It’s OK to take your time

I recently heard author/translator Chris Durban comment that so many suggestions for improving your writing boil down to this: take your time. Let’s take that advice one step further: taking your time is important in every aspect of your business.

I am a firm believer in taking baby steps, using training wheels, and generally growing slowly, because you get more time to think about long-term, key questions like Who is my gotta-work-with-them set of clients? and Is this the best way to get my message across to those people?

Earlier on in the business development process, those important questions look more like Am I actually a strong writer? or Do I know enough about X to say I specialize in it? These are not trivial, secondary concerns for you as a freelancer (or 9-to-5 applicant!). They are the meat of your craft. Working towards an affirmative response to either is not an overnight process, but it helps you produce something that lasts.

Take your time while you do background research. Take your time while you proofread. And, above all, take your time while you grow your business. Your clients will thank you for your quality output, your family will thank you for your lowered stress levels, and you will be able to appreciate the satisfaction of having created not just one fantastic translation, but a consistently wonderful product and a truly personalized company. And that is a beautiful thing.