Prerequisites for Trading as a Business

Trading as a business means generating consistent profits to cover all living expenses. Usually this is a full-time, independent pursuit. While I don’t think advanced degrees are necessary, I can think of three prerequisites for a trading start-up.

First, some degree of math proficiency is necessary for this level of money management mastery. Arithmetic is most applicable in order to calculate profit targets, stop-loss levels, performance, buy/sell points, position sizing, etc. A more advanced math background can make some derivative concepts more intuitive because option pricing models are based on differential equations. This isn’t mandatory, though; one can trade without having any knowledge of option greeks at all.

The second prerequisite for trading as a business is a strong capacity for critical thinking. No industry may be more littered with fraudulent pitches, false marketing/advertising claims, and overall chicanery than finance. I have written about this subject extensively (e.g. here, here, here, and here). In designing a business plan and sticking to it one must avoid being derailed into the quicksand. A background in statistics is a good defensive arrow to have in the quiver. Statistics provides a solid foundation from which to put questionable performance claims into reasonable perspective.

Critical thinking defends against the death knell that is being defrauded and suffering losses. Even greater than the financial losses may be the psychological damage in terms of trust, confidence, and safety: three key components to a fledgling business effort. I have spoken with a handful of people who have been violated by shady advisers. Once (if) they got out they never wanted (or couldn’t afford) to invest again (also reminiscent of catastrophic loss). I strongly suggest avoiding any black box system or advertisements of unrealistic returns. Steer clear of advisers who charge too much or smooth talkers who seem like they may have cut their teeth selling used cars. These last two sentences deserve separate blog posts of their own.

Finally, trading as a business requires money! Start-up capital is a safety cushion because like many other businesses, beginning traders often lose money (early success may actually be a curse leading to false confidence and a subsequent failure to adequately assess risk). Without this cushion, the stress of being forced to profit to stay afloat with bill payments can make long-term survival difficult. As the learning curve is scaled, magnitude of living expenses will dictate how large the trading account must be. A six-figure trading account might be necessary to cover the house, credit card, and insurance payments without taking on risk so great that Ruin is likely.