Articles for Translators
and Translation Companies
How to Run a Translation Company
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No Recurring Membership Fees! Keys to
success during downtime: by Rina Ne'eman, Hebrew Language Services
In spite of the challenging economy, my company,
like many other LSPs, experienced significant
growth in 2009. Based on industry surveys
and the feedback that I receive on an ongoing
basis from other translation company owners,
in my capacity as head of the ATA-TCD, this is by
no means an isolated phenomenon. While still
part and parcel of - and affected by - overall
economic trends, there is little question that
the language services industry is thriving…
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the full article…
An interview
with Larry Gould, founder of thebigword
Larry
Gould is founder of thebigword, an impressive, 30 year old language
company that started out as a very small part of a recruitment group.
In 1998 the recruitment arm, which was producing $40 million in
annual revenue was sold and Larry was left with this small language
business in Leeds, UK…
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the full article…
How to Develop
a Business Plan for a Small Service Company
A business
plan can provide the owner-manager or prospective owner-manager
of a small service firm with a pathway to profit. This publication
is designed to help an owner-manager develop a business plan…
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the full article…
Human Resources
Management
All
small businesses must staff their operations. This involves bringing
new people into the business and making sure they are productive
additions to the enterprise. Effective human resource management
matches and develops the abilities of job candidates and employees
with the needs of the firm…
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the full article…
From Translator
to Chief Language Officer
Late
last year, our president, Shelly Priebe, asked me to consider taking
on a new position, to which we ultimately gave the title Chief Language
Officer. It was flattering, but a little daunting as well, like
anything new. But over time I have realized that Shelly’s challenge
was not about me -it was about our company…
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the full article…
Managing
a Growing Business
Effective
management is the key to the establishment and growth of the business.
The key to successful management is to examine the marketplace environment
and create employment and profit opportunities that provide the
potential growth and financial viability of the business. Despite
the importance of management, this area is often misunderstood and
poorly implemented, primarily because people focus on the output
rather than the process of management…
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the full article…
How a Men's
Dress Shirt Should Fit
Everywhere
you look, there are men with long, dangling sleeves, bulging necks
squeezed by collars that are too tight or with enough fabric billowing
around their waists to sail the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria…
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the full article…
27 Reasons
To Invest In People: The Evidence Keeps Mounting
Enthusiastic
workers often increase the quality of work by huge percentages-up
to a 75 percent reduction in defect rates. (Sirota, Mischkind, and
Meltzer, The Enthusiastic Employee, 2005)…
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the full article…
Forward
thinking LSP slays inefficiency beast with best-of-breed connection
solution
With
all the recent buzz about “closing the gap” between the enterprise
and the translation frm, the dire need for “automated processes”
and the demand from clients for language service providers to keep
costs in check while providing better service and faster turn around
time, every LSP is wondering: “How do I deliver?”…
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the full article…
Why do l10n
projects fail? Common failure scenarios for localization projects
You
know what I mean… Jumping to conclusions, taking things for granted
- we all have been there. Localization projects often run awry because
of imprecise or implicit communications, particularly when it comes
to deliverables (You need those html fles compiled into a .chm?)
and services (Who you expect who to build this software?)…
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the full article…
Fear Factor
in the Workplace: Would You Rather Eat Bugs Than Do Employee Performance
Evaluations?
This
article is intended to provide accurate and authoritative information
regarding the subject matter covered. Neither McElroy Translation
nor the author are engaged in rendering professional human resources
or legal services. If legal or expert human resources assistance
is required, the services of a competent professional should be
sought…
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the full article…
Best Practices
for Screening Candidates
Only
one thing is certain about the procedure of screening and interviewing
candidates: the huge variation in processes. But, through the years
there is one that we have found to be fair, thorough (while being
fairly quick), involves the right people, and (most importantly)
the end decision will be one that both the company and the new hire
are highly likely to be happy with…
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the full article…
The Proper
Care and Feeding of Humans:
Human Resources Basics for Translation Companies
Let’s
begin by examining the first step in the life of an employee - recruitment.
The three recruitment tools that have proven most effective in my
environment (a 45-employee company in a large metropolitan area)
are filling a position from within, via an inhouse posting…
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the full article…
Operational
Philosophies and Strategies That Work
Company
owners and managers rightfully spend most of their time and effort
on satisfying client demands. But developing and implementing philosophies
and strategies in areas such as processes and procedures, human
resources, customer service, and communication are critical to long-term
health, stability, and growth. The following discusses philosophies
and strategies that will ensure quality work, on-time delivery,
happy clients, and motivated employees, which all leads to a positive
impact on your bottom line…
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the full article…
How To Use
Outsourcing To Beat Your Competition
Outsourcing
is when you hire outside professionals or services to take on part
of your business workload.You may want to outsource part of your
work because you don't have the room, you need an expert, you have
periodic busy periods, or you need more production to get orders
out on time etc. You could outsource accounting, secretarial tasks
, factory help, computer training, web design etc…
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the full article…
Why do localization
Projects Fail?
