Featured Wirral Business: International Translations Limited
My Digital Wirral spoke to Corinne Smith – the Managing Director of International Translations Limited about her business.
International Translations Limited have over 40 years of experience in providing high quality language solutions for household brands such as Bentley and the Co-op. The services they provide include translation, interpreting, and international content marketing.
In addition to her role as Managing Director for International Translation Limited, leadership award winner Corinne Smith uses her experience to mentor others, including undergraduate students at the University of Liverpool.
How many employees do you have?
We employ 4 people – 2 are home based and the rest office based.
What’s your vision for the business?
After having taken ITL ‘kicking and screaming’ into the 21st Century, my mission is to become the biggest translation agency in the North West of England in the next 5 years.
How do you find and retain clients?
I am the face of the business, so have to attend as many networking events as possible. Traditional forms of advertising are dead – even an unsexy industry such as translation needs to harness the power of social media and we do this with great success. In terms of retaining clients we make sure we offer a high quality, reliable service and we communicate with our customers regularly so have established good working relationships with them.
What’s your most memorable project or client?
We were asked to translate some information explaining how to insert an enema for a charity which is not your everyday kind of document!
How has ITL used an online presence to be successful?
ITL was fairly late to the game with its online presence. I mentioned my having brought the company ‘kicking and screaming’ into the modern era. My parents, who founded the business, didn’t have any understanding of what it is or how important it is to have an online presence. We use the typical channels – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Linkedin to promote International Translations Limited online – but it is about creating interesting content people want to read. I have an instagram – The No B***s*** Business Guide – which is humorous and authentic and contains experiences of my daily life running ITL.
What’s a normal day like for you?
Gym, emails, meetings, networking, and then chilling with the horse/dogs (down time is just as important as work time!)
What happens on the less normal days?!
It can get a little chaotic when we have to rush large projects into lots of different languages as everything needs to move quickly so the job can get underway and completed on time but without compromising the quality of the work so there are times when everyone has to drop what they’re doing so as not to let the customers down. We still need to run the business and meet with prospective clients and network too but we always find a way to make everything happen at the right time.
What skills have you found most useful in your role?
I’m naturally quite chatty and outgoing so I think that has been really helpful when it comes to networking and speaking to people in business. I’ve been learning as I go with the business so I’m acquiring new skills frequently and constantly reading, learning and trying to increase my business skill set.
Is there a piece of advice you think is particularly important to pass on?
Do not compare you or your business to anyone else and theirs.
Check out International Translations Limited’s services at www.itltranslations.com and follow them on social media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram |LinkedIn
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