| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | How much Money did you saved before you started as a Freelancer? Thread poster: DominicDannies
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Starting as a Freelance Translator is a big step full of uncerntainty. Hence I am still quite unsure what kind of budgeting is reasonable. I would like to know, speaking of your own experience, with what kind of amount of money you felt comfortable at the very first day of your journey as a freelance translator ? Thanks.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:57
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| As a freelancer | Sep 8, 2022 |
DominicDannies wrote:
Starting as a Freelance Translator is a big step full of uncerntainty. Hence I am still quite unsure what kind of budgeting is reasonable. I would like to know, speaking of your own experience, with what kind of amount of money you felt comfortable at the very first day of your journey as a freelance translator ? Thanks.
Since I began working as a translator, I have actually made so much money that I have been able to save a lot of it.
[Edited at 2022-09-08 10:28 GMT]
| | | | Victor Muruet 
Local time: 15:57
Member (2003)
English to Spanish
+ ...
| Income stream | Sep 8, 2022 |
It comes down to how far can you go with an irregular income at first. As you are starting, you are establishing your clientele.
I was told a good rule of thumb is having savings that cover your expenses for a year or 2 so you can dedicate to honing your skills, marketing and so forth without rushing to take jobs you are not comfortable withs and therefore burn your bridges. At the same time, if you work in another industry even part time, it might be a potential specialisation for you, so... See more It comes down to how far can you go with an irregular income at first. As you are starting, you are establishing your clientele.
I was told a good rule of thumb is having savings that cover your expenses for a year or 2 so you can dedicate to honing your skills, marketing and so forth without rushing to take jobs you are not comfortable withs and therefore burn your bridges. At the same time, if you work in another industry even part time, it might be a potential specialisation for you, so 2 birds with one stone.
[Edited at 2022-09-08 23:30 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 07:57
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Not much, but I got a large job | Sep 8, 2022 |
DominicDannies wrote:
I am still quite unsure what kind of budgeting is reasonable. I would like to know, speaking of your own experience, with what kind of amount of money you felt comfortable at the very first day of your journey as a freelance translator?
I always thought I would be a part-time freelancer, but then one of my clients offered me a very, very large job, for which I would have to resign my salaried position (otherwise I would not have enough time to do the client's job). I think the one job was worth about a year's salary at my salaried position. And since I already had several other freelance clients, I took the plunge. I did not have much of a buffer at the time, so I was quite happy that the client paid me after each monthly invoice.
When I was at college, we were taught that you should save up 6-12 months' worth of buffer. Of course, building up your client base by doing part-time freelance work is also a strategy.
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Kay Denney
France
Local time: 07:57
French to English
I had some money squirreled away in a savings account, enough to live on for a couple of years.
I've been very lucky not to ever need it, since I got a tidy sum in severance when I was made redundant, I got several good clients straight away, and the government paid compensation for loss of earnings during Covid.
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 08:57
Member
English to Turkish
Kay Denney wrote:
since I got a tidy sum in severance when I was made redundant
Good to see that I'm not the only person made redundant.. best thing that ever happened to me financially (breaking into freelancing).
| | | | Adieu
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
| Consider a different career | Sep 8, 2022 |
We're fighting against the machines here and they seem to have the upper hand.
Experienced specialists might hold out for a few more years and even do well, but I wouldn't call this a newbie-friendly industry with long-term prospects.
Sorry.
PS if you're a lawyer, doctor, or engineer who suddenly woke up and decided he no longer wants to work set hours with human beings, you might do OK for a while. Otherwise, just say no.
| | | | | Zero, I just got my last pay and quit | Sep 8, 2022 |
No severance money either because I was quitting. It was 2008, crisis time, so the director thought he'd get away with not paying us for three months in a row: no one was supposed to quit anyway because crisis. That was also why he'd make me call and write different international companies asking them for free services in exchange for a chance to build connections with our city government (I was working for an agency attached to the city government and tasked with providing information services ... See more No severance money either because I was quitting. It was 2008, crisis time, so the director thought he'd get away with not paying us for three months in a row: no one was supposed to quit anyway because crisis. That was also why he'd make me call and write different international companies asking them for free services in exchange for a chance to build connections with our city government (I was working for an agency attached to the city government and tasked with providing information services for tourists). I had a nasty phone talk to a lady from the UK representing an advertising company: they'd created a commercial video for us and wanted to collect GBP 1,500 for it, and I was supposed to explain to her that they wouldn't get paid, at least in the near future, because crisis. I wrote my first translation test for an agency on my last day in the office and quit. My freelance career wasn't that long, I made a contract with the military in 2013 just for a spin (and because I was afraid of another crisis coming), and after the contract expired, I was able to land a permanent job as a translator/editor, which is where I'm at now. Maybe I ought to have spent this time upping my game on the freelance front, after all. It took me quite a bit of time to bring my pay rates to a decent level, but I was never going hungry
[Edited at 2022-09-08 15:51 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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IrinaN
United States
Local time: 00:57
English to Russian
+ ...
