Perhaps, as a mid-size translation company owner you are wondering, why would I be interested in joining an organization made up of similar translation companies? What if they steal my clients? Or my vendor list? Or worse than that, my super-star project manager that can handle twenty projects at a time and never complains! Now you’re looking over your shoulder and turning your head every which way to see if someone is spying you from…that little hole in your computer monitor?
It’s ok to be paranoid when a recent issue of Multilingual magazine features an article predicting “The Death of Translation”. As soon as I finished reading it, I imagined a collective chill going down the spine of many translation company owners, trying to figure out what to do to gain the smallest market share; considering the costs and risks to do the only thing left to save themselves: find that million dollar client ASAP, or what I like to call, ‘the Everest of mid-size translation companies’.
How much will I lose trying to achieve this goal? Do I have enough resources? Do I have the right resources? How do I attend and make an impact at all the conferences and shows that every year seem to pop-out like gophers in a Whack-a-mole game? How do I gain the knowledge I need to tackle my weaknesses without spending a small fortune in consulting services? Small and mid-size localization companies can’t afford an army or engineers, graphic designers and/or project managers to solve every single problem they encounter. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to have lots of ‘phone-a-friend’ lifelines? Or to pick the brain of a peer without turning it into Frankenstein’?
“Translated in Argentina” (TinA) is based on the concept of ‘coopetition’, which is frequently misunderstood. By defining in which areas companies can work together and in which ones they compete, the members are immediately aware of the boundaries within the organization. Members favor ‘coopetition’ in some common objectives such as improving industry standards, research and development, and market visibility, especially when it comes to promoting Argentina as the destination for Spanish. Also, one of TinA’s main objectives is to bring in companies that complement each other. The classic example is found in the IT industry: companies that build computers and companies that develop software work together to come up with strategies that benefit them both. In TinA’s case, companies that offer translation services can benefit from tapping into the expertise of graphic designers, engineers, managers and CEO’s that otherwise they wouldn’t have access to working alone. Member companies also share the expenses and burdens that come with some efforts, for example, by splitting marketing costs to promote the industry. And who knows, maybe a member finds the elusive million-dollar client and needs support from the others. It’s better to share the wealth with companies that you know and understand, than either losing the opportunity because you don’t have enough resources, or taking the risk of working with a complete stranger.
Come Join Us! We’re all friends here.
Contact us at:
Email
info@translated-in-argentina.com
Twitter
@TinA_l10n
Facebook
/TranslatedinArgentina
TinA members met at GALA Conference in Sevilla this year.
TinA members at one of their monthly meetings