Six Steps to Take When Creating a Startup Translation Firm

Six Steps to Take When Creating a Startup Translation Firm

Being a great translator is no guarantee of being a great business person. Even if you possess in-depth knowledge of languages, that sort of excellence does not necessarily translate well into starting your own translation firm.

Let’s take a look at some of the issues to consider when establishing your own startup translation firm.

1. Decide your language pairs; e.g., English-Spanish, Italian-English, etcetera.

2. Know your Limitations

3. Financial Planning

4. When starting, at the very first stages, try to offer your services through online marketplaces for freelance services. Signing up is free.

5. Place ads on Facebook, Google Ads, maybe Twitter…

6. If possible, offer rock-bottom prices

1. Decide your language pairs; e.g., English-Spanish, Italian-English, etcetera.

In most cases, you will want to focus your translation firm on just one or two language pairs. Trying to be an expert in many languages doesn’t usually work in the translation world.

2. Know your Limitations

You may have the experience to be a great translator, but do you really have the knowledge or expertise to be a great business person?

3. Financial Planning

As with most things in life, money is going to be a major factor in how you setup your translation firm. When creating a financial plan it is important that you be thorough while not overwhelming yourself. Focus on the major expenses, but don’t get bogged down in the details. The first thing you will need to do is calculate your monthly and annual expenses. Your biggest expenses will likely be for rent, utilities, insurance, membership and licensing fees, marketing, wages, and office supplies. Furthermore, there may be upfront expenses when you are just starting out, such as for office furniture, computers, appliances, and maybe copy machines. By adding up all of these expenses you will have a better idea of what you will need to make in order to run a profit. Your expenses will allow you to determine a per-word or an hourly rate and, using that hourly rate, to determine how many billable hours you need to work in a month. Of course, if you are just starting out and do not have a large client base then you need to factor this into your budget. Also, do not aim to simply break even with your expenses. If it looks like you will only just be making enough money to cover your expenses then you need to consider either increasing your hourly rate or cutting your expenses, such as by working from home, opting for a cheaper office, and so on.

Some translators charge from USD 0.01 to 0.12 per word.

Those translators who offer their translation services for U.S. $0.01 per word usually charge an hourly rate of U.S. $2.50, taking into account they will be translating some 250 words per hour.

If some platform or online marketplace for freelance services doesn’t let them charge fractions, they will be asking for three dollars an hour.

Those translators who offer their translation services for U.S. $0.12 per word, usually charge an equivalent of U.S. $30.00 per hour, taking into account they will be translating some 250 words per hour.

Along with your budget, you will also need a business plan that covers different aspects of what you want your business to accomplish. A business plan is typically composed of a number of different documents. These documents may include, but are not limited to, an executive summary, an operating plan, a marketing strategy and analysis, financial projections, and a description of your firm and the services it offers. Again, keep your business plan as simple as possible (especially as regards the executive summary and services) in order to keep you focused on what your firm will be providing. Making a business plan that is too complicated will only cause you to get overwhelmed and lose sight of what it is you are trying to accomplish with your firm.

4. When starting, at the very first stages, try to offer your services through online marketplaces for freelance services. Signing up is free. There are a number of such concerns / websites; for example: Freelancer, Fiverr, People Per Hour, Upwork, Workana, etcetera. 

5. Consider placing cheap ads on Facebook, Google Ads, maybe Twitter…

Or… better yet, you can place ads FOR FREE in: thefreeadforum [dot] com AND/OR freeglobalclassifiedads [dot] com AND/OR craigslist [dot] org

6. If/when possible, offer rock-bottom prices, so you may run ahead of competition in terms of accepting gigs, but perhaps you might not want to sell your time/work at such low prices.

Well… IT IS UP TO YOU to set your rates.