Picking up Spanish in my 1st year of university only got me saying hello and goodbye, apart from that, i didn't really consider going the extra mile with different languages, although you would argue that the need to learn multiple languages is becoming very handy especially French and Spanish.

Throughout my time dealing with different languages and might i add that i tried a bit of French during my secondary school, but i have never thought about the power of language translation?

My Day with Godwill Bindeeba

Godwill Bindeeba is a young entrepreneur that started his company Quick Lingo during his 2nd year at UEL.
Quick Lingo is a professional translation and interpretation service provider to the corporate community and public sector.

They translate anything from passports to complete websites and currently work with over 5000 translators across the globe which allows dealing with over 100 languages at any point with clients ranging from marketing firms to online casino firms.

His story really describes how far hard work, perseverance, discipline and dedication can get you.

Quick Lingo was registered in 2008 whilst Godwill was in his 2nd year of studies at UEL, which allowed him to work on his business plan and network with a lot of potential clients for the future.

His plan was to be self-employed as soon as he finished university.

You could say good things come to those who wait and plan, after finishing university in June 2009, Godwill launched Quick Lingo as a trading entity.

GOING BACK!

Born in Uganda, Godwill came to the UK and attended Forest Gate Community School and then moving on to Huddersfield College to Huddersfield University (1st year) then switching back to London at UEL (2nd & 3rd yrs).

He started his first business at 17 in Huddersfield College, which was an online fashion clothing site, selling designer clothing from shoes to sunglasses to fellow students, “This was not a serious business because I was doing it for pocket money! But I learnt a lot about business discipline and dedication” He said.

His next business was running a website about Huddersfield Town, the idea was to sell advertising space to pubs and restaurants in Huddersfield - this turned out to be a bad idea! Although he still managed to make 5 sales.

Whilst at UEL, He was elected president of the UEL Entrepreneurship Society which gave the opportunity to help fellow students with business support/education, including his involvement with NACUE which helps promotes national entrepreneurship in the UK.

Quick lingo is currently going from strength to strength with a few big contracts and a loyal customer base which is due to the excellent accurate translations that they offer.

They have also recently won their single biggest translation contract for over £60k in the last couple of months.

Looking back, you must be really happy with your current position, what inspired you to start a business?

From a young age I wanted to be a businessman but didn't know what to do exactly because all my ideas were already taken by other people like Richard Branson! (Haha)....but on the serious note, I did not want to get a job after university, and I wanted to be financially independent by the time I hit 25.

Getting a 60k project is not a joke, How did you get the initial funding for your business?

I didn't! In fact, I failed miserably! :) when I was writing my business plan, I wanted to get a business loan for £40k and I remember going to all the banks and all of them eventually turning me down with two reasons

which were (1) I was too young - I was 19 at the time and full-time university student - so they had a point (2). It was in the recession crunch period - probably the worst time you want to look for a business loan! So, they turned me down due to my student status. I did not want to get angel investors involved at such an early stage.
So, I got myself a part-time job at Pizzahut whilst at university plus my student loan - with this money I started Quick Lingo Ltd.

With hard work - a year later I am in a position that allows me to fully focus on the business and perhaps start looking at serious investments in 2 years time when we shall be looking at international markets.

How many hours you work on your business on an average day?

On average, I work about 12 hours per day, 6 days a week. But even when I go home I am still in work mode, it's amazing how many ideas of making money you can think of while sleeping!! (Yes, I admit that I am a bit of a workaholic, I try to mix my work with squash and gym in the evenings to keep healthy.

What is the future for Quick Lingo?

I plan on establishing Quick Lingo as a top translation agency in the UK and branching out to international markets within 2 years. I have planned and expect continued organic growth and more clients joining us at Quick Lingo.