When I started out as a trader in 1997, I barely knew how to do it. The first time I went to the bank to buy stocks, the lady at the counter had to explain to me the basics of trading and bid ask concepts. Eleven years later, I won the World Cup Trading Championships amid the worst financial crisis since the 1930s with a 672% return on investment.
My success didn’t come overnight. Most traders lose money and, unfortunately, I was not the exception. After making some money in the beginning, I lost everything. But for me, failure was a blessing in disguise. I realized that the best way to recover from my financial setback mentally was to start studying how markets work.
While every area of expertise is different, taking the time to educate yourself and to understand exactly how your business works is always going to pay dividends as an entrepreneur. There’s no shortcut to success. Do the work even if it means building your wealth slowly. It’s better than the alternative.
Common Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make in Their Business Journey
How to turn your talent into a thriving business
Discover what sets you apart from your competitors.
Early on in my trading career, I realized that I could approach the world of trading in a way that is compatible with my scientific mindset. By measuring what was happening in the markets, I was able to gain specific information on which to base my decisions.
Over time and with help from a friend, I was able to create simple systems. From there, I made thousands of tests and improvements that years later led to my unique method of trading, a method that sets me apart from everyone else.
Find out what sets you apart in your field. That is likely the one thing that you can build the foundation of your business upon.
Build your thought leadership in your field.
By 2007, I was making a name for myself in the trading world. Conferences started inviting me to lecture about my approach to the markets following my World Cup Trading Championships. From the conferences and workshops I participated in, I sensed that traders were looking forward to learning my method.
As my knowledge came into a higher demand, I didn’t have as much time to travel to conferences. I decided it was time. I launched my academy to give aspiring traders the knowledge and techniques they needed to learn. It was a win-win. I had already built demand for my advice and now I was able to reach more people looking for what I was offering.
If you can build a name for yourself first through speaking, intentional marketing or publicity, you’ll be able to launch your business to an already established and captive audience. You’ll set your business up for success.
Stay focused on one thing first.
From the very onset, I disclosed the core part of my trading method and put all my focus there. By 2017, when students of mine also won the World Cup Trading Championships, it was confirmation that the method I was teaching was replicable.
My aim, from the beginning, has been to help traders build and manage portfolios of automated strategies that work for them 24/7. Structuring most of our activities online, we were able to make this possible. Today, no doubt, reaching people directly in their homes proved to be a winning approach. Our books and online resources were the best answers to their needs.
If you want to build a thriving business, you need to do just one thing better than anyone else. If you want to diversify your business in the future, you can. But the key to establishing your business and setting yourself up to succeed is staying focused on that one thing first. Once you’ve mastered that, you can add something else.
5 Types of Investors for Startups
Keep your emotions out of your business.
Personally, after more than 20 years as an independent trader and nearly seven years as the founder of a successful training academy, I learned that when there are choices and decisions to be made, personal feelings and hopes get in the way. The best way to deal with this is to have a carefully chosen plan focused on the service given to the customer.
I have also learned that growth comes to those who listen to themselves, to their prospects, and those who find the best match while bearing in mind that businesses owe the truth to clients. I’ve always presented the reality of trading as it is, with its ups and downs. There is no holy grail in trading, but people who are really passionate and can stay humble and learn will eventually succeed.
The opportunity always exists to scale your work or to establish yourself as an entrepreneur in a space where you have talent and expertise. I didn’t set out to run an academy training traders. But once I found my niche in trading, I had a deep desire to help others learn how to trade the right way. Since 2015, we have evolved into a thriving global trading training institution. We started with a staff of three people. Today that has grown to 20 employees. If you build a business based on your unique talent, the sky’s the limit.
