Starting something new
Thread poster: preyam24
preyam24
preyam24
India
Local time: 22:54
English to Hindi
May 30, 2017

I am very passionate about language and always want to learn something new about the world through languages. A language is not just an assemblage of the words. It is a reflection of the culture. It tells us about the people, places their habits, their myths, their stories and many other things.

Today we are living in a civilized world and thanks to it that now we have started to learn about other cultures and have started meeting new people from other countries so that globally eve
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I am very passionate about language and always want to learn something new about the world through languages. A language is not just an assemblage of the words. It is a reflection of the culture. It tells us about the people, places their habits, their myths, their stories and many other things.

Today we are living in a civilized world and thanks to it that now we have started to learn about other cultures and have started meeting new people from other countries so that globally everyone can get benefit from it. But the main key for this is the understanding of that particular language belonging to that culture or country.

Unfortunately, not everyone can afford learning new languages that is why we started translating languages that is converting one language to another without loosing the feel and uniqueness of the content.

Today, their are thousands of companies and agencies in this business of translation. It has a global market of millions of dollars. Again their is a catch in it. Agencies have to find quality translators to convert their contents and it should be in their budget and I know that it is a hard task. With the growth in the translation business, number of translators have also been increased which has increased the competition among the translators. I know some translators who have great skills but are unable to reach the right place. They have not earned a penny from years.

Well, this whole thought is scratching my mind from last 3 years. But 2 months ago I gave up and created a team of translators for all languages Indian + Foreign. So that I can provide quality translators to the agencies and this will also help these translators to grow up in this market.

But nothing happened, no help came. Even my own freelancing business is going to crash because I am giving my whole time to this team.

Please can you give any suggestion ??
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Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 17:24
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Passion is nice, but it's hard business skills that put the bread on the table May 31, 2017

preyam24 wrote:
2 months ago I gave up and created a team of translators for all languages Indian + Foreign. So that I can provide quality translators to the agencies and this will also help these translators to grow up in this market.

But nothing happened, no help came. Even my own freelancing business is going to crash because I am giving my whole time to this team.

So you're effectively outsourcing now, not translating, or at least not much? I'm afraid there's absolutely no room for passion in that job. All your energy has to go into finding and keeping contacts on both the client and supplier side, and negotiating to keep both sides happy. You need to be a very hard-headed business-person to succeed, and that means leaving your passions and maybe even some of your principles at home. As you yourself say:

With the growth in the translation business, number of translators have also been increased which has increased the competition among the translators. I know some translators who have great skills but are unable to reach the right place. They have not earned a penny from years.

This is all the proof you need that there's no longer any room for anyone who isn't 100% up to speed with running a successful business. Being a gifted translator is necessary, of course, but it's often the last hurdle to negotiate in this business, not the first. You first have to get your presence to be noted by potential clients, then you need to impress them with a whole load of facts, plus through your personal interaction with them, then you need to negotiate terms, and only if they're still interested do you actually have to come up with the goods, i.e. prove you can do the job. Only at that stage do you get to translate anything.


 
Jennifer Levey
Jennifer Levey  Identity Verified
Chile
Local time: 14:24
Spanish to English
+ ...
Time for a U-turn? May 31, 2017

preyam24 wrote:
I gave up and created a team of translators for all languages Indian + Foreign.

What you mean, surely, is that you sold your soul to the devil!

preyam24 wrote:
But nothing happened, no help came.

Who did you think was going to help you? Your competitors? Freelancers already busy making enough money without any help from you (or from any other agency)?

If I were you, I'd quit trying to run a business you're not ready to handle, and go back to earning a living as a translator.


 
Mario Chavez (X)
Mario Chavez (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 13:24
English to Spanish
+ ...
And the anonymity continues Jun 1, 2017

Preyam24, what's your real name? What is or was the name of your business? Does it have a website? How old are you? How long have you studied a particular language in a formal setting, like in a school or university?

Proz should start policing forums for posters that have zero information about themselves in their Proz page. Otherwise, we're helping ghosts and chasing trolls.


 


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