This site uses cookies.
Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site,
while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used.
For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Hello, My name is Mark and I have worked as a part-time translator for the last few years. I live in the United States and have been recently thinking about starting up an internet based translation agency. I am planning on translating in around 30 - 40 languages. The professional website will be done soon. I also have a small group of translators willing to cooperate with me. However, I am kind of concerned with agreements between my agency and a client and my agency and a translator. Is ... See more
Hello, My name is Mark and I have worked as a part-time translator for the last few years. I live in the United States and have been recently thinking about starting up an internet based translation agency. I am planning on translating in around 30 - 40 languages. The professional website will be done soon. I also have a small group of translators willing to cooperate with me. However, I am kind of concerned with agreements between my agency and a client and my agency and a translator. Is there any way to get templates or anything like that? Also, as far as pricing goes, how much should a new agency charge its clients? What else should I pay attention to?
Any suggestions, advices and ideas highly appreciated.
The contents of this post will automatically be included in the ticket generated. Please add any additional comments or explanation (optional)
Steven Sidore Germany Local time: 08:36 German to English
To be honest...
Sep 30, 2004
I hate to be the one to say this, but you should probably have a better understanding for these issues before trying to hang out your own shingle as an agency. Have you worked in-house with an agency before, so as to get a feel for how they work? Simply commencing middleman operations as an unsaavy amateur businessperson is a big risk, especially since you can ruin your good name as a freelancer in the process. (Long time Blueboard users will probably have seen this happen a few times. I certain... See more
I hate to be the one to say this, but you should probably have a better understanding for these issues before trying to hang out your own shingle as an agency. Have you worked in-house with an agency before, so as to get a feel for how they work? Simply commencing middleman operations as an unsaavy amateur businessperson is a big risk, especially since you can ruin your good name as a freelancer in the process. (Long time Blueboard users will probably have seen this happen a few times. I certainly have with the GER>ENG pair...)
Perhaps I misunderstood, and you do have the experience needed here, and are just looking for a few specific details. If not, I'd suggest you take an intermediary approach to start, by forming or joining into a team with other translators, so as to get better feel for the dynamics behind running a multi-translator operating, particularly for bidding and payment.
Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users!
Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value
Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!
The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.