I want to start-up my own translation business

cjscott10

Hi,

I want to start up my own translation business, but I'm finding it hard to find work as I have no funds for advertising. I am looking for ways to raise money for:

- membership of job-posting sites such as proz.com and translatorswork.com

- translation software (e.g. Trados)

- a professional website

- business cards

- training seminars (online lessons on how to use translation software)

I'm finding things difficult as I am a recent graduate and I have quite a big overdraft. I have a degree in translation and interpreting (French and German) and professional experience from a 3 month internship.

I'd appreciate and help and advice you can give!

pjcox2005

My initial thoughts are:

You could try to get work with an established transalation company, benefits being you could repay overdraft and save money to fall back on when you strike out alone. You'll also gain experience and potentially be referred work from the established company when they don't have the capacity.

You could go ahead with trying to set up the business now, to do so it sounds like you need either:

-borrowing of a small amount of funds from either family, friend or a bank loan. Have you done a business plan so you know all costs that you are going to incur and therefore need funding for.

-alternatively, especially as it's coming up to xmas, then try to find season work which you can fit around the set up of the business. Be hardwork for a three month period but may give you an income to start it with.

Finally, I wonder whether contacting someone like business link may be of help so you know more about what may crop up, even if it's just some guidance on the tax filing requirements etc.

DKLS

I have used a number of translators in the past, from very expensive companies to hiring foreign students at the local university.
From experience I know use known tranlators who also have copywriting skills, as a direct translation can lose meaning.

The initial advice of finding a role in trans is a good one and allows you to build experience.

Initially set up an account on LinkedIn, thats free
You can build your own professional looking website for pennies these days, try Wix.com, its easy to use, and costs are minimal.
Buiness link can be useful, check for any local businesses with links to france or german etc, and network your butt off.

Oldernotwiser

If you don't have any success with raising finance elsewhere try the Prince's Trust.

Owain_Moneysaver

If you are currently receiving JSA and go self-employed the jobcentre will give you I think £50 a week for so many weeks.

Fly_Baby

Just wanted to say good luck but do bear in mind that this business is extremely competitive - and your language combinations are quite common and therefore do not command high rates, especially at the beginning.

Join the Chartered Institute of Linguists or Institute of Translation and Interpreting - their networking events are brilliant for keeping in touch with fellow translators and get referrals for jobs.

Feel free to PM me if you like - I work in the industry.

Hammyman

cjscott10 wrote: »

I am looking for ways to raise money for:

- translation software (e.g. Trados)

Give up now. If you're going to be needing to use translating software, you're not suitable to do it. Software quite often makes some massive embarrassing mistakes and it'd make you look incredibly amateurish and likely to cost your clients money.

Fly_Baby

Hammyman wrote: »

Give up now. If you're going to be needing to use translating software, you're not suitable to do it. Software quite often makes some massive embarrassing mistakes and it'd make you look incredibly amateurish and likely to cost your clients money.

No offence but do you know what translation software is?

It is not Google Translate - it is usually translation memory, which "remembers" translation you've done previously and as such is an invaluable tool! It saves a mass of time when you work on an ongoing project with lots of repetitions - and every time you come across a tricky word you can search for it in your Trados memory to see if you've found the perfect translation for it before and save yourself time researching it again.

It pays for itself many times over.

inmypocketnottheirs

Another good site for freelance work is https://www.peopleperhour.com.

Hammyman

Fly_Baby wrote: »

No offence but do you know what translation software is?

It is not Google Translate - it is usually translation memory, which "remembers" translation you've done previously and as such is an invaluable tool! It saves a mass of time when you work on an ongoing project with lots of repetitions - and every time you come across a tricky word you can search for it in your Trados memory to see if you've found the perfect translation for it before and save yourself time researching it again.

It pays for itself many times over.

My brothers Danish ex-missus didn't need to when she was over here. The only reason to use it is because you don't know the language. How do you know that what you got the first time is correct?

dizzybuff

Fly_Baby wrote: »

No offence but do you know what translation software is?

It is not Google Translate - it is usually translation memory, which "remembers" translation you've done previously and as such is an invaluable tool! It saves a mass of time when you work on an ongoing project with lots of repetitions - and every time you come across a tricky word you can search for it in your Trados memory to see if you've found the perfect translation for it before and save yourself time researching it again.

It pays for itself many times over.

As said By fly baby , an MITI is definatly a must . it is a very competatvie business with many people already established. have you just finished an undergrad. looking at a masters in translation would also put you at an advantage.

You will need to establish a specialism - ie , education , medical , law , mechanical , engineering etc.

Register with big companies such as The big word , Applied language solutions , Star etc. trados is one of the software options out there , they are all expensive but worth the investment , Star i belive also have one and there are a few others , its no Babelfish belive me , its complicated and takes a while to understand .

My husband works full time and part time as a translator , hes technical speciality but hes also a delivery manager in the industry. Its hard and belive me unless you establish yourself get the correct qualifications to put you in the lead , ie MITI and Masters , you will either be left behind or offered miniscule rates .