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Are you thinking of starting a proofreading business but don’t know how? Don’t look any further because you will all the necessary information on what to look out for, what to expect and what will be expected of you as you start landing your clients here.

Proofreading is not the same as editing; while an editor would make sure the written content is in accordance with the whole idea, a proofreader’s job is to make corrections to errors in spelling, formatting, grammar and sometimes give advice to academic writers when checking academic styles, the referencing, and even translation. Proofreaders will make these corrections after the written content must have been edited before it is approved for publishing.

Down the years techniques were developed to guide proofreading like the proofreading marks which are the symbols proofreaders use to indicate that an error had been spotted, usually with a red pen. These days, there are tools that help proofreaders work better and proofreaders get paid per word, per hour or per page. Proofreading is a fast growing business where professionals can make up to $45,000 a year; the more experience you gather, the more you get paid.

What are the benefits of starting a proofreading business?

Cheap to set up: One of the biggest reasons why aspiring entrepreneurs cool off their interest in starting their own business is the cost of starting it but as far as proofreading business is concerned, that is the least of things to worry about. Most proofreaders work remotely. Unlike some businesses where even though the owners work remotely, they would still need to have a classy home office to impress their visiting clients, your clients will mostly communicate with you through electronic messages and phone calls so there will be no reason to go overboard in that area. Apart from the cost of registering your business (which is nothing you can’t afford) and software to help make your work easy, you won’t need to spend unnecessary sums of money to hit the ground running.

A degree is not required: Proofreading business is one of those types of ventures that allow you to practice without necessarily having obtained a degree in that field. The most important thing to your clients will be that you get the job done according to what was required of you.  An academic background in fields like literature, journalism, writing and others in related fields, will give you an edge in the business. Some institutions now offer courses in proofreading, which could prove helpful to you in the business, but they are not necessary. It would be great to have these in the bag but if you don’t, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.

Almost everyone needs you: Don’t believe naysayers; this is the 21^st century, almost everyone needs proofreaders and very soon it would be everyone. Every individual, group, or organization that has written content to publish or post on the internet needs your services. The demand for professionals in your field is increasing steadily and it will only continue to increase because there are several factors that warrant the use of your services. Further to this, more businesses are starting to turn their attention towards providing information on the internet as recent events have made internet users spend more time than they usually do online. As long as the leads and customers of business owners are online, they will follow them there and as long as these organizations and businesses are always online, they will need you.

Enough software to help: Proofreading has been going on for centuries therefore proofreaders can get the job done with little or no help. However, any form of help is will be welcome from time to time. Proofreading has evolved and there are enough tools to help make your life as a proofreading consultant easier. Seeing that your job will involve checking spellings, punctuations and even transferring or sharing finished projects, there are many applications and software to help do all these. Some of the common and useful software every proofreader must have are Grammarly, PerfectIt, and Google docs (sharing documents).

Read also: How to Start a Songwriting Business

Work anywhere: Another perk of running a proofreading business is that there are no restrictions to where you should work and in most cases when. You get to choose where you work, when you feel comfortable and inspired enough to start working, and also how long you intend to spend doing the job. All your client has to do is give you a task, explain what they require of you, and give you a deadline; the rest is up to you. Working remotely helps people, especially those who have families, keep in touch with them as they go about their duties. Other expenses like bus ticket, or money for gasoline, will be out of the way and the stress, including the time it would take to move to and from work will be put to good use.

Disadvantages

On the other hand, there are a few things that are not very favorable in proofreading business. Your health might suffer if you are not mindful of how much time you spend indoor. You might become vitamin D deficient from lack of direct sunlight, you could also suffer from obesity because without supervision, you could easily keep stuffing food down your throat without realizing that you’ve had one bite too many.

You could also become over-dependent on software and other tools because they basically cut your workload in half depending on the quality of the application. Software cannot be totally relied upon because sometimes they malfunction.

Why proofreaders will always get jobs

As you intend to start a proofreading business, there are factors today that have made it almost impossible for organizations and individuals to ignore the services of a proofreader:

Fierce competition in every industry

For so many reasons nowadays, every business, individual or organization across every sector needs accurately proofread materials before they publish them. A big factor that is working in favor of many proofreading business owners is the amount of stiff competition in every field. It is easy to lose credibility and the confidence of subscribers, customers, visitors and even critics if they have poorly proofread published content. Medical practitioners, academics, government officials and many others in different field who pass information or knowledge across to an unlimited number of audiences will also be keeping an eye on SEO standards and try to measure up by requesting your services.

