Fifteen months after going public, LinkedIn reported an 89 percent increase in second-quarter revenue and 175 million registered users across 200 countries and territories.
If not for the work of a small translation company headquartered on the Irvington waterfront, however, much of the tech giant”™s success might never have materialized.
As it celebrates its 10th anniversary, Acclaro Inc. ”“ which originated in founder Michael Kriz”™s kitchen ”“ has thrived through partnerships with the likes of Yahoo!, Ralph Lauren, Coach, Tiffany & Co., Sony, Thomson Reuters, Oracle, Amway, SAP, Netflix, Living Social, LinkedIn and other global brands as they each sought new international markets for their products and services.
More recently though, the profile of companies looking to expand internationally has changed, Kriz said.
“It used to be that companies had to get to a certain size” before they would consider an international expansion, he said. “Now, right out of the gate, companies are saying, ”˜International is in our plans.”™”
While Acclaro continues to work with the well-known brands, Kriz said the company is increasingly approached by smaller, up-and-coming manufacturers and service providers.
“We”™ve got these startups with 50 or 100 people that are checking off many more markets than we”™ve seen in the past,” he said.
Acclaro has performed exceedingly well over the years, posting double-digit revenue growth every year except for the two years following the 2008 financial crisis.
“We probably shrunk by 15 percent that year (2008), but other than that it”™s been about double-digit growth every year,” Kriz said, including 40 percent revenue growth last year alone.
As a global translation services firm, Acclaro”™s business can hardly be considered recession-proof. However, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics noted in a recent report that employment of interpreters and translators is expected to grow 42 percent between 2010 and 2020 ”“ more than any other occupation it measures.
Kriz said the company”™s presence in a variety of markets provides insulation from the events in one particular area. For example, while the Euro zone is currently in crisis, Southeast Asia is thriving, he said.
“To the extent that our clients are all global or going global, yes, it impacts us,” Kriz said. “But for the most part, it”™s a question of ”˜Are we going to grow by 15 percent or by 50 percent.”™”
Kriz, who had previously worked in the translation services business for about 15 years, said he decided to start Acclaro as a means of filling the gap between large, specialized translation firms and smaller, family-run companies.
Acclaro specifically targets clients that are looking to make a long-term commitment to specific markets.
“We look for companies that are going to have a fairly consistent, ongoing need for translation services,” Kriz said, due to the amount of time translators must spend familiarizing themselves with a given company”™s products or services. “This business requires a deep understanding of companies”™ subject matter.”
Acclaro”™s offerings range from the obvious ”“ such as translating websites or marketing materials ”“ to items that consumers and businesses wouldn”™t automatically consider, like product manuals, training materials and user interfaces, Kriz said.
The company has roughly 50 full-time employees spread among offices in Irvington, San Francisco and the Boston area. About a dozen of the company”™s full-time staff works in offices and locations overseas.
The bulk of the translation work is conducted by teams of freelancers that are supervised by full-time Acclaro translators and editors, Kriz said.
When it was founded, Acclaro worked primarily for companies developing business-to-business technologies.
While Acclaro continues to work in the latter area, Kriz said the bulk of the company”™s work is now in the consumer technology and retail businesses. Acclaro also works with traditional business services firms and health information companies.
