Know typing qualifications. By far the most important element of starting a successful transcription business is having the typing skills necessary to do the work for your clients. As a professional who offers transcript services, you’ll be required to type extremely fast and accurately. Understand the basic requirements for typing:
You need to be able to transcribe over 200 lines per hour at 98% accuracy.
You need to be able to type over 65 words per minute.
You need to type with accuracy, using grammar and correct spelling.
Test your typing speed and accuracy. There are a number of websites where you can do this, or you can schedule a typing test with a local company or educational service.
Improve your typing skills, if they don't measure up. Before you start anything else, you need to make sure to improve your typing speed and accuracy. This can only really be done through practice. Consider:
Enrolling in a typing class at a local junior college to improve your typing skills.
Spending time practicing as much as you can. Type things up just for fun or to challenge yourself. Retype old hand-written recipes. Try to transcribe your favorite television show. Just about anything will do.
Testing yourself frequently to measure any progress you've made
Buy the necessary equipment and software. While many people think that transcription is a no-investment field and transcribers simply use MS Word or similar programs, this is often incorrect. Transcribers often need to invest in specific equipment and software to meet the needs of specific industries they work for and to increase their productivity and efficiency. Examples of commonly used equipment include:
Transcription software will give you a huge advantage over programs like MS Word because their auto correct features are often better, they have short cuts, macros, hotkeys and other things that will increase your efficiency and accuracy. They also include integrated video and audio playback and file storage solutions.
A foot pedal. Your foot pedal will enable you to efficiently control the speed and sound level of your audio playback.
A headset
Decide if you want to specialize in a specific field. After working on your general skills, you need to decide what specific field you want to practice transcription in. While you can market yourself in several fields, its best to focus on one to begin with and become an expert in that field of transcription.
Many business owners require the use of a transcriptionist, but they also need transcribers who are familiar with their field of business.
Understanding the industry means that you will recognize the technicalities of the industry, including terms and vocabulary.
Decide whether you want to transcribe for the medical field, the legal field or a general field
Enroll in a transcription course, based on your chosen field. There are a wide variety of transcription courses offered on the internet and in a traditional brick-and-mortar setting. Many transcription courses are field or industry specific, and will focus on educating you for that field. Transcript courses will teach you:
Industry specific terminology. If you don't already know legal or medical vocabulary, enroll in a terminology course at a community college or transcription school.
Industry specific style and format.
General transcription practices. You may also enroll in a program that teaches every aspect of transcription.
Secure proper certifications, based on your chosen field. While your transcription course might fulfill the requirements of certification for a specific field, it also might not. If it does not, you need to research the requirements of certification in your chosen field and become certified. In some fields, like medical transcription or legal transcription, certification is often required for work. If it is not required, it will at least make you much more competitive.
Apply for individual transcription jobs, to get experience and establish a presence. Just because you’ve started a transcription business does not just mean that companies will come to you with work. You’ll need to be very proactive about getting experience. In order to get enough experience and to get your name out, you should apply to some transcription jobs in your community or nationally. This could mean a variety of things. Consider:
Taking on a full-time transcription job in an office setting.
Seek out contract work online. There are a number of websites that deal specifically with free-lance transcription jobs. Take on this contract work as a way of building experience and as getting work.
Look for contract work in your community. Actively go out, look through your newspaper and other publications, and try to identify free-lance or contract transcription work in your community
Make your business official by branding yourself or your company. After you’ve gotten a good bit of experience and maybe made your name known in your community, the first thing you need to do is decide if you want to come up with a company name or just market yourself as an individual. Getting started, it might be easier just to market yourself as an individual. Later on you can hire other people and formally adopt a name for your business. When you do decide to move beyond marketing yourself as an individual, consider:
Register your company and get a business license, if you need one.
If you are working from home, make sure that you are adhering to any zoning laws.
Learn about your tax obligations. Ensure that you are prepared to meet tax requirements and expectations for deductions. Contact a tax adviser, or call the IRS for specific details on filing taxes. You can also visit them online.
Find a location to work from. Decide if you want to rent an office space or work from your home. Your operating costs will be less expensive if you choose to work from your home. If you do want to work out of your home, a small office will be sufficient for your desk and equipment. A physical office address will appear more professional and separates home from work.
Promote your transcription service to businesses. You can market yourself locally if you want to pick up work. Recognize that in the transcription business you can work for clients nationally and around the world. You just need to set yourself up electronically to meet those demands.
Create a website or hire a professional to do it for you. Most hosting companies provide templates that you can set up and maintain easily.
Print brochures and business cards, and send them to potential clients. You can also leave them at local businesses.
Research your competitors in the area and find out what a competitive hourly or project rate is for your field.
