Your bookkeeper disappears with $100,000, your books, two trade secrets from the company safe, and your spouse.
What will you do?
Plan B
Ok, so this might be a little extreme, but it was an actual example of an unexpected occurrence given in the textbook I’m reading for my Small Business and Entrepreneurship course.
We all have a plan of how our voice over business will go. We’ll cut a demo, audition, network, do a little promotion and before long, we’ll be voicing a dozen national commercials each day before we even have time for breakfast.
Our computers will never crash. Our microphones will always sound amazing. Our studio equipment will never die.
Live as a voice over artist will be sunshine, rainbows, puppies and unicorns.
Then Reality Sets In
It sounds great doesn’t it? But I think we can all attest to the fact that it’s not so much how reality shapes up… no matter how positively we think and work for it.
The fact of the matter is, sometimes the crap is going to hit the proverbial fan. The question becomes, what are you going to do about it? Are you prepared? How will you handle it? Have you got backups? Contingencies?
What will do you do if…
- Your microphone stops working?
- Your computer locks down with a virus?
- Your external hard drive with all your audio dies?
- Your pre-amp no longer amps?
- Your email stops working?
- Your web site crashes?
- Your power goes out?
The fact of the matter is, sometimes the crap is going to hit the proverbial fan. The question becomes, what are you going to do about it?
Having a Backup Plan
Nobody wants to sit around planning for, thinking about or expecting the worst. It’s kind of a depressing way to live, to be honest. However, when the worst does happen, will you be ready for it?
- Do you have a backup microphone?
- Do you keep a redundant backup of all your audio?
- Do you have a secondary email address if your main one quits working?
- Do you keep a backup copy of your website?
- Do you have an emergency cash fund for equipment replacement?
There’s absolutely no way you can plan for every worst case scenario, but there are certainly things you can do to prepare for hiccups along the way.
Don’t let yourself become a victim of circumstance.
