On 28 April 2022, VRT NWS announced that the Trappistine nuns from Brecht were conquering the world with their home-made beer soap. The success was due to the translation of their webshop into French, English and German. The translations brought them new customers not only from Wallonia, France and Germany, but also from Spain and even Denmark.
Although Wilkens c.s. was not responsible for the translation, we feel it is important to highlight this success story. It shows how a good translation can lead to huge growth. Below, we explain how you can have an affordable translation of your international website.
With support from Flanders Investment & Trade
For the translation of their website, the nuns received support from Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT). That platform focuses on stimulating the Flemish economy at international level. One of the ways they do this is by offering subsidies for commercial translations. Per company, these subsidies are a maximum of 3,000 euros annually.
These are the terms and conditions that a company must fulfil to receive the subsidies for translation work:
- The company is an SME with its place of business in the Flemish region.
- The commodities or services create clear added value in the Flemish region.
- The company complies with social and tax legislation.
- The organisation does not receive any other financial support for translations.
- FIT must be mentioned in the translated communications.
Digital, international and commercial
For which documents can the FIT subsidy be used? The key words are digital, international and commercial. For example, the creation of a multilingual website or webshop, a corporate video or social media posts. For the latter, it is important that the posts are written by external specialists.
All the information and terms and conditions for requesting the subsidy for translations is available on the Flanders Investment & trade website.
Want to conquer the world with your service or products, like the Trappistine nuns? Wilkens c.s. will be happy to send you a no-obligation quote so that you can submit your subsidy dossier. Contact our account and project managers on +32 (0)9 265 00 40 or via info@wilkens.be.
