How Translation Helps Business Survive Recession

by: BMA Editorial Team 3

The prevailing economic environment is without a doubt challenging but businesses, their proprietors and managers should not feel helpless. There are positive actions that can be taken to ride out the worst dips, or even gain competitive advantage for when the situation improves. But, first, some hard facts. Unless you have been stranded on a remote island for the past year, you will be aware the UK is currently experiencing the longest recession since the Second World War. The economy in the USA has also taken a massive hit, adding to the financial gloom across the English-speaking world. Despite Gordon Brown's assurances that the UK was better placed than most to ride out the recession, recent economic statistics have painted a rather different picture. While Japan, France and Germany have already enjoyed six months of recovery, the latest figures confirm that the British economy has suffered six straight quarters of declining output. The UK is now expected to be the last major economy to claw its way out of recession.

Such patterns have had an impact on the currency markets. Sterling has continued to fall against the euro and the Japanese yen. This is a pattern that is not expected to change rapidly. Bank of England predictions suggest inflation will undershoot the 2% target for CPI. As a result, interest rates are expected to remain low through to 2011. Analysts at Société Générale recently conjured images of the distant past when they put out a note asking "Is the UK the sick man of Europe?" Such an economic climate has placed immense pressure on SMEs, with UK businesses continuing to face uncertainty.

If anything is clear, it is that the global recession is not playing out evenly. However, although Britain seems to be faring worse in this turn of events, it is not all doom and gloom. Economic recovery in Europe may offer some cause for optimism here in Britain. We live in an increasingly globalized world - economies across the globe rely upon one another. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the fact that the trigger of this recession has been attributed to the problems in the US sub-prime mortgage market of 2007. Business Secretary Lord Mandelson recently pointed out that an estimated 55% of UK trade is with Europe; economic recovery in Europe is therefore good news for UK business.

In addition, the weak pound may actually aid recovery. Although painful during the summer holidays, the state of the sterling currently makes UK products and services more attractive to global consumers. Already we have seen evidence of increasing demand for British goods in foreign markets. Monopolising on these trends could potentially help to speed economic recovery in the UK.

So how might SMEs take advantage of European recovery? One such way of harnessing the benefits proffered by an improving European market is through translation services. Translating brochures into French or German can open up new markets for businesses and offer the opportunity to tap into international markets that have not been so badly hit. Similarly the translation of websites can attract the attention of new potential customers abroad, many of which will be looking to take advantage of the weak pound. Monopolizing on the strength of foreign markets in this way can essentially offer a method for "recession proofing" your business.

The huge choice of possible translation services may at first be slightly overwhelming to SMEs hoping to expand into foreign markets. A popular starting point for European translation is described by the acronym FIGS - French, Italian, German, Spanish. Germany alone has been named the 5th largest economy in the world. In 2008 it had an estimated GDP of US$ 2.8 trillion - more than a quarter greater than that of the UK. Likewise France, Italy and Spain have been ranked 8th, 10th and 12th largest world economies respectively.

Once one considers some of the other countries where FIGS are primary native languages the figures become even more staggering - Austria, Argentina, Switzerland, Mexico, Canada (in Quebec), Venezuela to name but a few. In addition, there are large numbers of people who speak one of the FIGS languages as a foreign or second language. Practical reasons also make FIGS translation a sensible choice. The FIGS languages use the Roman alphabet and hence are relatively straightforward to use in a range of typefaces and on the web. In summary, FIGS translation offers a simple and straightforward way of breaking into a diverse range of foreign markets.

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Date: 2015-01-29; view: 847