Starting your own translation business seems to be a dream of many. After all, translation is one of the rare industries that are:
– Pandemic-proof,
– Able to automate to a large extent,
– Based on working from home and
– Offer a relatively steady pace of work and income.
All these make the translation industry very lucrative, although nobody got rich by doing it.
Upsides and Downsides of a Translation Business
To understand whether you are a right fit or opening a translation business and whether the pros and cons of the niche work in your favor or not, read on. We will cover both the upsides and the downsides of the business. We will also try to help you establish your consensus on whether this is the right career path for you or not.
Pros of Starting a Translations Business
Low Cost of Running a Translation Business
There are low costs connected to running a translation business. An Upwork account and a computer with a word processor are enough to do translation. If you want to scale up, you may need project management tools, such as Nifty, CAT tools, and speech recognition software. You may also need specific tools for international business. These expenses should add up to several hundreds of dollars a day.
A Broad Niche
Translation is a very broad niche. It is generally recommended that you specialize in one area, but you can also expand into areas of your interest. Translating in the engineering niche is a hot topic today. It brings in a lot of cash, but doing side projects in the niche that interests you, in particular, is a great way to make more cash and make your business more prone to disruptions within a single industry.
The Ability To Scale Up With Little Effort
The ability to scale up with very little effort is another con of running a translation business. You can analyze business document translation services and see what kind of approach they use in the market. Business translation services are the best example of successful translation businesses because of their international approach to the market.
Cons of Starting a Translation Business
You Need Very High Language Skills
Being able to translate means being very proficient in both your source and target language. If you think that you have a complete mastery of a language just because you are a native speaker of that language, think again. This is the reason why translators specialize in one niche in particular.
It Takes Time To Establish a Translation Business
As with any other business, the translation business takes time to grow. Getting your first high-paying customer may take months, and you should deal with the fact that most work in the first several months will be small projects. Persist and watch as your business slowly grows.
There Is a Lot of Competition
The translation industry is over a century old. That being said, there is a lot of competition in the market. If you want to succeed, you need to address the competition and the market and find a crack in the niche that the competition has not addressed. You should also offer quality service since mediocre translation is more likely to do damage than good.
Final Remarks
The translation industry is a very saturated market. Being able to make a name there and have your loyal customers will speak volumes of the work you’ve put into growing your business. If you would like to see your translation business, follow our advice and ensure that cons do not discourage you from growing.
Barbara Fielder
Barbara Fielder did her fair share of translation. As a bilingual, she is always the translator of choice for family gatherings and family vacations. She is very independent and forward-thinking and loves to plan her vacations to exotic destinations to the last bit.