SME INNOVATION TOP 100

Earlier this year, the Chamber of Commerce selected 100 businesses for the SME Innovation Top 100; a list of 100 companies that may count themselves among the most innovative of the Netherlands. Translation Agency was also chosen to be on that list!

Innovation Showcase

With the Innovation Top 100, the Chamber of Commerce wants to give the selected companies an ‘innovation showcase’ and ‘reward them for their innovations, courage, and perseverance’. In its motivation, the Chamber of Commerce also writes that it wants to ‘give innovative Dutch companies a springboard through the Top 100’.

However, the efforts of the Chamber of Commerce do not end with the Innovation Top 100. They have also created an Innovation Cabinet that supports innovative entrepreneurs with networking, inspiration, and knowledge. This cabinet contains entrepreneurs, scientists, and opinion makers who have been tried and tested in the current themes of the contemporary business world. One might say that these experts are at the forefront of the future.

Can a translation agency be innovative…?

In the Innovation Top 100, you would expect to see a lot of tech companies, and indeed, that category is well represented. After all, there is plenty of room for innovation in technology. But we are a translation agency, and translation – with or without technical tools – is mostly just ‘good old’ human work. The reason we ended up in the Innovation Top 100 is because we have digitised and optimised our business processes in a totally unique way. In one word: technology.

And that digitisation paid off. On the one hand, we have focused on high-quality translation and business processes that meet the highest standards – for which we have been rewarded with the highest possible certifications; the ISO:9001 and the NEN-EN 15038. On the other hand, thanks to the great digital efficiency improvements in our business operations, we were able to offer our clients a lowest price guarantee.

Digital and old-fashioned

With our optimised business processes, we were not only ready for the ensuing growth, but we were also able to build up a very satisfied clientele. The result is that in 2016, we are managing 1,200 translators worldwide with just a few people in Amsterdam. And that doesn’t even take up most of our time; that goes into our personal contact with clients. And we want to keep it that way. Old-fashioned.

And the winner is….

On 29 September, the Day of Innovation, the Chamber of Commerce announced the winner of the SME Innovation Top 100. Translation Agency finished in 41st place. We were very happy, because we did not expect that; after all, our core business – translation – is a craft. And, secretly, we do feel like winners. We were, after all, the only translation agency in the SME Innovation Top 100. That makes us the most innovative translation agency in the Netherlands.