Starting From Nothing

[Jim]

To make money trading forex you need a bank. Some seed corn. The minimum amount we can discuss elsewhere. It's more than a nickel and a dime.

Is it possible to start a business, almost literally from nothing?

Imagine you have no cash, no bank account, no credit card. Nada. Zilch. Imagine a benefactor gives you access to an internet connection free of charge for an hour or two a day. What might it be possible to achieve?

[Alan]

In my opinion, yes it is very possible.

A couple of names jump to mind, although didn't exactly start with nothing, their worth today is considerably more than when they started.

Who?

Richard Branson and Roman Abramovic.

But can you start from nothing but an internet connection free of charge for an hour or two a day? Yes

It takes hard work, research and some knowledge that is fairly easily learnt. For instance, you can start a social networking community for nothing at Ning.com. Once you have enough members and discussions taking place you can use Google Ads to generate an income. This income can them be used to buy a domain name and develope a web site that uses more specialized advertising techniques to generate more income. Depending on the subject matter, at some point you can then develope it in to an eCommerse site, etc.

This can also be done from groups on Yahoo and Google.

[Jim]

In my opinion, yes it is very possible.


If that's too easy then let's try and make things a bit more difficult. Let's further assume you're from one of the far flung outposts of the once Great British Empire. Ghana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghana) maybe, or Uganda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda). You speak a little English, but with the best will in the world you're not going to make much of a copywriter.

What are your chances of success in those circumstances?

[Alan]

Oh your chances a slim.

Although I recieve many emails from these place wishing to share their multi-million dollar fortunes.:D

[Jim]

Those must have come from Nigeria (http://www.419eater.com/) surely Alan?

[pkotak]

...Let's further assume you're from one of the far flung outposts of the once Great British Empire. Ghana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghana) maybe, or Uganda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda). You speak a little English, but with the best will in the world you're not going to make much of a copywriter.

What are your chances of success in those circumstances?

I was 11 at the time, but my family:

- DID come from Uganda (kicked out '72, Idi Amin got out the wrong side of the bed that morning...)
- DID come here with nothing (most lost everything they had build over decades)

Although my Dad joined the civil service, a fair few others in the same situation DID start businesses (some of whom did not speak English well) and some have become very prosperous. Mind you, it has taken 30+ years...

Like Germany after the war, when you cannot bear to look back, you have little option but to resolutely look forward.

[pkotak]

To make money trading forex you need a bank..Is it possible to start a business, almost literally from nothing? ...What might it be possible to achieve?

No its not possible:
- the timeseries is meaningless
- those who win over a small number of bets are just lucky and will eventually lose
- those who make a large number of bets have to lose because of spread
- if winning was possible, compunding would kill it: the patterns would change
- it may not be random, but its not exploitable either (like quantum correlation)

Yes its possible:
- Jesse Livermore did it
- or modern day, Rajesh Gill did it

The fact that Rajesh Gill did it, and with very large numbers of trades, fascinates me. Its the chimera which taunts, cajoles, tempts me into believing it can be done. Once Bannister cracked 4 mins, people knew it could be done, and that helps.

[Jim]

Hi pkotak,

Well there's an interesting coincidence! Synchronicity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronicity) at work?

We're in danger of drifting off topic here, since this forum's brief excludes trading. Lets stick with it just slightly longer though. Trading can be a business after all!

Since I've just discovered how easy it is to get into the money in an automated trading contest (http://community.trading-gurus.com/threads/39-A-Random-Robot-in-the-September-2010-Dukascopy-JForex-strategy-contest), even using random entries, lets consider a slightly different scenario. Your English is good enough to allow you to go online and learn a computer programming language. You program a trading strategy. You enter it into a trading competition. You're brilliant or you just get lucky and you win some money, which you use as your bank for your first live trading account. The odds are much better than winning the lottery. You don't even have to pay for a ticket!

Jim

[pkotak]

...Your English is good enough to allow you to go online and learn a computer programming language. You program a trading strategy. You enter it into a trading competition. You're brilliant or you just get lucky and you win some money, which you use as your bank for your first live trading account
Jim

Hi Jim,

Yes I agree it's possible to "self-start" in the way you describe, but it requires some rare individual who has real need and is driven. In fact, based on the profile you have put forward above, I would in addition say that your person is probably tough, ruthless, impoverished, clever and amoral. In fact, at the risk of propogating sterotypes, I would extrapolate that your person is probably Russian.

[Jim]

The trading branch of this thread has now moved over to the Beginner's section (http://community.trading-gurus.com/threads/71-Starting-from-nothing-%28continued%29).

Jim