SEO standards

SEO has completely changed the way business owners and content creators make plans. It can be a positive thing as well for the consumers, viewers and readers of these contents because now more effort is being put into delivering quality content. The quality of SEO and SEM of content in any form determines the level of success the owners will have and that’s why everyone needs to have well proofread content on their platforms. These days, you don’t just lose credibility if there are errors in your content; you also lose spots on SEO rankings.  Thanks to SEO, proofreaders have little to worry about regarding landing jobs.

A plethora of content creators available

Almost everyone owns a platform to sell, offer services, spread information or just simply be heard. The number of content creators nowadays is staggering, each one providing their own unique expertise for their target audience or consumers. This means that the number of organizations and individuals who would request your services is multiplying at a steady rate. Some content creators from other parts of the world who have little or no knowledge of your language (assuming it is the target language) will also need your services seeing that they cannot completely rely on translation applications. The more, the merrier for your business.

Convenience of hiring proofreaders

If there are two things that have defined our era, they would be speed and ease of access to almost anything. Those two, along with portability of modern gadgets, are what really sets this age apart from the former. Hiring proofreaders is not a difficult task, any corporation or individual who needs your company’s services can request for it at any time and from anywhere. It is almost like ordering fast food- easy and fast. As long as you have left a trail of how you can be contacted on every platform known to man, the rest will not be too difficult.

Running a proofreading business will come naturally to you if you are or possess these unique traits:

Read Also: How To Start A Content Writing Business

A professional

As much as working remotely has its advantages, it could also bring out a not so professional side in you if you are not careful. Running a proofreading business means that you will rarely be supervised throughout your task. A successful proofreading business owner must be someone who can work with little or no supervision. It is up to you to choose the time, number of hours, number of projects (in some cases) and place to work. Since you’re calling the shots remotely, you should never give a client any reason to suggest that you are unprofessional.

Patience

Patience is one other attribute every proofreader needs to be able to cope with the demands of the job and running the business generally. The job in itself can bring you lots of surprises. Sometimes, you get a project and you ask yourself if it was even edited in the first place due to the outrageous number of errors there are at a glance. Tasks like that could take longer than usual or twice as long to complete given the (sometimes unfair) amount of neglect from both the original writer and editor, especially when you get paid per word and not per hour. Patience will get you through the day.

Not easily bored

If you are all about action and fireworks then you should consider adjusting your lifestyle a bit because doing the job can be boring sometimes. You know what to expect most of the time and that alone has sucked out all the fun in there because there is no element of surprise. Imagine having a chat with a friend after work and you have to tell them what you did? Perhaps after a few weeks they won’t bother asking you to prevent you from sounding like a broken record. Being a remote job also means that you will stay indoors and if you decide to go to the library or a café, you would still have to miss out on all the fun because the job requires your full concentration. So if you don’t get bored easily or you are comfortable adjusting your lifestyle, then you’ve just ticked another box.

Introvert

This could be a dream business idea for introverts and people who don’t mind working alone. Proofreaders work alone most of the time and it is not a problem for them. If you are an extrovert who always likes to get a second opinion on everything, then you should slow down and think again. If you like to go to and from your place of work where you get to interact with fellow colleagues or business associates, you could find this business of proofreading challenging.

Money doesn’t come first for you

If your aim is to stack up piles of cash, then this business is probably not the one for you. The fact is proofreading is not one of the highest paying professions or business ventures for a beginner just yet, so you would most likely have to start from the bottom. With this in mind, you should readjust and perhaps lower your expectations in this aspect as you start your proofreading business. In addition, proofreading is not one of those “you’re too old to do this” kind of profession or “you’re too old fashioned for this” kind of business therefore you have decades to ply your trade in the industry. Strive for perfection first and you will have enough time to enjoy high paying projects and tasks from prospective clients.

What to consider and what you need as you start proofreading

Proofreading as a business has some similarities with a few other businesses in terms of what it takes to start. The common processes, like registering your business, having a business plan (which would give you a sense of direction and help you define what your priorities should be), and having an online presence would help your business be seen and reachable. However, there are some other things every proofreading business owner must know or have:

A deep knowledge of the target language

If you don’t know the target language, why are you taking the job in the first place?  This is a no-brainer; you must have a profound knowledge of the target language before you dare to start a proofreading business. Almost doesn’t count and sometimes a mere fluency in the language might not be good enough. Some native speakers of a language are not the best at proofreading in that language, that’s why having been awarded a degree in fields that are relevant to having a deep understanding of the language like literature and writing can be very helpful. An additional advantage is to at least be fluent in the source language.

