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From Translator to #Transentrepreneur—What You Need To Change

Many fellow translators out there strongly believe that becoming a #transentrepreneur, that is an entrepreneur in the Translation (#t9n) and Localization (#l10n) industry, takes lots of money. And since many starting translators do not have much money, they can only see themselves as slaves to their clients that they eventually happen to consider as their bosses. But as I am going to demonstrate it the lines below, and based on my personal experience, it takes more of one’s internal change than financial status upgrade to become a transentrepreneur. Let’s consider 3 key elements that will help you trigger that vital shift for your career as a freelance translator.

KEY #1
CHANGE YOUR MINDSET RADICALLY!

Stop considering yourself as an employee! You are not a subject, you are not a victim. Start considering yourself as a high-profile independent professional, even if you are working as a staff member in a company for now! Why is it so important to stop considering yourself as a mere employee? Because an employee’s level of commitment is basically lower than the commitment of someone who runs their own business. And if you consider yourself as a high-profile professional, it means you consider yourself as a burning business owner, which develops in you the mindset of an investor, who constantly looks for ways to grow their business and avoid pitfalls. And even if you don’t have money to invest at the beginning in your solo business, you will find ways to invest in your professional reputation, by always struggling to hone your skills and enhance your performance, thus giving yourself chances to earn more money, and, at the end of the day, to start running your own localization company, and officially become a genuine #transentrepreneur!

KEY #2
TAKE CONCRETE ACTION NOW!

Once you have changed your mindset from (employee) translator to transentrepreneur, it is time to take the transentrepreneur you are OUT OF YOUR MIND by implementing the necessary actions. Below are three steps you can take to get your career to the next level:

  1. Struggle to get a deeper knowledge of our industry: You must be surely aware of the fact that investing in a business requires from the investor to have a deep knowledge of that industry, which includes the trends, events and updates. So ask yourself, “Am I up-to-date with the latest localization industry trends?”, “Do I know where to get relevant and trustworthy updates about the localization industry?”, “How do I show I am an active member of the global community of professional translators, localizers and interpreters?” One way to stay up-to-date with the localization industry’s trends and events is by subscribing to the newsletter of SPEED EXPERTISE, SLATOR, and BUREAU WORKS, which are renowned sharers of latest info about our industry!
  2. Get yourself mentored: One of the best ways of becoming a successful person is to learn from actual successful persons. Many professional translators out there are making a living out of translation, but it is one thing to making a living out of translation, and another to enjoy the benefits of being a transentrepreneur. So, it is up to you! If your dream is to become a successful transentrepreneur, you ought to learn from successful transentrepreneurs who are willing to share their secret, for, YES, there are further practical and customized tips one can leverage to move from the status of translator to transentrepreneur. Learn more about my Translator Empowerment Coaching sessions <link to Coaching intro on my upcoming website>here<link to Coaching intro on my upcoming website>.
  3. Learn how to expand and harness your professional network: To succeed as a transentrepreneur, you need to be known as such, as this will open doors to greater business opportunities. And to get known, you need to advertise your business, create new professional connections, nearly on a daily basis, in order to build a strong and efficient professional network, and always offer a high quality service, so as to let your business benefit from the advantages of positive feedback from satisfied clients and great localization industry’s influencers. And since the Internet has made the world a tiny and comfy place for everyone, why not making the most of LinkedIn, the world’s largest online professional network, with 610+ million users worldwide, including executives from every Fortune 500 company? To learn more about how to use LinkedIn and other tools to expand and harness your professional network, I recommend you read this <link to the article on my upcoming website>article<link to the article on my upcoming website>.

KEY #3
ASSESS YOUR PROGRESS ON A REGULAR BASIS!

Always keep track of your achievements and failures on your journey to success as a transentrepreneur. By so doing, every recorded achievement will feed up your energy and motivation to do things even better, and each failure will help you identify where you did it wrong, and what steps you can take to avoid the same mistakes in the future. More importantly yet, keeping track of everything you are doing to move your career from translator to transentrepreneur will help you have concrete food for thought when time comes to ponder over your overall progress… oh yes, you have to schedule periodical time frames in the year when you review your vision, objectives and achievements, in order to see what necessary adjustments will lead you to a successful transentrepreneurship career. Remember, if you fail to plan your success, you are undoubtedly paving the way to failure! Well-thought journaling and honest progress assessment are key to a long-lasting success as a transentrepreneur.

I really hope you enjoyed reading this copy, but I am also convinced that there are many entrepreneurs in the localization industry (#transentrepreneurs) that have taken their valuable time to read this. Therefore, as a transentrepreneur, what are your keys to success? Let us know your thoughts about this topic in the Comments section, please. We look forward to your warm and constructive input!