Can You Say &quotProfits"? This entrepreneur's interpreting service spells success in any language.
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Can you explain "appendectomy" in Gujarati? Translatefire safety instructions into Serbo-Croatian? Speak Amharic? HortonInterpreting Services Inc. can.
An international company needs a safety manual in 20 languages.A hospital patient speaks only Cambodian. A welfare agency wants toreach immigrants. From the third floor of a renovated Victorianhouse in Providence, Rhode Island, Juana Horton fields their calls,draws up contracts, recruits and trains consultant-interpreters,and schedules assignments. Her kingdom includes three offices, twocomputers and two omnipresent pagers, by now almost melded to herbody. Last year, Horton Interpreting Services grossed more than$250,000.
Her mantra is "Why not?" Horton, 45, didn't trainas an interpreter. Born in this country of Venezuelan diplomatparents, she was bilingual but spoke Spanish only at home. Nor didshe study business--during two years of college, she took liberalarts courses. Yet Horton has succeeded because at criticaljunctures, she asked "Why not?"
Breaking Away
The first "Why not?" came in 1981, when Horton was 27and working in Brown University's human relations department.Although she wasn't hired (or trained) to interpret, she oftenhelped Spanish-speaking job applicants fill out applications.
The second "Why not?" came after the birth of herdaughter in 1984, when Horton wanted more flexible hours. Sheworked as an independent consultant until 1991, when she joined aProvidence, Rhode Island, company that helps immigrants acclimateto the United States. After two-and-a-half years of interpreting,bookkeeping and the like, Horton grew tired of the steadilyincreasing hours without the paycheck to match. "I was burntout," Horton recalls. Yet burnout led to an epiphany: "Ican do this all by myself. Why don't I try?"
On Her Own
It was January 1994. The next step was to clear the dining roomtable of her East Providence home and transform the room into heroffice. Her husband, Jeffrey, installed her computer, and with adedicated phone/fax line, a Macintosh and a stack of newly printedbrochures, Horton Interpreting Services was born. Her first jobscame easily: Previous clients called to request her services--andkept calling. When Horton had too many requests to fill, she hiredconsultants. And before long, she decided to expand beyondSpanish.
This one-person business, though, entailed inordinateadministrative time. A client might schedule one emergency sessionand never return. Horton needed contracts: a guaranteed number ofhours of interpreting per month.
Horton knew hospitals, businesses and state agencies all putinterpreting contracts out to bid, but she didn't know how toget into that loop. So she called purchasing agents she'dworked with before and asked what contracts they were putting outto bid. "[Agency staff members were] excited to hear I'dgone into business for myself," says Horton. That one-on-onecontact served her well: By the end of her second year, she had aneven flow of contracts and enough consultants (50 to 60) to respondto requests for up to 35 languages.
The Crisis of Success
But success, Horton recalls, temporarily turned into anightmare. Working to run the business, she left billing forlast--a big mistake. Typically, clients took two to three months topay--yet Horton had to pay her consultant-interpreters monthly.
Her first recourse was to seek a bank loan to cover cash flow.Because she lacked collateral, though, she was refused--threetimes. The situation forced expansion: In March 1997, Horton movedinto her current office. Unwittingly, she found a godparent: theSouth Providence Development Corp., a nonprofit employmentdevelopment firm that happened to be one of Horton'sco-tenants.
Funded largely by three neighborhood hospitals, the company wasworking to revive the neighborhood by spurring the employment ofresidents--mostly in the sponsoring hospitals, but also through the"incubation" of new businesses. By settling at 550 BroadSt., Horton Interpreting fell under the New Village Industriesumbrella, which enhanced Horton's clout with hospitalpurchasing agents. At last, Horton got the larger contracts sheneeded.
Business continued to pick up from there: By 1995, clientrequests for written translation had become so common, she decidedto make it a priority. This service is more difficult to price,though: Horton charges by the word, but she must estimate forclients in advance a price for consultants fees and computer time.Computer glitches can eat up hours, like when she runs acrossincompatible computer programs. A "simple" translationcan take days. Some jobs have been disasters, Horton admits,because she priced them too low.
Yet Horton has persevered, learning through trial-and-errorpricing. Today, written translation accounts for 25 percent of herbusiness. She has more than 200 consultants who can respond torequests for up to 70 languages. And next year, when her Web siteis up, she expects clients, consultants and her company to connectvia modem, as she moves her business's reach beyond Providenceand into cyberspace. Why not?
Words Of Wisdom
1. Know your product. Before starting her own business,Juana Horton learned the ropes at her former job: how to recruitconsultants, schedule sessions, follow up with clients and dobookkeeping. She gained not only the confidence that she could dothe business by herself, but also the knowledge necessary to doso.
2. Love what you do. "You can't work 65 hours aweek doing something you don't like," says Horton, whoworks longer hours than she did as an employee. "I love what Ido."
3. Find "incubators" that foster youngbusinesses. Horton found allies among her co-tenants. Herbuilding offers common training and conference rooms. The nearbyBryant College Business Information Center has a bank of computersshe uses. And employment development company South ProvidenceDevelopment Corp. took her business under its New VillageIndustries wing, giving her preferential status in bidding forhospitals' contracts.
4. Be grateful for assistance. Purchasing departments andthe Social Security Office were helpful, says Horton: "Whenyou approach state and community agencies in a grateful,appreciative manner," she says, "they go out of their wayto help."
5. Expect a few lean years. During her first year inbusiness, Horton netted less than her priorsalary--consultants' wages pared her profit margin, and shepriced some translation jobs too low. Today, though, she earnstriple her previous salary, and she expects her business, herearnings and her enjoyment to grow.
Joan Retsinas is a writer in Providence, RhodeIsland.
Contact Sources
Perspective, 3 Byron Rd., Natick, MA 01760,(508)?50-5766
The Shoe Fits, 8528 Moller Rd., Indianapolis, IN 46268,(317)?71-8880
Short Game Inc., P.O. Box 2616, McKinney, TX 75070,(800)?91-7888, (214)?20-9576
