A home business is defined as a business where the primary office is the owner’s home. Within that broad definition there are many types of home businesses. I have conducted a home based business for the last 20 years and the difference between the business I started 20 years ago and the business I do today is like comparing apples to oranges.
A little background… After a long, very successful career with the US Government, it was time for a change and I decided to start my own business. I looked at many different types of businesses and settled for an established coin-operated video game route for $250,000. This is a lot of money today and was even more back in 2000.
I looked at all sorts of established business and the reason why I decided to get into this type of business was the simplicity of it. With coin-operated video games I didn’t have to worry about rent, employees, inventory, utilities, and many of the other expenses and, may I add, headaches associated with your typical business. I also had more flexibility because as long as the machines were operating and not in need of maintenance, I did not have to be on location. My sales force (machines) were generating revenue all day and, in some cases, night as well. Other than the many hours driving and the occasional machine breakdown, this business was perfect and afforded me to have a great lifestyle.
Sounds perfect, doesn’t it? Well… I still had to worry about customer acquisition and retention. After a few years driving 50,000 miles (80,000 km) a year, it got to be really tiring to be in my car. More importantly, I still was limited to one geographic place to conduct my business. All of my wife’s family live in Europe and all of my family live in the Caribbean. We live in the US and like to travel as well. What money could not buy was the liberty and flexibility to conduct my business from anywhere in the world.
This is where trading as a home based business entered into the picture. I wanted to have a home based business where “home” was defined by where I am with my computer and not by a specific place. I wanted to have a business where I didn’t have to check inventory or the latest products to keep up with the latest current trends and/or the competition. Finally, I wanted to have a business where I dictated the amount of time I dedicated to the business.
An added bonus is that trading as a home based business requires very little capital when compared to pretty much any other business model. All you need is a computer (which you already have), a trading account (can be as low as $500, but I say $4000 is a more reasonable amount to scale your business up faster), and a good trading platform or software (cost range from $50 to $10,000). A higher cost does not guarantee a higher rate of success. You can find many excellent trading Expert Advisor (EA) software for around $300 that will not only set the trades for you, but execute them as well. That is it!
A word of caution with EAs is that not all EAs are created equal. Also, not because the software does everything for you, that means that you just “plug and play”. There is some work involved and you must “tweak” your settings to keep up with current market conditions. You should also be aware of the economic calendar to make sure you are not trading when major economic news are released. Other than that, you are all set to start a new career and afford all the liberties that trading brings.