Blog Elements - Affinity Translation

How do we measure progress in the translation business? Whether for a translation agency or a freelance translator, what’s the answer?

Is it by the number of words translated? This would be an easy metric to track. If the number this year is higher than the number last year then that’s presumably progress. Or it could be a statistical anomaly, unless repeated most years and then in that case it’s a trend.

How about the top line revenue number? Any accounting system can make this measurement assuming the data input is valid. Related (but different) would be a measurement of profitability. From profitability we learn how much we keep.

A more qualitative metric might be the number of favorable interactions we have in a day, month, or year. How many people are positively impacted, uplifted even, by their interaction with us? It’s possible that this metric more than any other will favorably impact the number of words translated per year, our revenue, and profitability.

Sometimes unexpected things come up in translation projects. Today it was a formatting issue.

A large MS Word source file (500+ pages) in English was not professionally formatted by the client. The document was visually okay, but there were underlying issues.

The problems were not discovered until the translated text was placed back in the original formatted structure. Automated numbering was significantly altered. Sections and paragraph numbers did not correlate with the source version document.

An internal discussion identified several possible solutions to adequately fix the problem and allow the target translation file to be useful to the client. Usually when an unexpected issues comes up it’s helpful to get input from several team members. An unsolvable problem from the perspective of one person is entirely manageable from the perspective of another.

We’ve learned to be skeptical when a problem is identified and immediately deemed to represent an impasse to a successful project completion. Sometimes solutions aren’t perfect, but 2 or 3 possible courses of action can be listed with one being eventually selected.

Translation Business Metrics

November 9, 2018

How do we measure progress in the translation business? Whether for a translation agency or a freelance translator, what’s the answer? Is it by the number of words translated? This would be an easy metric to track. If the number this year is higher than the number last year then that’s presumably progress. Or it […]

Translation Project Problems and Solutions

November 8, 2018

Sometimes unexpected things come up in translation projects. Today it was a formatting issue. A large MS Word source file (500+ pages) in English was not professionally formatted by the client. The document was visually okay, but there were underlying issues. The problems were not discovered until the translated text was placed back in the […]

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Translation Business Metrics

Translation Project Problems and Solutions

Translation Business Metrics

Translation Project Problems and Solutions

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Translation Business Metrics

Translation Project Problems and Solutions

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