launch translation business

Starting a translation business provides a meaningful service to businesses and people who need it. Rather than struggling to understand an important document, it’s possible to offer a solution by turning that into a simple document that can be readily understood. Here are 4 great reasons to launch a translation services business.

1.      Inexpensive to get started

Starting a business is usually very expensive with a need for a large office or shopfront, several staff, lots of equipment, and more. However, with a translation business, you can set up without needing too much upfront capital.

You have a choice whether to operate from a home office or to get a shopfront and attract customers that way. With an online business, the costs are even lower to get started, but you’re restricted to only offering services through a website or other platform.

With a storefront, it’s possible to attract people who wish to speak to the translator in person first. There are some extra costs such as a lease, rent, business gas expenses (seeking the most affordable deal is sound advice here), and more staff needed too.

2.      Not restricted to a single industry

Unlike some other business types, translation services are sought after by many different industries. The type of industries/organisations that regularly require translation tasks to be completed include medical, interpretation, central government, local government, legal, technical writing & editing, and general commercial-related fields.

These are in addition to individuals requiring translation services for personal items like before signing a foreign job contract, making plans before relocating, a foreigner translating local documentation, and more.

3.      Globalization and growing demand

The effect of globalisation is being widely felt. As companies look offshore for expansion possibilities, it brings them into more situations where they’re dealing with foreign language and cultural differences.

Due to globalisation, there’s an obvious growing demand as companies spread wide across the planet in pursuit of a larger market share for their products and services. It also raises the bar on the quality required for translation too. People are familiar with Google Translate, but they’re also aware of its shortfalls, leaving space for misunderstandings which can be very costly to a business relationship. Something being ‘lost in translation’ is not acceptable in the business world where millions or billions are usually at stake.

4.      Opportunity to create a translation agency

When looking for growth, rather than opening more than one shopfront or regional office, creating an agency that manages other freelance translators is a way to do it.

By using freelancers and not full-time employees, it holds the business’s regular expenses down to an acceptable level which can scale up (or down) depending on the sales that month. This creates a dynamic business that can adjust with demand and seek to expand where there’s sufficient demand for it.

With translation services, it can be kept at a comfortable level for one person to operate or with an aim to run a 100-person agency. There’s great flexibility and the service genuinely helps people and companies achieve their goals, so it’s a rewarding field too.