Trying not to get lost in translation

As more foreign businesses enter the Polish market, the demand for foreign-language translations is skyrocketing, market insiders say. Still, this growing demand is accompanied by a continuous increase in supply, which is pushing market players to look for new ways to remain competitive.

Rafał Wanke, a marketing director for translation agency Skrivanek, explains that translating services have become polarized. "At present, there is a limited number of large agencies providing corporate services, and a large group of small companies serving mostly individual clients."

These small fry are irritating the big fish, however. Radosław Pilarski, the director of translation agency Mlingua, says that small, one-person offices are spoiling the market with rock-bottom prices while providing very poor quality. "To be reliable, a translated text requires several corrections and proofs, which increases costs. That's why many clients choose cheaper translators, regardless of the risk of inaccurate translations," complains Pilarski.

In response, more and more agencies are beginning to develop new services to be offered along with translations. These include drawing up PR texts and promotional materials or providing the audio equipment for conferences.

The market is also seeing an increase in demand for more "exotic" languages, such as Bulgarian, Turkish or Croatian. Skrivanek's Wanke explains. Still, Pilarski claims that offering translations in less popular languages serves mainly to build up a company's reputation rather than generate substantial profits.