Liz Elting – Co-founder and Co-CEO of TransPerfect

Translate This: Liz Elting started her business from a college dorm room with a credit card. Today it’s a $178 million company.

By Whitney Homans

For all the arguments about money vs. passion when it comes to career choices, Liz Elting has managed to marry the two – starting her $177.8 million translation company in college when she pursued her studies in modern languages and literature. She fell in love with languages at an even earlier age, then later fostered her passion through numerous stays abroad in Portugal, Spain and Venezuela. So when her first job with a translation company revealed holes in the industry not filled by existing businesses, she and co-founder (and current co-CEO) Phil Shawe met in a New York University dorm room and started TransPerfect, a translation company providing high-end customized language services. Now, as the mother of two (ages 5 and 7), she balances family and and the company, which is set to hit revenue of $200 million this year and has more than 50 offices on four continents.

Here, she talks to PINK about how she grew her company past the million-dollar divide, something only 3 percent of women business owners do.

PINK: How did you grow the company from a dorm room idea into the corporation it is today?
Liz Elting: We basically started with zero money. We didn’t even have a computer. We rented one for $40 a month. We had no office space, no employees. We used a credit card for a few thousand dollars, but that was it. And the moment a check came in, we would run to the bank so we could pay our linguists. Our first goal was to be in an affordable office in six months – which we did. After a year and a half we hired our first employee, and two years later we moved into the office complex we’re in now. Then we started opening offices around the world. In the beginning we hired subcontractors and focused on quality control by hiring an outside translator, editor and proofreader for each project. In the beginning, we took a very aggressive approach to sales. Every day we made hundreds of phone calls and sent out hundreds of letters. We took it one client at a time and one project at a time. To grow at this point we still do the same thing, even though 97 percent of our projects come from repeat business and referrals.

PINK: Only 3 percent of women-owned companies pass the million-dollar mark. How did you cross that divide?
L.E.: I think that line is harder for women to cross than men, because women often start businesses to fit into their lifestyles – so they can work part time – whereas men usually say, “This is going to be my career.” We would not have succeeded with part-time or even regular-time work. In the beginning, we were working 100 to 120 hours a week – sometimes pulling five all-nighters in a row to complete a project. It’s important to have a real passion for your business and to have a commitment to hard work and making sacrifices – making the business your No. 1 priority for a period of time. You have to be fully committed. You can’t just say, “I’ll stay committed during the day, but I want to go home for dinner and my favorite TV shows.”

PINK: What personal characteristics drove you over the line?
L.E.: It’s important to be willing to take risks. We had to get better at attracting, developing and retaining employees. You have to make the company an attractive place to work, so our office is set up as a meritocracy. We do take more financial risks now than in the beginning. When we were smaller, we needed to make sure we could make payroll.

PINK: What is your advice for women wishing to start a business and build it like yours?
L.E.: When getting started, the most important thing is getting the business going. Most people get caught up in the business plan and lawyers and accountants, but if you get the clients first, you’ll find a way to get the work done in the best possible way. Also, it’s really important to be very passionate, enthusiastic and dedicated. And you have to be service-oriented and grow based on clients’ needs. For example, unlike companies that said translations had to be in Microsoft Word only, we said to clients, “Tell us what software you need, and we’ll make it work.”

PINK: What has been your biggest career challenge so far?
L.E.: Finding, developing and retaining the absolute best people. Our industry has become quite competitive. Many translation companies have popped up on the Internet, but clients have to understand [those companies] can offer a lower price because they don’t offer the quality we do.

PINK: What is your perspective on balancing work with your personal life?
L.E.: At this point, I’m definitely in a place where it’s manageable. It’s all about timing. Now, the work is very well spread across. As a company, we try to incorporate family into business and do things to make sure people don’t have to make a choice between business and family. For example, our senior management meeting this year was in Florida because we thought it was a good place for families. I also have time to be with my family, to read, to travel for pleasure. And I can attend networking, social and cultural events, which I didn’t have time for earlier in the business.

PINK: Why did you decide to start TransPerfect?
L.E.: I worked on the production side at one of the largest translation companies in the industry, taking projects from start to finish. Then I moved into sales and ended up spending three years with the company. But I saw a gap between what services clients need and what was available. I saw a need for expedited turnaround time – a one-stop shop. The industry was competitive even then, but it was fragmented, with mostly mom and pop companies. The key was to do it better.

PINK: What inspires you?
L.E.: When we started we wanted to be a pioneer in the industry – a different kind of translation service. Our goal was to transform the industry, and I think we’ve been a part of that. It’s very rewarding to watch people grow in their careers – people who started with us right out of college and 10 years later are senior leaders in the company.

PINK: How do you define success?
L.E.: Whether in business or life, it’s feeling happy with what I’ve accomplished. To maintain success, I need to continue to re-evaluate my goals each week, month and year.