Poll: Regardless of how things are going in general, are there aspects of your business that are growing? Автор на темата: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Regardless of how things are going in general, are there aspects of your business that are growing?".
This poll was originally submitted by Jared Tabor. View the poll results »
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Белгия
Local time: 01:44
Член (2020)
Френски на Холандски
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Since I've been optimizing my business since 5 years, I think I've almost reached the limits of possible expansion in any field without increasing my rates.
The latter not being a serious option in my opinion, the only way to increase my business would be through increasing demand, at the level of my absolutely crazy last quarter of 2024.
The future will tell if that is a possibility.
| | | | Kevin Fulton 
Съединени американски щати
Local time: 20:44
Немски на Английски
| Scams are proliferating | Feb 28 |
Thirty years ago when the internet expanded the potential of globalization, scams were relatively rare. I recall complaints about the poor payment practices of some Belgian agencies, but there were few reports about outright deception. There was almost enough work to keep translators busy most of the time. Forum participants bragged about how overworked they were, and some were doing so well that they could afford to hire typists to help meet deadlines (this was before CAT tools caught on). Memb... See more Thirty years ago when the internet expanded the potential of globalization, scams were relatively rare. I recall complaints about the poor payment practices of some Belgian agencies, but there were few reports about outright deception. There was almost enough work to keep translators busy most of the time. Forum participants bragged about how overworked they were, and some were doing so well that they could afford to hire typists to help meet deadlines (this was before CAT tools caught on). Members of various translation fora lamented the rare slow weeks in their profession. Eight cents/word in my language pair was considered an insulting rate. Good opportunities were available to translators of all skill levels.
Eventually the law of supply and demand caught up with the translation industry. An oversupply of talent meant static, then falling rates. There was no longer an equilibrium in the job market.
Along with this was the introduction of the internet to sub-Saharan Africa. The exiled princes eventually realized that scamming potential investors in their get-rich quick schemes had run its course. The proliferation of entrants to the translation industry who had little business sense and were hungry for jobs provided new opportunities. Easily obtained and disposable email addresses made bogus offers untraceable.
I was lucky. I never had to decide whether a job offer from a potential client was real, since I was generally as busy as I wanted to be. I'm sure I missed some possibilities, but I've never regretted turning down a job from an unvetted source. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Dan Lucas
Обединеното кралство
Local time: 00:44
Член (2014)
Японски на Английски
| Demand for the end products seems to be growing | Feb 28 |
What little research there is on this industry seems to indicate that end demand is actually growing steadily. That jibes with my own experience. I would guess that a lot of that growth over the past decade has not gone near human translators, but some of it has.
Many reading this may think that this talk about growth is all a bit moot given the threat from MT.
I can assure you that if demand were not growing things would be even worse, because there would be even more pressu... See more What little research there is on this industry seems to indicate that end demand is actually growing steadily. That jibes with my own experience. I would guess that a lot of that growth over the past decade has not gone near human translators, but some of it has.
Many reading this may think that this talk about growth is all a bit moot given the threat from MT.
I can assure you that if demand were not growing things would be even worse, because there would be even more pressure to cut costs.
Regards,
Dan ▲ Collapse
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Mario Chávez
Съединени американски щати
Local time: 20:44
Член (2024)
Английски на Испански
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| I don't have a business, I practice a profession | Feb 28 |
Every profession, trade occupation and craft has, of course, a business side: accounting methods to keep track of invoices, services rendered, payments, necessary expenses and such. Whether we are translators, interpreters, painters, graphic designers, copywriters, jewelry craftspeople, electricians, carpenters or builders, we need to have some sort of business structure. Some people incorporate individually or as a collective, depending on their local possibilities.
I do resent, ho... See more Every profession, trade occupation and craft has, of course, a business side: accounting methods to keep track of invoices, services rendered, payments, necessary expenses and such. Whether we are translators, interpreters, painters, graphic designers, copywriters, jewelry craftspeople, electricians, carpenters or builders, we need to have some sort of business structure. Some people incorporate individually or as a collective, depending on their local possibilities.
I do resent, however, the overemphasis on our profession as a “business” because it is not a business but a profession. To call it a business is reductive and awfully monetary in nature.
Funny story: I incorporated as an LLC in Cleveland, Ohio (USA) in 2011 and operated as such for many years. In 2019, I contacted the proper Ohio state agency to close down my LLC business because I had moved to another state. Strangely enough, this agency replied that they had no such LLC in their records. ▲ Collapse
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Lieven Malaise wrote:
I think I've almost reached the limits of possible expansion in any field without increasing my rates.
Ditto to that. There's only so much you can do as a one-man (or woman) show. So there's a natural limit to how much you can grow your business before having to outsource work or start rejecting offers.
As for the poll question, no, I don't see growth. It's been fewer clients, fewer orders and decreasing volumes. But then the first couple of months of the year have historically been rather slow, at least in my case. Things usually pick up speed in the second semester, so I'm looking forward to that, hopefully.
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Ofc, my debts are growing.
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