It’s been quite a while since the last post and a lot has happened in the meanwhile. Obviously, things have been busy for the Alchemist!
Christmas
First of all, Merry (if a bit late!) Christmas to everyone. I hope you spent it cozied up near a fireplace with a hot drink. My own festivities were a bit muted due to the cold virus that’s been going around in Estonia, but things are slowly getting better.
New Year
The end of the year rush, which carried on to 2017 at a full run, has finally slowed down a bit, so I can look back and do some statistics. So, the year 2016 in facts and figures (results for 2015 shown in brackets, for comparison):
Invoices sent: 118 (92)
Projects completed: 310 (192)
Busiest months: October & November (February & December)
Gray hair gained: 0 (2)
Biggest project: 28 000 words (117304 words)
Most frequent translation area: Marketing (Technical)
Most interesting project: Yard Sauna (Contraception website)
New clients gained: 9 (3)
Record project income: 2400 € (5000 €)
Translation vs Editing: 89.7% vs 10.3% (97,5% vs 2,5%)
As you can see, 2016 saw the rise in invoices sent, project amount, and clients gained. Instead of big chunky tasks, the work oriented towards smaller, but more frequent projects. Marketing took over Technical, the words were indeed flowing quite freely that year. Another noteworthy fact is the growing income share of proofreading: +7.5% is a big leap!
Birthday
Your favorite go-to English Estonian translation service provider Alchemist Translations turned 3 this January. May there be at least 30 more such occasions! New clients are coming in, bringing along fascinating projects. Busy-busy!
Non-paying customer
Not everything has been a cakewalk, though. I’ve had my first instance of not getting paid for my services. At the moment, of 3 outstanding invoices, the oldest one is 135 days overdue. I was led on by promises, then came excuses, and finally: silence. No replies to e-mails. The irony of the situation? The sum I’m owed is noticeable enough for a freelancer, yet not big enough so that debt collectors would take it up. So the unethical company will most likely get away with this. I’ve seen enough “what goes around, comes around” in my life to be sure they’ll get what’s coming for them sooner or later. Oh, and the company name is Worldwide Business. EDIT (20.01.2017): after 3 weeks of total silence on their part they suddenly paid the sum in full.
After the experience, I’ve taken on a much keener interest in Proz.com Blue Board. Learn the lesson, move on. I also decided to upgrade my Proz.com subscriber package to Plus Package, to fully benefit. Lots of useful features for beginning and experienced translators alike.
Alchemist giving back
It’s now become an annual, end of the year tradition to make a donation to a worthy cause. Being a father myself, I can only imagine how hard it must be growing up without parents. Because of that, the 2016 donation went to the Orphan Support project of the Self-help and Advisory Centre for Senior Citizens (SACSC), as it’s difficult for the retired grandparents of orphaned children to develop their interests, but the children yearn for new knowledge and experience, impressions and contacts. The program supports carefully planning activities within the scope of the Orphan Support project that would further the development of children in as many areas as possible – theatre, cinema, museums, exhibitions, training, sports and trips.