| Better than money | Sep 8, 2022 |
Before plunging into freelancing, I secured 3 3-year renewable contracts with multi-billion space and oil industries via major agencies in my city.
If I were to wait for savings for 2 years and kept a full-time position with my prime agency, which I held for 1.5 years, I would not have doubled my cash inflow vs what I was getting after taxes on the 59K salary in 1997.
| | | | Jessica Noyes
United States
Local time: 01:57
Member
Spanish to English
+ ...
Back in the before times, I was teaching part time as an adjunct in a university and taking translation classes. After I felt ready to translate, I continued working part time so I could still cover basic expenses. Almost a year later, I was working a total of 10-12 hours a day in both endeavors, and at that point I could quit teaching and just translate.
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 07:57
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
| 3-month buffer | Sep 9, 2022 |
DominicDannies wrote:
Starting as a Freelance Translator is a big step full of uncerntainty. Hence I am still quite unsure what kind of budgeting is reasonable. I would like to know, speaking of your own experience, with what kind of amount of money you felt comfortable at the very first day of your journey as a freelance translator ? Thanks.
Some people here refer to a buffer of one or even two years, but I think that is completely unrealistic for most people. If I'm not mistaken (it's been a while), I had provided for a buffer of 3 months. That may not seem much at first glance, but if you don't have any clients yet and have nothing else to do but offer your services to potential clients, 3 months is quite a long period.
Otherwise, don't let the overrepresented doom-mongers on this platform get you down. There will always be those who succeed and those who do not, even and especially today in the era of upcoming machine translation. Good luck!
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 07:57
French to English
Baran Keki wrote: Kay Denney wrote:
since I got a tidy sum in severance when I was made redundant Good to see that I'm not the only person made redundant.. best thing that ever happened to me financially (breaking into freelancing).
Best thing that ever happened to me financially, and also in terms of mental well-being (I've been so happy as my own boss, especially during Covid which would just have been hell as an employee). The only things I miss is laughs with my colleagues and the commute along the river.
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Kay Denney
France
Local time: 07:57
French to English
Lieven Malaise wrote:
Some people here refer to a buffer of one or even two years, but I think that is completely unrealistic for most people.
I had my savings in an account long before I ever wanted to start freelancing. My Dad was a very cautious person and I inherited his ability to worry about every last possible thing that could go wrong.
And as I said, I never needed to use the money, so it wasn't necessary in financial terms, only in terms of me not panicking.
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When I plunged into freelancing some 40 years ago, I had no income (the company I worked for went bankrupt) and almost no money saved (single mother of 3 children), but what goes around comes around and here I am now…
| | | | Panopticon
Spain
Local time: 07:57
Member (2012)
Spanish to English
I went freelance without having any money saved up at all. I just took the plunge, bit the bullet and 12 years later (wow, where did the time go?) I am doing very well. So glad I took that risk. I have many very happy repeat customers that I collaborate with regularly and translation is a profession that I love working in. The longer I do it, the more I love it and the more I appreciate how important it is in the grand scheme of things for good translators to exist. I'm currently studying for th... See more I went freelance without having any money saved up at all. I just took the plunge, bit the bullet and 12 years later (wow, where did the time go?) I am doing very well. So glad I took that risk. I have many very happy repeat customers that I collaborate with regularly and translation is a profession that I love working in. The longer I do it, the more I love it and the more I appreciate how important it is in the grand scheme of things for good translators to exist. I'm currently studying for the DipTrans exam and am really enjoying the reading materials. It's the sort of profession where continuous professional development (CPD) is a must. ▲ Collapse
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