ADVANTAGES OF A SMALL BUSINESS

As a small, niche company with a narrow specialty field we’ve often asked ourselves the question: what kind of a business would be our ideal partner? Big or small? Clearly our interests lie with companies large enough to take their products international.

But, while there are many advantages to working with established companies of a certain size, we love the thrill of collaborating with the newer, “greener” brands, and, if we’re lucky, with the challengers, the rule-breakers, and the changemakers.

• With a smaller company, we routinely have contact with the writers of the source copy and the decision makers within the company, who can provide essential context that can turn a reasonably good translation into an excellent one. In bigger companies, liaising with translators is often relegated to third parties who are not necessarily involved in the writing process.
• Smaller companies are known to have faster response times to customers; this is also true of their relationships with subcontractors. We found that heavy policies and procedures at big companies have occasionally caused our interactions to stall (or payments to lag behind schedule).
• In addition, the sometimes-complex bureaucracies of bigger companies cannot compete with the ability of smaller companies to remain flexible and adaptable. This can be a huge advantage in formulating a brand-new language management strategy or determining what is not working with an already existing one.
• Working closely with our clients and developing trusting relationships that last always gives us a great sense of accomplishment. We especially love jumping onboard in the beginning stages of our clients’ own journey and seeing them through to when they have a need for our more involved assistance.
• There is nothing so rewarding as sharing the same level of commitment and dedication. We also cherish seeing how personally appreciative our clients can be of our hard work and return the favor by being deeply grateful for their business.