logo
logo
Sign in

Establishing a Bilingual Startup (When You Only Speak One Language)

avatar
Ofer Tirosh
Establishing a Bilingual Startup (When You Only Speak One Language)

If you’re looking to get a startup going, you’ll know about seemingly never-ending to-do lists. Add in plans to establish your startup in more than one language and that list seems to grow exponentially.

Increasingly, many of us are living in a bilingual culture. For instance, in the U.S., 22 percent of the population doesn’t speak English at home, according to a report in the Daily Mail. This trend can have major ramifications, from your hiring decisions to your marketing campaign translation. Below we’ll take a look at how to work bilingualism into your startup from the ground up, so you can be successful in the modern business world.

Finding the Right Translation Agency

Do you speak a second language? Don’t worry if not – it doesn’t mean you’re barred from creating a startup that operates in multiple regions. You’ll simply need to find the correct translation agency or translator to handle any internal or marketing translation needs. 

There are several key aspects to look for in a translation agency. Asking the questions below can help you land the correct agency or freelance translator for your startup:

  • What experience does the translation agency/translator have in working with business translation specifically?
  • Does the agency have experience working in your niche? (For instance, there are agencies that specialize in marketing, tech or medical translation, and they often have an edge in translating industry jargon properly.)
  • What sort of projects has the agency worked on in the past?
  • How long has the agency been in business?
  • Which languages can the agency or individual cover, and how proficient are they at those languages? This is a point to consider carefully – while you may need Spanish translation services now, if you’re likely to need additional languages in the future, plan for it at an early stage.

Asking these questions can help you narrow down how the agency can help you based on its past experience and specialisms. When looking for a translation agency or translator, the most important point is that they’re experienced in the type of translation you are hiring them to do. 

Also, as part of finding translation services, you may need to prepare a corporate translation strategy. This is a document that outlines why a company needs professional translation and what the outcome will be. In short, it helps define and organize how you plan to work with a translation agency.

Content Marketing Translation

Another major area where bilingualism influences startups is how you handle your marketing campaigns. More and more people are interacting with brands on their own terms, since the digital landscape makes this easier. This includes engaging more with content in their native language – hence the need for translation. For instance, the Harvard Business Review reports that 72.4 percent of consumers are more likely to buy a product if they can access information on that product in their native tongue.

A further way to boost sales is to offer your product in different regional markets. By doing so, you’re essentially opening yourself up to whole new demographics through translation. Technology has made this even easier, and global e-commerce sales are expected to continue to grow, from 2.3 trillion U.S. dollars in 2017 to 4.88 trillion U.S. dollars in 2021, according to Statista.

If you’re preparing to sell goods or offer services in multiple markets, there are many parts of your marketing that will need translation. These include:

  • Written sales materials like brochures, pamphlets, sales letters, etc.         
  • Full websites to make buying easier for the consumer, especially if you run e-commerce sites
  • Digital sales material, like the text that goes on potential Amazon sales pages in other regions
  • Any video you use to sell your products
  • Articles/blog posts you use to promote your product
  • Social media posts for each target region

When translating for your startup’s marketing needs, you should go with a translation agency that has a high level of experience specifically in marketing materials. Translators with this experience will know how different cultures respond to and interact with marketing messages and approaches. Another option is to work with native marketing writers directly.     

Communicating with Bilingual Workers in Your Startup

Then there is the most complex aspect of running a bilingual startup: working with people who speak another language when you don’t. If you plan to operate in multiple regions, you will most likely need to interact with people who speak another language. These could include local distribution workers, beta testers for your products (or your translation materials) or even the customers themselves. 

There are several ways to remain successful while working in such a situation. For instance, if you conduct meetings with people overseas, you can have an interpreter present. You could also translate written communications from overseas using professional translation services. And you could employ people in management who speak both your language and the one in the new region. 

Finally, be sure to avoid the use of machine translation in a business setting. Translation apps can be handy when you’re on holiday, but in the corporate world, the smallest of errors from a translation app could derail a whole project. Thankfully, with the right professional translation services, you could knock down cultural barriers almost entirely, thus maximizing your bilingual startup’s chances of success.   

 

collect
0
avatar
Ofer Tirosh
guide
Zupyak is the world’s largest content marketing community, with over 400 000 members and 3 million articles. Explore and get your content discovered.
Read more