Friday 4th January 2008
We talk to Daniel Rajkumar, MD of Web-Translations, about the rise and rise of his company which has evolved from a University project into a profitable enterprise, in just a few short years...
It’s hard to not envy somebody like Daniel Rajkumar. Driven and accomplished, yet sickeningly young. Even though he’s just turned 27, he doesn’t look a day over 18, a real spring chicken for sure. What’s more, he is the proud face of a highly profitable internet translation business, one that he started in his bedroom while studying at Leeds University. A magnificent achievement by anyone’s standards and one that, commendably, he never takes for granted.
We meet Daniel in his Wakefield office on a Friday morning, a bright and cheerful abode that houses his hard-working staff, many computer screens and a well-earned trophy cabinet.
Although only a few hours shy of the weekend, it is clear from his smart attire and busy team that Friday is still business as usual.
“I was up until 1 am this morning,” he tells me, in an effort to brush off his barely noticeable tiredness. “Admin,” he clarifies.
An automatic response would be to say that you can’t get the staff these days, but that would be a lie. He clearly can. Daniel is evidently a very hands-on employer, and the passing years have certainly not waned his passion and enthusiasm for a business that he has nurtured since his student days.
“Web-Translations started as a University project. I used foreign language students to do the translations, some friends I had in the computing department to help put together the website and more friends helped to do the promotion and email marketing.”
Not a bad climb from someone who started his University business career updating cheap laptops on Ebay and selling them on for a profit. Clearly, Web Translations seemed the more viable option.
“We had a number of meetings, pushed the website and tried to generate a bit of revenue. Eventually, we got a few clients and when I graduated I thought...why not try and do this full time?”
So, while juggling a Computing and Management degree, Daniel was also flexing his entrepreneurial muscles preparing to take on the big boys once he graduated. The secret of such youthful determination is perhaps down to a strong self-employed family unit. Both Daniel’s brother and father run their own businesses.
“Business is in the blood,” he says, but this alone wasn’t enough to guarantee success. As the internet market rapidly expanded, Daniel needed a selling point to attract big name clients to use his translation services. To coin a musical term, he needed a ‘hook’.
“We’re positioned between the language service industry and the web industry,” he says. “It’s difficult for a company to find a really good language service provider. There are a lot of rogue translators out there and a lot that just don’t cut the mustard. Many web companies are unable to meet deadlines and struggle to deliver on their services. What we do is recruit really good project managers, really good translators and developers, and bring all of that together to offer a complete service that’s as good as it gets.”
So good, it seems, that top brands like Timberland, Smythson of Bond Street, and Tate & Lyle all want in on the action. But it doesn’t stop there: Daniel’s Web-Translations also endorse translations for many local and regional businesses, with plans to go super national.
“The great thing about the internet is that most people use it for research so people find you rather than you having to find other people. If your website is in a different language and can be found in a number of different keyword searches, clients will be more likely to find you and they’ll be more likely to buy from you.”
Daniel hopes to open offices in London and the US within the next 12 months as his business has achieved a 100% growth every year since its inception. He’s hoping to achieve a turnover of £1,300,000 this year, heavily expanding on last year’s total of £500,000. And let’s not forget that trophy cabinet; winner of the ‘Broadband Britain Challenge’ and currently the holder of ‘Best Internet Company in West Yorkshire,’ not to mention a whole host of nominations for other prestigious business awards. So far he has ten staff members but the team is expanding all the time and, to make matters begrudgingly worse, they’re almost all between the ages of 22 and 30. His office is like a GAP advertisement.
As the successor of a University funded start-up enterprise scheme, how much does Daniel value the help and encouragement that is more than forthcoming at many Universities in the region?
“It’s invaluable,” he says, “I was quite fortunate because my degree and my studies gave me the background knowledge of what work I needed to do with the resources that were available to me. Nobody’s going to do it for you, but if you’ve got a very specific problem then these people and resources can be really useful.”
So, is entrepreneurship still alive and well in today’s schools and Universities compared to the days when Daniel was graduating and Gordon Brown was predicting great change for students looking to implement their new business mind sets?
“There are more people going into it and succeeding at it,” he says, “It’s a great alternative to getting a job or, if you’re not in the career path that you had your sight set on, then it can certainly provide a good alternative. But, will it replace working for large corporate companies in graduate recruitment schemes?” He pauses, and then answers his own question.
“There are a lot of things that the large corporate companies can offer, like job security, a regular salary and career progression. Whereas, when you set up your own company, you are really taking your life in your own hands.”
But, who ever said that choosing your own destiny was easy? Daniel still highly endorses government-backed schemes to help encourage young entrepreneurship and new ideas and innovations that can one day help shape society. After all, he’s the direct product of such a scheme and, judging by his large office, annual profits and even a successful sister company (he also co-runs Clever Clover, a web design business), it seems that Daniel has graduated from University with flying colours.
“My advice for anyone looking to start their own business is to just go for it, throw yourself into it, be determined, and really see it through. It’s very hard work, but try to enjoy yourself. Go out and try to have as much fun as possible.”
For more information contact a member of the Web-Translations team on +44 (0) 1924 360 460.