Jumping
to conclusions, taking things for granted, we all have been there!
Localization projects often run awry because of imprecise or implicit
communications. In particular when it comes to deliverables (You
need those html files compiled into a .chm?) and services to perform
(You expect who to build this software?) for a particular project…
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the full article…
Working
your workflow
It is
no secret that optimal processes mean optimal productivity, which
in turn means hugely increased competitiveness. Given that we all
agree on this, it is surprising to see how many language service
providers (LSP’s) out there are not getting the most out of their
processes…
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the full article…
What is
a "Translator Profile"
Whatever
your company’s product or service, preparing to globalize it requires
collaboration with a localization vendor. Your chosen vendor will
begin by focusing on the specific project specifications, but soon
thereafter, the vendor will need to determine which translators
are properly qualified to localize your content…
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the full article…
Spatial
Requirements for an Effective Translation Agency
In principle,
translation, like mathematics, is an abstract art that requires
no more than a pencil and a piece of paper. However, rather more
in the way of equipment and space is required for a modern commercial
translation agency to function properly. In this article we will
direct our focus towards the spatial facilities that will need to
be in place to ensure the proper separation and cooperation between
the various functions that make up your translation business…
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the full article…
Three Myths
About The Translation Business
The
native speaker principle is overrated, and the academic concept
of ‘quality’ means little in a business context. Statements such
as these may sound offensive to translators and clients alike. Yet
those who plan to start up a translation business should be aware
that the received views of the translation establishment may have
little to do with reality…
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the full article…
Tips to
help you start your own all-round translation business
There
is no shortage of translators who take the plunge and set up shop
as self-employed freelancers, but few have the ambition or the spirit
to start up their own all-round translation agency. This is not
surprising, of course, as the establishment of a full- scale translation
agency is a quantum leap compared with what it takes to launch a
viable freelance practice…
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the full article…
Team Collaboration
Have
you ever been to a job interview and been asked to spell the word
“team” on a piece of paper? You are supposed to use cursive so all
the letters are connected. If you don’t, the interviewer will say
you don’t understand the meaning of “team”…
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the full article…
Offshoring
considerations
There
is an ongoing debate about the benefits of offshoring services to
lower-cost countries. Myself, I believe that offshoring of localization
can produce cost benefits, but more importantly, it can provide
scalability of localization services…
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the full article…
Hard work
and dedication pays off in United Arab Emirates
Like
many many other Arab states, UAE is a male dominated society. This
meant,that as a female I recognised that I would have to work harder
than my male counterparts to overcome the prejudices against female
businesswomen…
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the full article…
A Day in the Life of a GPM
The latest addition to the Ccaps team, Cassius Figueiredo shares
his industry experience in this interview-style article…
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
I recently returned from a trip to Barcelona to attend what was
supposed to be The Greatest Localization Show on Earth. I had arrived
in town a few days earlier to visit some clients and attend a meeting,
which after a two-week delayed honeymoon through Portugal and Spain
put me back in the “professional” mood. By the time Localization
World started, I had the stamina, I had my mojo and…
Switching Off Autopilot: The Power
of Choice
Merger mania is back. After a break from the last round of high
profile mergers and acquisitions in 2002, the consolidation seen
in 2005 supports the premise that the localization industry, only
20 years young, continues to mature and become more sophisticated.
Previous acquisitions, such as those from Alpnet or Berlitz, expanded
their acquirer's client base and reduced redundant costs to enhance
the overall bottom line. Similarly, SDL's recent purchase of TRADOS,
the industry-leading TM tool, and Lionbridge's acquisition of Logoport
last year drastically increased their capacity to provide technology
and globalization management solutions (GMS)…
Banding
Together for Better Business
To the
uninitiated, joining an association with dozens, even hundreds,
of your competitors, could seem daft, to say the least. As for openly
sharing information with them, well, you'd have to be nuts, wouldn't
you?…
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the full article…
Why Doesn’t
the Buyer Respond to Your Email or Phone Call?
What
is wrong when a client (translation/localization buyer) tells me
that she doesn’t answer her phone, respond to email, or even listen
to her voicemail anymore? For a number of the clients I have spoken
to recently, the reason is often similar. In many cases, it starts
when a client’s name is somehow publicized in some way or other…
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the full article…
Does Size
Really Matter? A Look at Cross Border Partnerships in Europe
Yes,
size does matter. At least when you look back at the consolidation
process in localization. Those who remained small or mid sized enterprises
saw a rapidly changing market that divided localization into small
SLVs and large MLVs. But from today’s perspective, this black and
white view has turned into a much more colorful landscape of localization
companies that act individually or jointly and regularly provide
a more or less global service offering, whatever the actual size
of the company…
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the full article…
Forms of
Business Ownership
One
of the first decisions that you will have to make as a business
owner is how the company should be structured. This decision will
have long-term implications, so consult with an accountant and attorney
to help you select the form of ownership that is right for you.
In making a choice, you will want to take into account the following…
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the full article…
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