Can translators be entrepreneurial?

That thought did not cross my mind when I first started out as a freelance translator seven years ago. Translators are linguists and more creative. Sure, my educational background is in international marketing and my professional background in product marketing, but I never thought to apply this directly onto my freelance business, at least not consciously. Granted my freelancing business has thrived, but me an entrepreneur? Nah....


Until now! Yesterday I had a consultation session with the translator colleague and entrepreneur Judy Jenner under the subject "The Entrepreneurial Linguist". Judy believes that freelance translators are entrepreneurs running their own business and need to think like entrepreneurs too. The session was packed with marketing advice and business planning and gave me lots of practical tips on how to become a successful entrepreneur.

Here is my entrepreneurial to do list:
- do a SWOT-analysis on me and Swedish Translation Services
- define my competitive advantage
- define my ideal clients
- update my website to attract my ideal clients
- search engine optimization
- create marketing texts
- get media coverage
- create a local and global marketing strategy

I cannot wait to get started on this and looking forward to nurturing my business and business thinking. Thanks Judy!

Judy Jenner runs her translation business together with her twin sister Dagmar and she also does business consultation, publishes articles and gives presentations on translation and entrepreneurship. For more information, go to

entrepreneuriallinguist.com