3 posts tagged “business”

I am constantly surprised how many people do not set up a business when they have income from whatever it is that they do for fun or for profit. Some of the things that I hear are:

• I've thought about it but its too hard
• Too much paper work
• I'll get audited
• I don't want the government sneaking around in my bidnez

And on and on and on. Well it is not hard, there isn't too much paperwork, you'll only get audited if you try to cheat the system, as a business the government allows you to write legitimate expenses off your taxes!

My biggest reason is the tax write off. Education is expensive, subscriptions to help me do my job better, hardware, software, anything which goes towards helping you make money is tax deductible. 

I found an old video by Trader Brian which is short and tells you the benefits of trading as a business in an easy to listen to video.
 

 Other just as important benefits are:

• The hours are your own
• you don't have to answer to anyone
• The work isn't physical
• There is a lure to the excitement of wheeling and dealing, trading hot markets and making profits.

To those who have never had a business before but are now trading... is it possible to trade the markets as a business? If you have some money to get into it you can possibly make some money but there is no guarantee to making a decent amount of money if you can make any money at all. The best ideas for businesses are ones that will bring you a stream of income for your work and knowledge. A smart way to get into trading the markets for profits is to start very small. Start with safer investments and see if you can first make a little money. Use the profits if you have them to make more trades but limit any loss. Meanwhile continue to learn, EDUCATE YOURSELF about the market you want to trade.

Things that you will need to make money trading the markets are a computer and some tracking software of the market prices you are interested in. There is another thing you will need, money. And the money you put in can be lost if your actions don't follow the proper education.

Another thing you will need is experience. You can learn to trade by trial and error rather than through education first but that can be very costly and you may very well lose a significant amount of your money before you give up on the effort.

Books are written on the subject that can help you. One that is good is from William O'Neal of the Investor's Business Daily called 'How to make money in stocks'. The book helps you to gain knowledge of what to look for to profit but it's not a guarantee that you will make money even if you learn everything taught in the book. Many books have been written on how to make money in the market or commodities. No matter how much you know it's good to learn more from others so it's good to read all you can.

Even better still, find a mentor, someone who has been in the business for some time and continues in the business. Finding a mentor is not easy because they are giving of their valuable time to teach you their experience. If you are unable to find someone to give you plenty of face time, try to find a comprehensive course package that has online support of a community of traders as well as the mentors themselves. This can be almost as hard as finding a face to face mentor simply because they sell based upon their marketing hype or the fancy packaging. With these you have to have a sense of truth in their marketing and sense that they are truly going to teach you their experience to help bring you success if you learn the full course. Be always weary of online courses and packages...buyer beware. Some are designed to not teach you everything but little bits at a time at great expense to you.

This is a business that you may end up making money with but it's only a possibility and not something that many are successful with primarily because they don't take the time to educate themselves properly. Also because many people only look for the easy way, the get rich quick way, of which there isn't. Only a small percent of those that are educated well make significant amounts of money. The market is always trying to work against the small trader. They count on manipulation especially in broadcast media and specially written newsletters to get you to buy this or that stock. So you'll have to remain an alert and discerning business owner. 

A seasoned trader says that he makes bad calls 70% of the time and great calls 30% of the time. Yet since he is careful to limit his losses and let his profits run, that 30% makes his family a nice income to live on.

Trading IS a business and so thinking and acting as a business entity is necessary lest you slip into a dream state. You'll be dreaming yourself into making money when in reality you aren't doing what you should be doing and are loosing money. In that case keep your job or go into another business to make a living. Don't expect to make a business out of trading if you are not determined to take it seriously every working day.

We are a top down society. What does that mean?

Mothers and Fathers teach their children, essentially leading by example.
It does not stop there.

We go to school where teachers teach their line of acceptable knowledge (and don't listen to contrary input of students).

Then we get jobs: we have supervisors, managers, department heads, vice presidents and president. All who tell those in the trenches what and how to do their job. (Some companies accept input from the bottom and do very well. While most companies don't have bottom-up input as an option or benefit.)

As we get used to this from childhood and grow into adulthood we witness what all that apparent power to 'tell' people what to do achieves for them. We also witness abuses and lies. We accept this as the norm (unfortunately for you and me). Those of us who might be considered very intelligent and hard working, just do our best to make due and lay helpless in the wake of it all. I call these people the A and B students. This however sends a clear signal to those who obviously are not intelligent, not hard working, and are without a true sense of morality. It plants the notion that to lie, cheat, steal, and abuse is okay. I call these people the D students.

Thus the saying: the A student works with the B student. The C student manages both A and B students. The D student is the CEO. And the F student? Well maybe the F student donates the building, one that they inherited!
 
There are a few different spins on this saying depending on who is speaking. But it shows the sad case of our top down society and you wonder why? Will it ever change? How much toxic garbage will the masses be forced to eat in

 their daily meals?
 
Just in April 2008 alone we saw such headlines:

• "IMF Chief Says Worst of Financial Crisis is Over"
• " [U.S. Secretary of Treasury] Paulson Says Worst of Financial Crisis is Over"
• "Citigroup Chief Says Worst of Credit Crunch Crisis is Over"
• "Financial Crisis Mostly Over, [JP Morgan CEO] Dimon Says"
• "[James Finucane says] Are You Ready for Dow 20,000?"

Just think if we elected hard working, A and B students with morals, to leadership positions everywhere. If we were to dispose of the C and D student managers and executives. Basically flip-flop the norm. Would we be in a better place some day? Or do we just continue to adapt to the worst of society's students and the effects these people's lives have on the world? How long will you play the dunce? The ostrich with its head in the sand?