Businesses in London, and indeed across the county, are increasingly needing to ready themselves for increased foreign trade. However, it is often the case that the amount of business translation services required to ensure all documents and communications are accurately translated is underestimated. Here we look at the some of the documents that will need business translation services. 

Legal Translations

Legal translations are a vital aspect for doing business in another country. For example, if a company wishes to trade in Spain, the Spanish translation will need to incorporate the potential differences in the legal processes and legislations between the UK and Spain. The Spanish translations will need to cover elements such as:

• Contracts
• Import / Export Documentation
• Terms and Conditions 
• Insurance Policy Documents
• Regulatory Documentation

Financial Translations

It is likely that during the trading process, there will be the need to have financial reports and paperwork translations. Using the Spanish translation as an example, this could include:

• Financial Pages contained within the company Annual Reports
• Product and Services Price / Charge Sheets
• Compliance Documentation
• Sales Performance Reports
• Bid and Acquisition Submissions

Technical Translations

Dependent on the type of business, there may be a need to translate more complex technical information. This is a highly skilled area of business translation services as the complexity and detail requires a highly experienced subject matter translator. The success of the trading relation will be, in part, reliant on the customer being able to understand the product they are looking to purchase. Therefore, the types of documents that a business will need to consider for technical document translation include:

• Technical User Manuals
• Technical Drawings
• Scientific Documents
• Engineering Specifications
• Software Translations

Marketing Communications 

In addition to the more technical and legal translations, it is important for businesses to concisely communicate the marketing messages. There are wide range of ways in which a business can communicate with its potential overseas market. Again, using the Spanish translations as an example, it will be important to have accurately translated marketing messages to include the cultural as well as the language differences. This will include areas such as Spanish nuances and accurate context. 

The array of marketing translations can include any of the following include:

• Product Packaging
• Product / Service Literature
• Sales Brochures / Printed Marketing Materials 
• Website(s) – Including URL, SEO, Tags
• Social Media Platforms
• Automated Phone Messages
• Email Footers / Headers

Planning your Business Translation Services

Planning the translation process is the only way to ensure that the translation projects run smoothly. Spanish translations, or indeed any translations, should be simplified to help make sure the business translation service becomes more cost effective. This can be helped by having the documentation methodically proofread by an expert who fully understands the subject matter. This way you will reduce the risk of having to make costly changes.

In-House or Outsourced?

The question as to whether the business translation services should be run in-house by employing a translator, or whether it is more efficient to have the business translation services outsourced to a specialist agency continues to be a quandary for many businesses.

Back in May we discussed this question in our article entitled Translation Services – In-House or Outsource. Unless you intend on only trading with one country in one other language, it will be costly to employ a dedicated translator for each language. The flexibility and scalability of using an outsourced agency, such as Romo Translations, becomes significantly more cost effective. 

Many businesses are now of a size that the global markets are the next step in their growth. This is where Romo Translations can help support the move into new markets by providing accurate translations in every language. If you are looking at this as your next step, please give us a call on 0203 696 8680 to discuss how we can help you.