Poll: Do you feel like you have just the right number of clients at the moment?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
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Jun 10, 2017

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you feel like you have just the right number of clients at the moment?".

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Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 15:11
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
No Jun 10, 2017

You can never have too many clients! Two years ago I lost three big clients because the contacts I was working with all retired. While my plate is full right now and I have a long list of past clients (60-plus), too many things can happen to change the status quo.

 
EvaVer (X)
EvaVer (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 23:11
Czech to French
+ ...
True, but... Jun 10, 2017

Muriel Vasconcellos wrote:

You can never have too many clients! Two years ago I lost three big clients because the contacts I was working with all retired. While my plate is full right now and I have a long list of past clients (60-plus), too many things can happen to change the status quo.

I came to a point when it's difficult to manage. When you have 50+ clients, it becomes very difficult to remember them - I have a DB and look things up when a less-than-regular client contacts me again. And I would like to get rid of some bottom feeders for which I started working in bad times. Except that, from time to time, they offer me jobs on acceptable terms, either what's locally "foreign to foreign" or just a pair difficult to find in a specific place and time, for which they are prepared to pay better rates (while the actual pair can be LESS work for me, such as Bulgarian to Czech or English to French, both easier than EN/CZ that is very poorly paid in my country and that I generally dislike). So that I refuse jobs one by one, sometimes several per day, which is time-consuming and gets on my nerves - I am not very assertive and feel badly about saying no to people.

[Edited at 2017-06-10 08:46 GMT]


 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 22:11
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Yes, but I wouldn't mind a few more Jun 10, 2017

As Muriel says you can never have too many clients! Over the years I have managed to build a good and faithful client base, what I would love to have is a more regular workflow but my experience has been that the translation world is completely and utterly unpredictable.

 
writeaway
writeaway  Identity Verified
French to English
+ ...
What's the right number? Jun 10, 2017

It's one thing to talk about the right number for those of us who are one-income earners freelancing in this volatile market where CAT tools and low rates seem to matter more than actual translation skills and the quality/accuracy of the translation produced. The right number of clients takes on a different perspective if there is a second income in the family or if a translator is already collecting a healthy pension and freelancing as a source of additional income.

 
Amlaku Eshetie
Amlaku Eshetie
United States
Local time: 16:11
English to Amharic
+ ...
No Jun 10, 2017

I just have one reliable and big client.The rest of tthem are several small and seldom-coming clients. So, I really am looking for a couple of more bigger and dependable clients/agencies.

I suggest referring to one another will help us more clients. So, anyone who knows an agency or client who is in need of Amharic and other major African languages translation, please refer it to me or recommend me to them.

Thank you!
Amlaku


 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 19:11
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other = Yes and No Jun 10, 2017

Considering I have enough clients to fill my agenda and pay my bills, I would answer "yes".
However, I still have a difference between rates paid by the clients that range from 5% to 50% (!). So, the ideal situation is to replace these clients that pay 50% less with clients that pay a decent rate. In other words, more clients in Europe and North America to replace them. I don't work for peanuts since 2010, but I still consider I have some semi-peanuts in my portfolio.


 


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Poll: Do you feel like you have just the right number of clients at the moment?






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