All businesses / Translation agency

Fingerprint: capital · hours · speed to income · margin · ceiling. The dashed line is mid-scale.

Start a translation agency: the real numbers

Managed translation for businesses. Below is what it actually costs, how long before money arrives, and the part most guides leave out.

Startup capital

€800–€6,000

Hours / week

15–45

First income

~8 wks

Net margin

45%

Saturation

high

Realistic ceiling

€900–€6,000+

This ceiling is not a wall

The figure above is what this earns in the shape described — you, running it. Past that it keeps going, but by hiring people or adding units, not by you working more hours. That is a different job from the one you would be starting, and worth knowing before you start it.

What nobody usually tells you

Managing translators pays better than translating, and the work is fully remote and repeatable. Machine translation has flattened the low end permanently — only regulated and specialist content still pays properly.

The route, in five steps

  1. Start as the translator, become the project manager
  2. Specialise: legal, medical and technical pay double
  3. Build a vetted freelancer bench before you need it
  4. Quote per word with a minimum, and keep a 40-50% margin
  5. Agencies and law firms send repeat volume; individuals do not

What you'll need to buy

These are the categories every translation agency pays for in the first month. We break down what each one actually costs at this size on the tools page.

translator networkCAT softwareproject systemprofessional insurance

Does it hold up for you?

These numbers are the average case. Whether this business clears your target depends on your capital, your hours and how long you can wait — put them in and see.

Run my numbers → See the tool stack