How Google Translate helped me to establish a successful business in a foreign country
What to do when you move to a new country without yet speaking the language and you want to find local clients?
The good thing is – that we live in the 21st century, where amazing things happen on a daily basis. Times in which you can rely on technology to fit in the missing pieces of the puzzle.
I still remember the first client I landed having a conversation entirely using Google Translate. It was a magical feeling, and my gratitude to all these new technologies was over the moon. After the first one came the second one, third one, then came new connections, invitations to conventions, more clients, and the inclusion of the automated translation into my daily routine.
My take out of it:
Don’t be afraid to make grammatical mistakes, everybody understands you are a foreigner.
Make your disadvantages into advantages and don’t forget that you are interesting, show it to the world. A language is an instrument that is crucial to function in a society, if you need time to learn it, take your time, but where there is a problem – there is a solution.
Now, after three years of residing in Italy, I do communicate way better and I respond using only my own knowledge. But still I find myself in situations where my good old friend Google Translate comes in very handy. Just to double check if the spelling is right, or I did understand the client’s brief/message loud and clear.