Translating for fun and profit, Peter Smethurst

This session will concentrate on working smarter rather than harder and on ideas and methods to ensure a good night’s sleep. It will use an imaginary job to look at the entire process from beginning to end, including all the boring but essential stuff that helps things go as smoothly as possible. Many translators waste a lot of time and lose a lot of sleep because they have not planned their work properly, spend time firefighting and clearing up, are not sure where they are with billing, who has paid them, or what to do when the BTW or income tax bills arrive. I will draw on my experience of running my own business and previously in finance to offer tips and ideas that have served me well.

About the presenter

After qualifying as a chartered accountant, Peter moved to the Netherlands in 1981. Following jobs in finance and the computer industry, he began as a professional translator 25 years ago, first as an employee and after 18 months as a zzp’er. He specialises in financial and other commercial work.