Further education you need before setting up a business Thread poster: TTilch
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TTilch 
Local time: 14:01
English to German
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Hi,
You are a university graduate and thinking of becoming a freelance translator?
Then you should first think about further education which you'll definitely need before setting up a business. Besides translation skills you'll need to:
- be able to touch type with 10 fingers and be very computer-savvy
- do your own accounting and know the accounting standards in your country (alternative: employing and paying corresponding professionals)
- learn marke... See more Hi,
You are a university graduate and thinking of becoming a freelance translator?
Then you should first think about further education which you'll definitely need before setting up a business. Besides translation skills you'll need to:
- be able to touch type with 10 fingers and be very computer-savvy
- do your own accounting and know the accounting standards in your country (alternative: employing and paying corresponding professionals)
- learn marketing basics
- know how to run/program your own website incl. SEO
- do proper cost calcuation and know average rates for various professions in your country (in order to make sure that enough money remains to be spent after paying office/material costs, taxes, social security contributions, health insurance contributions, pension fund contributions, paying your service providers' invoices, etc.)
Without these skills, it will be very hard for you to earn decent fees!
Unfortunately, these topics are still not part of university curriculums of translation degree courses. But they definitely should.
Best,
Tanja ▲ Collapse
| | | | Adieu
Ukrainian to English
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Correction: type at a short burst rate of ~100 WPM in your target language and own a CAT tool
| | | | Eva Stoppa
Germany
Local time: 14:01
English to German
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| Typing with ten fingers | Oct 1, 2021 |
I was already able to type with ten fingers back in high School. Being blind, I had to re-type my exams on a typewriter once I had written them in Braille. Those were the days.
| | | | | Reminds me of a saying | Oct 1, 2021 |
Tanja Tilch wrote:
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Without these skills, it will be very hard for you to earn decent fees!
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There's a lot of money to be made in the translation business... Provided you're not a translator!
Philippe
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Tanja Tilch wrote:
Without these skills, it will be very hard for you to earn decent fees!
Really? In fact, I can’t touch type; I don’t do my own accounting; I don’t know how to run/program my own website and yet I have been around for over 30 years and counting...
| | | | | An alternative view | Oct 1, 2021 |
Some people will like the topic starter's business coach approach, but personally, I am not very fond of it, so I'll just play an advocatus diaboli and suggest alternatives that I learned over the last three decades of work.
- be able to touch type with 10 fingers
I agree with this one, but it can be learned on the job. For a novice, the bottleneck in the translation workflow is the brain, not the fingers.
be very computer-savvy
Yes.
- do your own accounting and know the accounting standards in your country (alternative: employing and paying corresponding professionals)
In most countries, the requisite knowledge of accounting for a translator can be gained within a day or two. After that, the actual accounting work can be automated with cheap (or even free) software. Also, at the very beginning the earnings may simply be below the reporting threshold (though this varies from country to country).
- learn marketing basics
Ask the old translators about marketing and they will tell you that nothing beats the word of mouth, so first and foremost, be a perfectionist, build your reputation, and have good friends.
- know how to run/program your own website...
See above. Having a website won't hurt, but don't count on it too much.
...including SEO
SEO will do precious little without a unique selling proposition (ugh... never thought I would use this term). For a novice, the value of SEO is close to zero, and may even be negative.
- do proper cost calculation and know average rates for various professions in your country (in order to make sure that enough money remains to be spent after paying office/material costs, taxes, social security contributions, health insurance contributions, pension fund contributions, paying your service providers' invoices, etc.)
More importantly, do proper value calculation and don't buy things or services that bring you less value than they cost. Be frugal, and make it a habit.
| | | | Adieu
Ukrainian to English
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Coach-ish indeed.
I'm starting to get the sense that this is building up to "...and, most importantly, 20 euros for Tanja's most excellent book [inspirational CD, podcast, internet class, whatever]"
Anton Konashenok wrote: Some people will like the topic starter's business coach approach, but personally, I am not very fond of it, so I'll just play an advocatus diaboli and suggest alternatives that I learned over the last three decades of work. - be able to touch type with 10 fingers I agree with this one, but it can be learned on the job. For a novice, the bottleneck in the translation workflow is the brain, not the fingers. be very computer-savvy Yes. - do your own accounting and know the accounting standards in your country (alternative: employing and paying corresponding professionals) In most countries, the requisite knowledge of accounting for a translator can be gained within a day or two. After that, the actual accounting work can be automated with cheap (or even free) software. Also, at the very beginning the earnings may simply be below the reporting threshold (though this varies from country to country). - learn marketing basics Ask the old translators about marketing and they will tell you that nothing beats the word of mouth, so first and foremost, be a perfectionist, build your reputation, and have good friends. - know how to run/program your own website... See above. Having a website won't hurt, but don't count on it too much. ...including SEO SEO will do precious little without a unique selling proposition (ugh... never thought I would use this term). For a novice, the value of SEO is close to zero, and may even be negative. - do proper cost calculation and know average rates for various professions in your country (in order to make sure that enough money remains to be spent after paying office/material costs, taxes, social security contributions, health insurance contributions, pension fund contributions, paying your service providers' invoices, etc.) More importantly, do proper value calculation and don't buy things or services that bring you less value than they cost. Be frugal, and make it a habit.
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All but one of those topics were covered formally or informally on the postgrad translation course I took and later taught on in the early 1990s.
The exception was websites and SEO, as the Internet was in its infancy.
While I am proud that I have had a successful career without ever having a website or doing any other marketing at all, instead relying solely word of mouth, the world is changing.
I suspect that word of mouth will increasingly be replaced by... See more All but one of those topics were covered formally or informally on the postgrad translation course I took and later taught on in the early 1990s.
The exception was websites and SEO, as the Internet was in its infancy.
While I am proud that I have had a successful career without ever having a website or doing any other marketing at all, instead relying solely word of mouth, the world is changing.
I suspect that word of mouth will increasingly be replaced by online networking in this world of influencers and selfies and shameless self-promotion.
But what self-respecting young graduate wouldn’t know their way around all that stuff anyway? ▲ Collapse
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Edward Potter
Spain
Local time: 14:01
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
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| 10 finger typing | Oct 5, 2021 |
Tanja Tilch wrote:
- be able to touch type with 10 fingers and be very computer-savvy
Just a question. I hear German natives use this term, but I don't hear it used by English natives. We say touch typing. Is there some term in German being translated over? For sure, in practice I only use 9 fingers anyway (left thumb not used).
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