Tina Müller

I know it’s a bit late, but still: Happy New Year to all of you!

Although I don’t really do New Year’s Resolutions, I find the turn of the year is a good time to look back and see what I’ve achieved in 2011 and look at what I plan to achieve in 2012.

Of Cash Flow and Cash Cows

In 2011 my business went well but I kept having the feeling that I just take things as they come. One reason for that is that I have a consistently high work load and that leaves me often little time to approach things in a planned manner.

So, for 2012 I want to get a better grip on what I’m actually spending my working day on. That’s why I’m now using Freshbooks to track the time I spend on each project. Previously I tried to keep track of things using spreadsheets but I find that get’s very messy very quickly. Freshbooks also provides an invoicing tool, which I haven’t tested yet. At the end of the month I’ll know more about that.

Once I use the invoicing tool I will hopefully be able to run reports on my earnings per hour which should give me a better indication of who are my cash cows.

You shall upgrade

Being a bit of a translation software buff, I upgraded to Trados Studio 2011 just before Christmas and I haven’t regretted it so far. Unfortunately, because of the upgrade there now seems to be a problem with my licence for the old Trados 2007 which is still required by some client. However, I also work on those files using Studio now as I really can’t stand the interface.

More good things to come

For the sheer fun of it I signed up for a beginners French course which will start next week – I’m very excited about this! I did 3 years of French in school but that is stuck so far in the back of my brain that it’s virtually non-existent, so let’s start afresh. I’m already looking forward to taking my hubby and our little Fiat on a holiday to the land of good food and wine to practice my skills.

Otherwise, I hope to finally officially change my name after having been married for almost a year and – also finally – get a website up and running.

I hope you have ambitious plans for the new year too and I wish you the best of luck in putting them into practice!

Although I’ve only been freelancing for a relatively short time, I’ve had quite a number of aspiring freelance translators asking me for advice on how to start out in the business. Their questions – and the realisation that I could answer most of them straight away – showed me how much I’ve learned working as a freelance translator within the space of about 2 years.

Yes, I was scared too

Without going to much into detail of the circumstances that made me go freelance, I can say that I was less scared of not having an employer anymore, but instead of my own courage. Since my decision to become a freelancer was rather short-notice, there were a lot of things I had to learn about very quickly. However, I was determinded to take one step at a time.

It’s not rocket science

Once I started going to local business meet-ups, I’ve come to realise that my business had not a lot to do with risk at all – actually quite the opposite as I see it now. Let’s compare us to a plumber, using two examples:

1) A plumber has to buy materials, which means he has to pay money to get money in the first place. We don’t have to pay someone else or rely on someone else to get the job done. If someone doesn’t pay you, it was your time and effort that you’re going to loose out on, but usually your business is not at stake.

2) His working hours on-site are not as flexible, because he can’t still lie under someone’s kitchen sink at 11pm. We can work when and wherever we want; if that’s a good thing, you can decide yourself once you’ve got too much to do.

Into the great wide open

I’d describe my first, say, 4 months as a freelance translator as a rollercoaster ride that was incredible fun, but also gave me the shivers at times. To overcome the lows and stay on the ground during the highs, I highly recommend to read all those excellent blogs by other freelance translators out there: Thanks to you, I never felt alone and brought a fading motivation back on track.

Love what you do

For me, being passionate about what I do is of utmost importance. I spend a big part of my day being a freelance translator and I love every minute of it!

Since I recently took the plunge and got married, I now feel ready for another leap and get started with this blog.

I’m a freelance English to German translator living in London and plan to shine some light on my life as a freelancer, a translator and a person who works from home.

I’ve enjoyed reading blogs for some time and would like to share my experiences in the translation profession with others, hear about others’ ideas and thoughts and get more involved in the translation/writing online community.

Some things I’m planning to write about:

- Life as a freelancer

- Translation and work efficiency tools

- Germany and the Germans

- Britain and the British

- Observations of the translation industry

and lots of other stuff.

Outside my professional life, I have a wide variety of interests including sports (swimming, running, Pilates, Yoga), eating out, cooking, knitting and whatever else crosses my path.

I hope you’ll enjoy reading this blog, so stay tuned for my first shot at a “serious” post;)