A recent visitor to this blog commented that the US Spanish translation market is ’saturated’. Despite the fact that I attended business school and have a sense of what the word means, I found myself wanting a formal definition of the term ‘market saturation’.

A Wikipedia query and two minutes later I’m back to my own understanding of the term. Basically, in my own words now, saturation tends to describe a market that’s highly competitive. At the extreme the description could be said to portray a condition where new entrants (translation companies) can only succeed at the expense of others already in the market.

At our company we receive calls every day about new projects. Why is this? For one reason demographics are on our side. A recent CNN headline proclaimed the US as already ‘an Hispanic nation’. True enough … 1 in 7 people in the country are considered Hispanic. The ratio is expected to increase to 1 in 6 over the new few years. Language is part of the mix associated with this trend. Market saturated?

Another reason customers come to us is because we do more than provide linguistic support. It sounds almost cliche to say, but customers want ’solutions’ often times, not just services from a standard list of offerings. Companies that probe a bit into customer requests will uncover the unspoken interests and motivations for language support services. Provided the company has the qualifications, opportunities are often larger than straight translation services.

Last but not least, we work really hard on marketing. It’s surprising how many companies don’t take even the most basic steps to promote their business. A website with solid copy, well-designed, and professionalism at each customer touch point … a little bit goes a long way. The best qualified translators will never have an opportunity to apply their skills if customers can’t find them.

Is the market for Spanish translation services saturated? I say no, though whether it is or isn’t, I also say there’s always room at the top.