Take ten competent translators with two years' experience, in the same city, all in the face of a single national economic climate.
Give them all 15,000 euros, a brand new laptop, access to the Internet, a menagerie of CAT tools, business cards and a smart website.
Shower them with books on improving their marketing and their rates and every tip and trick in the translexicon.
Then leave them to get on with things for a year.
Some will barely survive while others will thrive. But why?
The collected musings that make up Standing Out are an attempt to explore this question. They suggest that much of our success in freelance life is down to what goes on inside our heads: our sense of personal and professional autonomy, our awareness of the unique contributions we all have to make and the attitudes we cultivate.
It's a message of optimism and hope, but also one that involves hard work and challenge. It hints at the possibilities all around us, reveals how much is within our control if we open our eyes, and encourages us to go out and seize it with both hands.
