There is power in beginnings. As a young enterprise your team is a new voice in the world. The future is unformed – and your efforts right now are the choices that will form it.
There will come a point, possibly early on, when you should take advantage of the vital power of your startup by introducing your product into new language markets. Such target-language populations may dwell within your country, or they may be thousands of miles away, outside its borders. With the right market research and product preparation, your chances of successfully selling your product to them are high wherever they live.
Internationalize and do market research
When you’re ready to expand internationally, the best investment that a startup company can make is translation. There are so many target markets with young, growing, internet-connected populations of consumers. Indonesia. Turkey. Mexico. Japan. China. Brazil. Market research will help you decide where to start with your specific product. Even before you choose which new markets you want to target, you can prepare your existing, original-language texts and marketing materials to be ready for translation. This process of thinking ahead about what will need to be changed is called “internationalization”, or i18n, and it includes things like writing very clear texts that will be easy to translate and leaving plenty of room in design work for different languages and alphabets. It will help save time, money, and hassle when you translate.
Startups build trust with accurate translation
Translation of your key marketing tools, websites, and multimedia elements for new markets is not something you should ever use automatic translation software to accomplish. Nor should you turn the project over to a friend or a member of your team who knows the target language. This is a very important point. Startups need the savvy and support of an experienced, professional language service provider to ensure their entry into new markets is flawless.
Think about it: your larger competitors already have presences in the international markets you want to compete in. There is no room for you to make a mistake that will offend your audience or make your enterprise seem less than top-notch and trustworthy. Why risk the appearance of being inferior to your established competitors? Professional localization and translation companies – Language Service Providers with global experience – can make every step of this process easy for you and extremely effective. Build a strong bridge of trust with your target audience by making sure that your texts are written by a translator who is a native of the target language, someone who understands your target culture well.
The special demands of startup translation
Our startup translation teams have a lot of experience working with the dynamic and yet sensitive quality of startup translation work. We focus on the following issues throughout the fulfillment of your project:
- Understanding the unique quality of your startup’s identity and products in order to be able to share your passion and convey your vision
- Careful, consistent translation of your specific terminology, including the development of a unique glossary created with your input
- Localization of your product and marketing so that they resonate with each new, international audience
- Translating with a voice that reflects your company’s personality, to develop and establish your brand in every market
- Insightful SEO phrasing based on market research and cultural knowledge
- Providing fast turnaround based on your needs
- Fulfilling jobs within the promised budget, which is especially important for startups
- Making translation specialists available for ongoing consultation and content refreshment
So how do you start? It’s easy with a knowledgeable partner. Figure out where you want to sell. Begin developing a plan for each country, because rushed improvisation isn’t an option. Then share your ideas with a language service partner who can match your enthusiasm, give you the right advice and support, and help you take your product to the heights of success its capable of around the world. There is real power in beginnings, and Skrivanek can help you make the most of yours.
J. V. McShulskis
