Article How to grow your translation business through outsourcing

(and how LSP.expert can help you!)

Starting to outsource is a big step for any independent freelance translator.

After all, it means you move into a kind of middle ground between go-it-alone freelancing and running a small translation agency.

And bringing other people into your one-person business can seem daunting.

Because up until now, you’ve been in charge of absolutely everything, and you’re firmly in your comfort zone.

But if you’re reading this, then you’re probably curious about what outsourcing could do for you.

So, let’s get started by looking at some of the reasons freelancers choose to start outsourcing.

Reasons to outsource

One of the main reasons a lot of translators start to outsource is that their business is thriving, but they just don’t have the time to work on all the projects coming their way.

There are only a certain number of hours in the day and (no matter what you try and tell yourself) one person can only handle so much before they hit full burnout.

They don’t want to say no to the clients they’ve worked so hard to win. And they realise they could still profit from projects, even if they don’t do the actual translation themselves.

So they choose to start outsourcing translation work to other reliable freelance translators and,usually, review the work before sending it off to the client.

The client is happy because they get a flawless translation and don’t have to look elsewhere.

The outsourcer is happy because they retain final creative control and are making money on a project they would have had to have turned down otherwise.

And the supplier is happy because well-paid work is coming their way. A win-win-win!

But outsourcing translations isn’t always restricted to work you can’t handle yourself.

It’s also a great place to start if you want to expand your business and cover gaps in the market that call for skills you don’t have.

Outsourcing can mean you can start to offer different language pairs, or cover different specialisations or niches.

You can identify gaps in the market - perhaps language pairs that your current clients need - and offer that service with the help of other reliable freelance translators.

Outsourcing more than just translations

When we talk about growing your business through outsourcing, we’re mostly focusing on outsourcing actual translation work.

But there are plenty of other things you can outsource that will help free up your time so you can focus on the work that brings in the most profit and grow your business in a different way.

Outsourcing your taxes to an accountant is a logical place to start, and will take a load off your mind if you’re not doing it already.

But you can also outsource your content marketing to a copywriter, your social media to a social media manager, or even your emails and admin to a virtual assistant.

Imagine how much extra time you’d have to play with if you had help with those kinds of things.

Time to spend on client work, sure. But also time to yourself, or for your family.

Is outsourcing right for you?

There’s a lot of talk about outsourcing out there in the freelance translation world, and it’s easy to start to feel like outsourcing is something you should be doing.

Because we don’t have enough to feel guilty about, do we?

So we just want to take a minute here and remind you you don’t have to do it all.

Be honest with yourself about whether growing your business through outsourcing is really something you want to do, or if you’re happy just the way you are.

Remember, too, that outsourcing doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

Only outsourcing a piece of work now and again is fine.

As is taking on a big multi-lingual project involving several linguists and rolling deadlines, if that’s what you want to do. You’ll probably want to build up to that slowly, though!

The important thing is to decide what works for you and not let yourself be pressured into doing something that will only make you more stressed in the long run.

How LSP.expert can help with outsourcing

If you’ve got this far, then you’re probably pretty keen on the idea of outsourcing.

So, you’ll be delighted to know that LSP.expert takes away all the confusion of getting started with it.

It’s designed for everyone, from freelancers to fully-fledged agencies, so outsourcing features are a big part of the platform.

Keep all the information you need in one place, track projects and send emails directly from the platform.

We’ve made the system as intuitive and straightforward as possible so that growing your business isn’t any more stressful than it needs to be.

Here are a few of the things you can do with LSP.expert:

• Send jobs and files directly to suppliers for them to accept or reject
• Assign different tasks to different suppliers e.g translation and revision
• Create and send purchase orders
• Receive finished files from suppliers
• Evaluate your suppliers’ work
• Manage your suppliers’ availability
• … and more!

We’ve got a huge selection of articles to help you get to grips with outsourcing, but if you can’t find the answer you’re looking for there, just get in touch with us.

We’re always on hand to help you out.

Ready to get started managing and growing your freelance translation business easily and efficiently? Start our free 30-day trial today.