where it is today. It is important that you set time for everything and not simply focus on creating a product. Be sure to make time to understand how you would be able to make a profit out of your output.
To prepare your business for the future you must change the way you view your business and how you are currently operating. Follow the latest trends, always be on your feet, and keep on learning! Having a growth mindset is essential to achieving your desired career and business growth. This will open your mind to learn new skills and to look at different ways to run your voice over business. If you continue to do what you have always done it is quite certain that you will continue to get the same outcome that you have always got.
Have you experienced these barriers in your growing business? How did you overcome them? Share it with us!
