When Should You Transition From Freelance to Translators to an LSP?
It’s a big question. It marks a shift in thinking and how your business will operate as it scales up
and moves into new markets with new language requirements. Fundamentally there is no wrong
or right time, but there are signs to tell you when it’ll be healthier for your business to make the shift.
As a Language Service Provider (LSP), we are always talking with prospective clients who are
asking this question. We understand the trepidation. We also know that when we talk with our
“now” clients six or twelve months later, the verdict is almost unanimous…we should’ve done it
sooner.
Why didn’t they? Because it feels scary to move from one or two linguists to the support of a long-term partner that will want to get under the skin of your business and be proactive about how you deal with new languages and new territories. The reality is that usually it opens our client’s eyes to new opportunities.
So, back to the question. When do you do it? Here’s a quick guide to some indicators you can measure your business against to see if it’s the right time for you to take the leap.
Your Translation Volume and Complexity is Increasing
Freelance translators work well for small, one-off projects, but as your business grows, so does the need for consistent, high-quality translations across multiple languages.
If you’re translating a large volume of content regularly, like websites, marketing materials, legal documents, and technical manuals, managing multiple freelancers can be time consuming. A good LSP will offer scalable solutions, handling large and complex translation projects with ease.
Your Quality and Brand Messaging Feels Inconsistent
When working with multiple freelancers, it’s easy for inconsistencies in terminology, style, and quality to creep into your content. This can lead to a brand voice that isn’t clear, one that confuses customers and damages brand credibility.
LSPs provide centralized management, standardized glossaries, and translation memory tools which keep your language, tone, and messaging aligned across all your material.
You Have a Need for Multiple Language Pairs
If your business expands into multiple international markets, hiring different freelance translators for each language pair can be cumbersome. For example, if English is your company’s native language, and you’re moving into Budapest, your language pair is English and Hungarian.
An LSP can manage multilingual projects under one roof, ensuring efficiency, consistency, and quality control across all languages (even the really rare ones), which is much easier than an individual trying to juggle multiple individual translators in different time zones.
You Have a Requirement for Specialized Industry Expertise
Your LSP should source linguists who not only can work in the target language, but who are also subject-matter experts in your industry.
Every industry is different, with its own terminology, acronyms and idiosyncrasies, so having translators who understand that environment is vital to ensure accurate and compliant translations.
While some freelancers may have specialized knowledge, an LSP has access to a larger network of industry-expert linguists, ensuring that your translations meet regulatory standards and maintain technical accuracy.
You Need Additional Localization Services
Translation is just one part of the localization process. If you’re expanding globally, you’ll probably require additional services such as desktop publishing (DTP), website localization, subtitling, and cultural adaptation.
An LSP offers comprehensive localization services beyond simple translation, so your content resonates with your target audience. They’ll help you drill down into the local nuances that makes your content feel like it wasn’t translated, but it was created within the community.
You Have Tight Deadlines and Turnaround Times
When working with individual freelancers, meeting tight deadlines can be challenging, especially if one translator is unavailable or overloaded.
An LSP also provides a project management structure with dedicated teams that can handle urgent requests, distribute workloads effectively, and ensure fast turnaround times without compromising quality.
It’s a packaged, joined-up solution that’ll give you confidence and reporting, so you know things are on schedule even if it’s not at the top of your priority list.
You Have to Integrate Language Versions with Existing Tech
If your company uses content management systems (CMS), e-commerce platforms, or customer relationship management (CRM) tools, integrating translation services can streamline workflow. If this is the case, partnering with a LSP that can work with your tech stack will help reduce manual effort so that content updates across languages is a seamless process.
Individual linguists will usually not deal with the technical side of making sure content is rolled out correctly to your internal teams, or externally into your comms channels.
You Have Compliance and Security Requirements
For industries that handle sensitive information, such as finance, healthcare, or legal sectors, maintaining compliance with data protection laws, for example GDPR or HIPAA, is critical.
LSPs will have robust security measures, confidentiality agreements, and certifications to ensure compliance and protect your data.
The responsibility for meeting compliance and security requirements ultimately falls on your organization. That’s why it’s critical to work with an LSP that meets the right ISO standards for language translation and quality management (17100 and 9001). It means you’ve taken every step to protect sensitive customer data.
You’re Planning a Few Steps Ahead
While hiring freelancers may seem cost-effective initially, managing multiple translators, ensuring quality control, and handling administrative tasks can add up.
LSPs offer economies of scale, bundled services, and efficiency improvements that can ultimately save your company time and money.
They should be able to create a package for you that works with your budget, requirements and translation, interpretation and localization workload.
Does it Sound Like You Should Make the Transition?
Do you recognize any of these scenarios in your own business? Do you feel like employing freelance linguists is taking too much of your time, becoming a brand-messaging risk, stretching your processes when it comes to technology and regulatory compliance, threatening deadlines that may impact other areas of the business, or just plain feeling like a small, reactive solution?
You’ve got your finger on the pulse of your organization, so maybe it’s just a gut-feel pushing you to look for a partner-based relationship that will help you be a truly global player now, or in the future.
If this sounds like you, and you’ve got specific questions about working with a LSP, then we’d love to talk. We may just answer some of your queries and make the decision clearer in your mind. Consultations are free and there’s no obligation.
You’re in safe hands with us as we’re ISO 17100 and ISO 9001 compliant, have over twenty years of professional translation experience, and have earned the trust of organizations around the world.
