Online translation entrepreneur launches Leeds-based business

Spanish entrepreneur Blanca Gonzalez is the brains behind TranslatorsVillage. The former operations manager founded the online translation portal from her Leeds base after spotting a gap in the market. Bdaily put some questions to Blanca to find out more.

In a nutshell what does Translators Village do?

TranslatorsVillage is a tool that simplifies the selection process of a translator. It provides with a panel of suitable candidates that match the clients’ selection criteria, shows the translation cost for each candidate and grants clients access to TranslatorsVillage platform, securing communication and data.

What prompted you to set up Translators Village?

Technology is providing access to many resources that were hidden before, but this can add confusion. Too much information kills information and when you search for an English Spanish translator on the internet you get 13 million results. How do you make the choice that is right for you? I thought translation should not be more difficult to choose from than a holiday destination, booking a hotel or a flight. And this is what prompted me to build TranslatorsVillage.

How have you funded the business startup?

I can only say that I have been extremely lucky with the support that I have received since the very early stages from people around me. The company is the result of a collective effort and a great part of the investment comes from friends that have offered their experience and contributed to the business success in a completely altruistic form. When so many people work with so much enthusiasm, the result has to be a great product. The rest of the investment comes from the partners and private funding. I should also mention that Leeds has a great infrastructure for startup businesses and this is very helpful when you are starting. Networking events, business conferences and also business partners that are happy to accommodate to small business budgets.

How do you attract your “citizens?“

Word of mouth has been the main source of citizen migration. People in our network had translation needs and we were responding to their demand. But we needed a structure that could provide them with the service they deserve. I have worked in translation for more than 30 years and many of my contacts are embracing the new business idea. We are also sharing knowledge and information in social media and will soon have our blog where clients and translators will be able to benefit from the information we share. We will be regularly inviting guests to make sure that we understand our client needs. There is also some advertising and PR to help more citizens to find their way to TranslatorsVillage.

What are your ambitions for the business?

Globalization will be a great source of revenue for small businesses. We want to help them grow successfully and support them with a simple to use translation solution. We also want to provide marketing and infrastructure support to translators, so they can concentrate in what they do best: translation. 90% of all business is in SMEs hands and 90% of translation is in freelance hands, so this is quite an ambitious project that I am really excited about.

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