Name: Fabiana Grassi
Company Name: Fabiana Grassi Interpreter and Translator
Website: https://collettivointerpreti.com/project/fabiana-grassi/
Email: fabiana.grassi@collettivointerpreti.com
Fabiana Grassi is a freelance interpreter and translator located in Italy. She recently sent us an email sharing her excitement about finding the RBBP. We were equally excited by her enthusiasm and her get-it-done attitude and asked her if she’d be willing to share her RBBP with us here. We love seeing entrepreneurs find clarity, take action, and celebrate their creativity! Thanks, Fabiana for sharing more about you and your business.
What is your business and what makes your business unique?
I’m a freelance interpreter and translator, I mainly work with direct clients instead of agencies because I prefer to have direct contact with my clients. I value quality above everything, not only for the translation itself but also for the overall service. I’m also a very creative person and I consider myself an artist (I draw, paint and sew quite well). My creativity helps me find innovative solutions for my clients, I’ve been called the “MacGyver” of problem-solving! I love what I do and I’d like to make my clients feel that I’m their partner in their translation processes. Translation is often seen as a nuisance, but I want to prove it can be a nice experience if you do it with the right professional.
How has the Right-Brain Business Plan® helped you? What is different for you and your business after approaching planning in a creative, visual way?
Before my encounter with the RBBP I was both lost and overwhelmed. I knew what I had to do, but so many things had to be done and I couldn’t figure out how and when to do them. I was also kind of taking back my creativity and I couldn’t find inspiration for my artistic hobbies. When I started making my RBBP I felt something unlocking inside of me, my creativity got unleashed and I started using it for something different. As I finished every piece of the plan, my vision got clearer, my next steps were defined and I finally understood where I was going. I also used my creative note-taking symbols in the plan (they’re used in consecutive interpreting and they’re different for each interpreter). I now feel inspired in my everyday work and I’ve been using this creativity flow in my hobbies as well!
What goals (big or small) on your business plan have you already accomplished or have made progress on?
I’ve definitely made progress on the marketing goals. I understood what I had to do and through which channels I had to do it, so I set up a publishing agenda and a measurable weekly contact goal for new clients and prospects. I’ve also started writing articles both on LinkedIn and on the website I share with some trusted colleagues, where we write a blog on translation and interpreting (the English part is still a WIP). But I feel that the most important progress so far is having a detailed path in front of me: it makes me feel inspired, empowered and ready to make it happen!
How do you use your creative intuition in your work?
I use it to propose creative solutions to my clients in order to meet their goals and expectations. I also use it in my contacts with them (presentation brochure/kit, creative resume) and in my communication strategy. My consecutive interpreting notes are mainly made of creative symbols to summarize concepts and useful words. As for the “hidden” part of the work, I use my creativity in every plan, spreadsheet, and scheme.
Is there anything you’d like to share about your Right-Brain Business Plan® in terms of what it’s made out of or how you made it?
Since I didn’t know which final form would suit me best, I started with large pieces of paper for my big vision collage. I carried out every activity on regular A4 paper and then I put the relevant information on some larger paper sheets. My RBBP is both the larger papers – which are the visual schemes – and the A4 sheets with all the details in their original form.
What’s your big vision for your business?
I want to make people love translation. I want my regular clients to smile when their boss tells them they have to get a document translated, I want them to know exactly what to do if they need an interpreter for an event. I want to build a friendly environment for them to work with me while educating them on my job (all too often people have no idea how an interpreter works and how important client-interpreter collaboration is). I want to assist them and mainstream our working relations. I want my name to be associated with the values I take pride in quality, trust, attention, innovation.
What advice do you have for other creative entrepreneurs?
Follow your instincts. Do all the activities in this book. They may sound unrelated to your specific business, but you’ll end up getting more and more information every time, more and more details that will be useful in the future. Even those “serious” jobs like mine can benefit from some creativity and a fresh approach.
Want to create your own Right-Brain Business Plan®? The Right-Brain Business Plan® Kit includes supplies to make your own accordion book style visual business plan.