Happy New Year! Ready to put 2016 in the rear-view mirror?
This is the first of five blog entries that will focus on getting your **** together for 2017. First up: Cash Flow!
Cash Flow is just like it sounds; the flow of your cash. Not just coming in, but also going out. I was just about to make some pseudo-clever wisecrack about parting with your hard-earned money, but I won’t. I love investing in my voiceover business and you should, too. If you’re “doing it right”, that is. And that’s a big part of the problem, isn’t it? What does “doing it right” even mean? If you’re losing money at first, are you doing something wrong? Not necessarily.
Most businesses takes five years to turn a profit so don’t freak out if you take a loss for a while. However, if you can’t afford to invest in your voiceover business without needing to turn an immediate profit, then you may not be ready. You are a business and businesses needs capital to function.
TIP OF THE WEEK
Have a plan, write it down, and stick to it. Set your Cash Flow goals for 2017. Remember, vague goals will get you vague results and specific goals will get you specific results. Figure out how much you want to make and spend in 2017. Be realistic! For example, you could look at how much you made last year and add 10%. Look at how much you spent last year and subtract 10%. I’m not saying that’s how you should do it, but you need to know where you are in developing your voiceover business and plan accordingly.
Have an effective system in place to track your Cash Flow. I use a spreadsheet that tracks every penny that goes into or comes out of my business. It tracks everything from mileage to meals to PayPal fees. If you want the template, just comment on this blog and I’ll be happy to send it to you.
Make good financial decisions in the moment. This is the tough part. All your life you’ve thought like an employee. Now you have to think like a business. It’s a completely different world. When it comes to money, anyone with a 9-5 job who tries to give you financial advice doesn’t know what the hell they’re talking about. Don’t listen to them. They think like employees, get taxed like employees, and invest like employees. The rules are different and the laws are different. You are not an employee. You are a business!
If your head is spinning and you don’t know where to start, chill out! I can help. 🙂 Let me know if you want to set up a VO Strategist session and we can get you on the right track. You also may want to check out the books below.
Recommended Reading: ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’, ‘Cash Flow Quadrant’, and ‘Before You Quit Your Job’ by Robert Kiyosaki. You can find those books and more on his Amazon Author Page.
NEWS AND NOTES
My next Edge Studio “Business And Money 201” webinar will be Thursday, January 12 @8PM EST. The subject: Cost/Benefit Analysis. We’re going to talk about why you did so well (or not so well) last year. Click here to sign up.
HAPPY HAPPYS
Happy Whipped Cream Day and Cuddle Up Day!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a crib house whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary. James D. Nicoll
From my village to yours; this is Tom Dheere, GKN News…
Tom Dheere is a 20-year veteran of the voice over industry who has narrated thousands of projects for clients in over a dozen countries. He is also a coach at Edge Studio, voiceover business consultant known as the Voice Over Strategist, and is currently writing & producing the comic book “Agent 1.22”.