The Top 5 Ways New Voice Actors Waste Money
- Tom Dheere
- May 20
- 3 min read
As the VO Strategist, I frequently see beginners waste money when starting a voice over business. This is a failure that takes place at the intersection of Cash Flow management and Tools acquisition. Understanding this is the difference between playing the Audition Game and winning the Search Game.
I can't even tell you how many times I've seen enthusiastic beginners blow $5,000 on their voice over business in the first few months of their voice over journey, book nothing, then drop out. They drop out because they have no plan, do minimal research, then impulse buy because some knucklehead on Tiktok tells them to.
Starting out gives you serious anxiety. That happened to me, too! Sadly, tat anxiety makes you do foolish things. You throw cash at problems instead of building a real strategy to become effective and relevant in the voice over industry.
Here is the breakdown of the top five ways beginners waste money when starting a voice over business.
How Beginners Waste Money When Starting a Voice Over Business
1. Buying Premium Home Recording Gear Too Early
People decide to try voice acting and immediately buy expensive gear. They do this before talking to anyone in the industry or getting any real training. They have no idea what genres they could potentially book. Worse, they haven't acoustically treated a space in their home.
So they buy a mic that isn't right for their voice, their home, or their target market. Now they have a fancy microphone that just highlights the room echo.
2. Incorporating or Forming an LLC Prematurely
Some yutz online tells you that you need an LLC on day one. So you spend hundreds on filing fees and paperwork before making a dime. Incorporating or forming an LLC may one day become and important part of your business, but many people do it WAY too soon.
Don’t incorporate because somebody who knows nothing about your industry tells you to.
Don’t incorporate because it makes you feel professional or important.
Don't incorporate until you're making at least 75k to 80k in consistent voice over revenue.
Incorporate only if it’s right for where you are in your voice over journey.
Until then, be a Self-Proprietor like me!
3. Joining Pay-to-Play Sites Before You Are Ready
New voice actors rush to buy premium memberships on platforms like Voice123 or Voices dot com. But they aren't ready to play that game yet.
"Ready" means you have solid training, high-quality samples, and an optimized profile.
You need to understand how the platform's algorithm works. If you don't, you are just throwing away money.
4. Producing a Professional Demo Too Soon
This is an all-too-common trap that new voice actors fall into.
You pay a producer thousands for a commercial demo before you can repeat that performance on demand.
When a voice seeker hears that demo and hires you, they expect that exact quality.
If you can't deliver that level of performance in your own studio and without live direction, you ruin your reputation instantly.
Your demo must be a reflection of what you can actually do every single day.
5. Spending Big on Complex Web Design and Logos
You do not need a custom designed $3,000 website when you are in the Crawl phase.
Your focus in the first two years is simply product development and finding market fit.
A simple, clean site at your name dot com that plays your downloadable demos is enough for now.
Save the marketing budgets for when you are ready to scale.
The Implementation Gap
Information is cheap, but executing a real business strategy is hard. It's easy to buy a microphone, but building a sustainable career requires a personalized roadmap. If you are tired of guessing where your money should go, let's look at your actual numbers. Book a free 15-Minute Consult today so I can answer your burning voice over questions!
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From my village to yours, this is Tom Dheere, the VO Strategist.
As the VO Strategist, Tom Dheere has provided voice over business & marketing coaching since 2011.
He's also a voice actor with over 30 years of experience who has narrated just about every type of voice over you can think of. When not voicing or talking about voicing, Tom produces the sci-fi comic book Agent 1.22.
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