Choose clients carefully

You could be setting yourself up for failure if you don’t know how to choose clients and projects. Some projects are “mission impossible” based on the deadline and conditions surrounding your agreement with the client. Failure to meet deadlines could cost a client or publisher a lot and it may not be your fault but nobody cares, you took on the job and said you would get it done. Apart from deadlines, you should be careful especially when you’re just starting your business, of some “too good to be true” offers. Clients are not dumb, they know how what to look for in a proofreading establishment that would determine how much they pay- experience being one of them. Also check the client’s or organization’s history with past proofreaders and gain some intelligence. You will see all the red flags you need from reviews if you pay attention.

Search freelance job sites

It’s a new business, so there is no shame in starting small. There are different ways to start earning in your proofreading business and searching for freelance jobs is one of them. The goal is to build a proofreading empire which every business and individual would be eager to work with but bills have to be paid even at the early stage and freelancing will help with that. There are other benefits of starting out as a freelance proofreading business owner; you will have more time to understand clients, you will gain experience in the field, you will develop many other vital skills along the way and you could get your first big clients from there who might decide to hire your company on a permanent basis.

Encourage referrals

In the business of proofreading, you need all the “stars” you can get. Marketing is expensive no matter what business you are into and the same goes for proofreading businesses as well that’s why you have to use every means possible to help sell your brand. Most freelance proofreading job or contract websites have a portion where satisfied clients can comment on their experiences with hired proofreaders and award them up to 5 stars depending on the quality of service they received.  Do a great job for your clients and encourage them (without trying too hard to kiss up to them) to write favorable reviews and give you as many stars as possible. And if you’re working with an organization or individuals outside of freelance websites, ask them for referrals after a job well done.

Read Also: How to turn your customers into marketers

Tools and software

Proofreaders can most certainly do without most of the software and other tools available but a little help once in a while wouldn’t hurt, would it? Every professional and business owner from pawn shop owners to financial institutions use software to make their jobs easier and well arranged. A proofreader needs these tools as much as anyone of these business owners. With software, your job is close to being halved before you start. There are software for correcting spellings, checking grammar, sending and sharing documents and many other resources you will need to work efficiently which are some if not most of what your job entails. Also note that some clients will request that you know how to use these software before they give you the job.

Conducive working environment

As a proofreader, your office could be anywhere. That being said, you have to consider what’s best for your business first before your own comfort. Being able to work remotely does not necessarily mean you have to work at home in your pajamas, you could choose to use a library, a café that’s not too rowdy or a park that’s rarely crowded depending on what works for you and how big your business is. The bigger your business grows, you might need to get a proper office space but as a new proofreading business owner, a big office space might not be necessary.

Choose an area of specialization

Do not be a “Jack of all trades”; choose one or two areas of specialization that you are extremely comfortable with. Your academic background and interests will be vital in helping you make the right choices. There are fields and industries that pay more for proofreading services than others but that should not prompt you into choosing what to work on. A job badly done for the wrong reasons can be hard to recover from. For instance, you can’t possibly attempt to proofread medical journals just because they pay more for proofreading services when you know next to nothing about the field. If art is where your interest lies, start working towards getting better at it; if you studied a foreign language, that could be pointing you in a good direction; and if law is your cup of tea, stick to the field.

Who needs proofreaders?

The erroneous assumption that it is totally unnecessary and a waste of funds to hire proofreaders is slowly fading away with each passing day as more businesses, institutions, organizations, individuals, and even groups of  professionals in various fields continue to see the importance of a well proofread material and how it affects their brand.  Proofreaders are needed by individuals in every sector and organization that publishes written content like the following:

• Authors
• Websites
• Magazines
• Academic journals
• News agencies
• Speech writers
• Politicians
• Orators
• Transcribers
• Government officials

In a word, all you have to do next is put yourself out there. Market your business and keep looking for opportunities to meet prospective clients. With the information you just gathered, you now know how much potential a proofreading business has and how to get your business started. Get started now because that’s how you gain experience in the first place. The better you get at it, the faster your business will grow.

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