Tomedes Translation Services,
Sheffield, England
http://www.tomedes.com
Part 4: Growing your translation business
Success is a wonderful thing and quite often you’ll find that your successes breed more success. Of course, when you register with www.Tomedes.com , you can use their tools to streamline your business processes, giving you more time to handle the translation end, which will make it even easier for you to grow.
Once you get up and running, you may see your business growing whether you want it to or not. Start planning for growth early so you can stay on top of things as your workload increases.
Go through some what-if scenarios (What if I’m sick? What if my computer crashes? What if I take a holiday? What if I'm overloaded with jobs?), and start to plan so you’re ready to handle most anything that arises.
Eventually, you may start looking to add revenue streams to your little enterprise. If so, read on.
Chapter 4.1: Should I outsource my work?
You may have heard the word “outsource” before. It refers to a process through which you contract with another translation service provider for assistance with the jobs your clients have asked you to complete.
One day soon, you may find yourself completely overwhelmed with work, or a client may ask you to work in a language you don’t use. You hate to turn away jobs, yet you know you can’t handle these new requests.
You should not feel uncomfortable to outsource jobs. You might be surprised to find out that more than half of the freelance translators turn to outsourcing as a way to handle the work. Your client wants the job to be completed as early as possible and as long as you follow his guidelines and provide a high quality service, he may not care who actually translated each word in his document. Yes, an outside contractor will do the job for you, but you may face issues with quality control, especially if the job is in a language you are not familiar with.
Actually, many translators registered to Tomedes have also registered as buyers to outsource jobs through www.Tomedes.com . The quality assurance mechanism and the vast number of language pairs make www.Tomedes.com the first choice for outsourcing translation jobs by most translators.
If you do decide to outsource a project, establish guidelines up front:
- What amount will you pay for the work?
- When is it due?
- Who will be responsible to proof the work?
- Who will make revisions, if needed?
- Who will have rights to the translated document?
When you outsource a project to another person, you remain responsible for the project’s completion, so make sure you’re comfortable in that role.
If you’re squeamish about outsourced jobs, you can always tell your client, “No.” Almost every translator does it on occasion, and many of them say it hasn’t damaged their relationship with the client.
Chapter 4.2: Should I start a translation agency of my own?
No matter what made you consider starting your own translation agency, many of the reasons you list may lead to a wrong decision.
Most of the translation agencies are earning little if no revenue at all. Translation agencies are just another element in the translation food chain and in today's globalized market; they have trouble finding their place. Online marketplaces like www.Tomedes.com are getting their portion.
There are two possible reasons why you think of starting your own translation agency:
1. You are tired of translating documents on your own all day – if that is the case, you will get tired of managing translators very soon. You can't run a translation agency without having a passion for translation.
2. You receive more translation jobs than you can handle – if that is the case, the magic word is “outsource.” Outsource jobs and maximize your revenues. Use online marketplaces like www.Tomedes.com that will ensure you get a high quality job, as if you did it yourself.
Before you consider bringing more people into your small business, think about what that move means: you will become a personnel manager. If translation is your first love, you may not want to wrestle with bigger business issues.
If you do decide to start your own translation agency, begin with a solid foundation of research to make certain you are familiar with all the implications. You’ll need to know about
- Employment tax laws
- Human resources issues
- Budgeting
- Finance
- Accounting
Put together a detailed, written business plan that lays out all the essential information in an organized manner. Provide a description of your business, a marketing plan, an analysis of the competition, proposals for operations and personnel, financial data – everything an investor or client will want to know about this new enterprise.
You can find many examples of business plans online; follow them and create a strong plan to get started down the path to success.
Chapter 4.3: Should I teach language classes?
Most translators recognize that the ability to work with languages is special – it’s a gift, an art, a craft. It’s not surprising that many of them also teach language skills to others.
Teaching languages can add a new dimension to your business life that involves only independent work today.
Working with language is your life’s work, and there is no reason you cannot teach others to work with a second language. If you think you’d like to teach, go for it. For best results, prepare your course in a professional manner. First, you must choose if you will teach conversational language or help others to become literate in your language, as well as conversational. Either way, you’re going to need instructional materials – a course outline, a workbook, and language tapes.
Start in a friendly setting, perhaps a community recreation center or youth center. If you have completed college coursework in a second language, think about teaching in a community college.
Sign on for a single course; you’ll know soon enough if teaching is for you. If you love the experience, keep going and share your gift.
Before you start, you must make sure you are doing for the right reasons. If you want to add another dimension to your business life, that's makes sense. But, if you are looking for more revenue because you don't generate enough translating, teaching may be a wrong decision. If that is the case, you must focus on one business and make the most out of it.
Try to find out why you do not make enough income from translation. Learn how working for a marketplace like www.Tomedes.com can improve your financial status.
Chapter 4.4: Should I provide other language services?
Do some research, and you’ll discover that translators provide a variety of language services.
- Certified translation
- Notarized translation
- Audio and/or video translation
- Interpretation
- Proofreading and editing
- Research
- Consulting
If any of these tasks sound interesting to you, take some time to learn how you can get started.
You might consider focusing on doing what you love and what you are good at. You are good at translation and you probably love translating, so why should you add more services to your portfolio?
Analyze the reasons for that – Is it because you don't get enough income, is it because you're getting bored? Have you considered working with a translation marketplace like www.Tomedes.com where you will get a vast number of translation jobs on different domains?
Chapter 4.5: Should I learn additional languages?
Researchers believe that language acquisition is a natural phenomenon. That is, our brains pick up language without being asked to. Infants and toddlers provide perhaps the best example of language learning. They make it look easy.
You know from experience that it takes hard work and years of dedication to learn a second and a third language. Most people find it nearly impossible to get past the very early stages. So when you ask if you should learn another language, you must know that you’re really the only person who can answer that question. To do so, break the large question down into a series of simpler questions.
- What language should I learn?
- Why that one? What’s in it for me?
- Is it similar in any respect to a language I already know?
- If not, do I have time in my day to spend learning another language?
To be useful in your translation business, you need to develop a high level of comprehension and literacy in your new language. It will require quite a bit of serious study. We at www.Tomedes.com suggest you make sure you are making the most out of your current knowledge before acquiring more of the same.
Of course, you might want to learn a new language because it’s sweets for your brain. If that’s the case, get going!
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