How saving money on translation can take its toll

That's right, dear CEOs, managers, marketing and PR professionals, I am talking to you right now. This post is going to be all about your greediness, your miserliness and you not wanting to spend much money on language-related services. This is something that me and my colleagues experience on a daily basis, especially since the great financial meltdown started. Companies were forced to cut spending by large amounts. That was about right - when things get rough, the most important thing to do is to avoid any unnecessary waste of money. However, saving too much money on liguistic services - whether it is translation, proof-reading or interpretation - always takes its toll. In one way or another, the company will pay the price for being cheap.

In order to understand this paradigm, one thing must be cleared out first: high quality is expensive. Period. Once you go to the store to buy something for dinner, you can either go with inexpensive choices and accept lower quality in return, or you can pay a much bigger price for something more delicious. This is just the way it works and it has always been like that. Once you think about puchasing a new car, you are well aware of what type of machine you can get in exchange for the amount of money you have. You won't complain about not getting an Audi A6 if you only have half the money of its actual price. You will be compromised with the one you can afford. Yet when a company wants to buy translation services from a professional, they are likely to pay averages prices and expect nothing less than ultimate quality. We have to make them understand once and for all: quality is something you only can ask for if you are willing to give a fair compensation.

Secondly, as many of my fellow translators would sure agree with that: I studied and worked very hard for decades to attain every skill and expertise I have today. I have spent money on tutors, language teachers and (unreasonably) expensive language books. I have spent weekends and summer holidays with learning German, with practicing English grammar or with living in Italy, improving my skill there. I truly have worked my heart out and made a lot of sacrifices. I think it is more than acceptable that I have become a little pretentious. I am determined to enjoy the fruits of my year-long labor and I won't give away my knowledge for pennies.

Thirdly, as I said, saving money on unnecessary business expenditures is more than reasonable. If your company needs cutting, go and get rid of business models than won't work, machines or tools you can do without or co-workers who are lazy, disloyal or incompetent. The one thing you should never spare on is language-related services. That is because for cheap money, you always get cheap quality - and lack of great quality is certainly not the way to go in today's economy. Improper and unprofessional translation will cost you more in the long run. It could cost a tender. It could cost your quarter year. Even worse, for small companies, it  could cost their reputation and eventually, their entire existence.

Last but not least, I would say to all companies to not look for cheap prices but for the best value for money options. Go and look for a professional who can provide great quality on reasonable prices. We are more than ready to help you out - in case you respect us enough to pay us our fair share!