I call it “being in the translation business” and say it’s just a hobby unless you also do the business part. Judy and Dagmar Jenner call it being an entrepreneurial linguist and have written a whole book about it – not just the nagging reminders of what you need to do but lots of practical hints and pointers on how to do them. The book is available from their entrepreneuriallinguist.com website and could easily be the smartest $20 or so you invest this year.
The first chapter starts off telling you to think of yourself as a business. Even if you’re a small business, you’re a business. Even if you’re a nano business, you’re a business. You provide a service. You get paid for it. You’re a business. So start thinking like one. Start acting like one.
How? With organization and accounting so you know what you’re doing and what the results are – the subject of chapter two. There is a lot of basic stuff in this chapter, but I am sometimes amazed at how many people don’t understand the basics. How many starting-out translator have I met recently who don’t have business cards? No business card? Why not just wear a signboard saying, “I’m not important enough to bother remembering”? But that is not the only way to look unbusinesslike. There are many others, and chapter two provides both a checklist and a remedial sheet if you are making any of these mistakes.
The next chapter goes into using the web for best professional effect. Interesting, but it really should have come after chapter four, because chapter four is all about marketing and the web tips are basically examples of how to market yourself on the web. As expected, the marketing chapter talks about the value of repeat business. It talks about building your brand. It talks about enhancing your competitive advantage. It talks about specialization and relationship building. And even if you have been paying attention in JAT for the last 25 years and think you already know all of this you’ll find some new angles, insights, and how-to hints here.
And then, when you have your mindset pointed in the right direction, they give you chapter five on business development. Client acquisition strategies, resource allocation reminders, and more. With real-life suggestions based upon real-life experience. These are, after all, real-life translators writing for other translators who want to get real.
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Negotiating? That’s chapter seven. With lots of tips and reminders on how to negotiate successfully, including the acceptability of walking away when it is clear the negotiations are not going to yield anything good. Walking away is not a failure of negotiation. Failure is when you conclude a bad agreement because you were unable to walk away.
And there is more: professional development, giving back, and even a recap chapter that includes such subheads as Run your business like a business, A small business is just as legitimate as a big business is, and You never know where your next client will come from.
I wish the examples were not so America-centric, but they write that way because that is where the bulk of their experience – and they probably think the bulk of their market – is, but these are just examples, and the general principles and mindset they espouse are universal. It works in Japan, Australia, and everywhere else. You might have to tweak it a bit for local conditions, but you can do that once you understand the basic message. And this is an important book that will help you understand and focus on that message. Even if you are in-house, get a copy. You don’t have to be freelance to be entrepreneurial.
(This review was originally published on the Japan Association of Translators website on June 18, 2010.)