8 Steps to Plan a Realistic Budget for Your Translation Requirements

Are you planning your translation budget for the upcoming year? Wondering how you can steer your company in the right direction without spending too much money? We get you.

Having a realistic budget plan is vital, especially if your company has global goals, and you want to make sure you're as cost-effective as possible.

Nonetheless, cutting down costs doesn't necessarily mean having to sacrifice translation quality nor your company's international campaign. Sometimes a realistic plan and a smart budget are sufficient to get the most out of your translation.

Take it from us! We've worked with international companies from all across the world to deliver high-quality translations that both meet their expectations and fit their budget. No matter if you're on a tight budget or your management is putting pressure on you to cut down expenses, there's still a stress-free way to ensure accurate, precise translations. Here are eight steps you should take to plan a realistic budget for your translation requirements.

Research language combinations

You probably already have a pretty good idea about markets you want to expand to, but don't rush anything just yet. Take some time to research language pair prices, market potential, and whether there's a need for your product. Some languages tend to be more costly than others. For example, Asian languages are usually more expensive than Western languages due to the characters' complexity and the limited number of qualified linguistic resources.

Before starting any translation project, it might be useful to first research language combinations, not to encounter any unexpected expenses later on.

Join forces with other budget stakeholders

It's uncommon for a company to own a centralized translation budget. The task of budget planning is usually divided between different departments and several stakeholders. If you're one of them, make sure you team up with other colleagues when planning your translation budget so that you can take into consideration all aspects of the company.

Bundle several translation projects

Believe it or not, but the more content you translate at once, the less you pay. When you submit a high volume of content for translation, you can get a much lower average cost per word than submitted piece by piece. That's why it might be a good idea to plan your translation and bundle projects to maximize values. This would indeed mean a more significant investment for your company initially, but actually, it's much cheaper in the long run.

Determine the project timeline

Planning allows you to allocate enough time for each translation project and spare yourself from the stress of rushed translation. A translation project that needs to be delivered in a rushed time frame may carry up to a 50% charge above the regular rates. While you craft your budget, make sure you allocate project deadlines. This strategy will help both you and your translation service provider to achieve great results. At Language Buró, we work with you to structure a delivery schedule to maximize quality and minimize rush costs. Our goal is to always help you out by providing you with the staff and resources to accommodate your rush projects.

Use translation memories

You don't have to translate the same content over and over again. Use translation memories instead to avoid paying for repetitive content. Translation memory technology helps both companies and linguists to cut down costs and be more time-efficient. When planning the next year's translation budget, make sure you incorporate translation memory software into it.

Stay away from "cheap" options

Even though it might seem tempting and cheap at first, try to refrain from Google translate or other similar options. Being unreliable and usually incorrect, they often require additional corrections, edits, proofreading so that they could cost you much more in the end. Some companies still can't recover from the damage of inadequate translation; remember that it's your reputation at stake. Stick to secure, accurate professional translations that'll ensure your brand's image remains intact in other languages too.

Get quotes from several translation agencies

To ensure your company's translations are always on point, try to establish a long-lasting relationship with a professional translation company. Start by getting quotes from several agencies, compare them, and decide on the one that suits you the most. Partnering with one translation agency will help you plan a realistic budget for your translation requirements while saving you a lot of time, money, and energy in the long run.

Track your translation expenses and savings

It's vital to measure your expenses at all times so that you can compare them to your achievements, thus realize what your return-on-investment is. Other than that, make sure you track your savings too (such as translation memory incorporation) to be able to reassess and forecast in the years to come.

Planning a realistic budget for your translation requirements isn't easy, but it's more than necessary to ensure smooth sailing on your projects.

Language Buró can provide your organization with a service of guaranteed quality for all your translation needs, with the most competitive language industry rates. Get in touch with us to receive a free quote.