Thinking About Your Translation Needs?: Tips For Entrepreneurs

If you are thinking about expanding your business abroad, it can be an exciting prospect, with many challenges, one of the most important is being able to market your business in the languages commonly spoken in the countries you are expanding into. You will need to use a professional translation services provider if you are serious about communicating your business presence overseas. Here are some tips to help you prepare the way forward.

Tip#1 Avoid machine translations

 

In this computer and Internet savvy era, it is not unexpected to encounter businesses that are just setting about expanding overseas using a machine translation system to do their translation for them. This is not a good idea and could backfire on you. Machine translation at the present stage of its evolution is not intended to provide accurate translations and is more of a draft or amateur translation type. Clients and customer that are subjected to machine translated material would think that they are not important.

Tip#2 Check on how the translation agency charges for work

 

Many translation service providers charge by the word, but some charge by the hour. This makes it a little more difficult to budget for as it is hard to know in advance how long it is going to take for your material to be translated. Make sure you get a quote and ask whether there are any additional charges. Many translators charge extra for jobs done on weekends or public holidays or urgent work. 

Tip#3 Check to make sure the translation agency is experienced in your type of work

 

While it is obvious you will be looking for a translator or agency that is able to translate into the languages you want, you may not be aware of the fact that many translators specialise in certain types of material. Some may be best at legal or medical translations, marketing translations or website translations, technical documents, literary translations and so on. What are you going to translate? Check out a number of different translators to make sure they are familiar with your job specifications.

Tip#4 Larger agencies are often more versatile

 

While many translators work by themselves, you may find it easier to work with a larger agency. They are more likely to have a translator that matches your specifications and can complete the work when you want it done by, too. 

Tip#5 Don’t just look for the cheapest translator

 

How much a translation project costs is not the best guide to how effective your material is going to be. Translation takes time and good translation is done by good translators. Good translators are more likely to have a better grounding in the target language. If you are looking to translate marketing material, you will need to make sure that this is translated taking into account cultural and legal requirements of your target market.