You’ve decided it’s time to expand your business, and this won’t be just any expansion, it’s time to take it to the next level, it’s time to go global.
With the world shrinking more and more business are expanding past traditional borders into unchartered territory, ready to grow and become worldwide competitors. But how do you expand internationally? There are a lot of factors that go into expansion but one of the first things you should think about is language translation.
You will need professional translation for your legal documents, your marketing, your store front, and more. A poor translation reflects poorly on your business. You don’t want to be the tourist agency that proudly displays the sign, “Take one of our horse-driven city tours. We guarantee no miscarriages.” It may be fun to laugh at others mistakes but it can cost business and even cause legal repercussions when translation is done improperly.
When looking for a translator you can hire a freelancer, a translation service, or use a machine translation. The last option shouldn’t be an option. There are still things computers can’t do as well as a person and translation is one of those things. Take a look at a webpage translated by Google and you’ll see what I mean. Translation services take the leg work out of the process and manage the project for you while freelancers are often less expensive but require more work from you.
Look for a few common qualities in both freelancers and agencies.
- Accreditation: I can’t stress this one enough. Would you hire an auto-mechanic without training? Would you hire a doctorate in English to treat your sick child? Of course not! Make sure that freelancers are accredited both in general translation as well as translating for your specific field of business. Make sure companies are certified with either ISO 9001 or EN 15038 and check to make sure they have high standards when hiring linguists.
- Native in the target language: Good translation isn’t word for word, it relays the same message in a way that makes sense in the target language. By only hiring linguists native in the target language you can ensure your translation will read well.
- Education: Only hire a linguist with a college degree related to translation. Translation is more than just speaking two languages. It involves being able to write and form proper sentences in two languages.
- Speed: Does the freelancer or company guarantee that they will make your deadlines? Will they charge a rush fee for a very fast turnover. These are questions to consider.
- Reputation: Check out online reviews for the translator or agency you are considering. Does the company pay their translators on time? Does the translator have a high likelihood of being hired again according to proz.com?
Permanent link to this post (465 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)