$3,000 to $1,000,000 in 15 months: HOW TO DO IT

[Bo_]

My exact situation, without the $3000 and my hours spent in academics are much more. Also I have barely $150 to spend.

My plan is to learn programming language for developing an iPhone app, then creating an iPhone game since I play games myself so I roughly know what gamers look for in a game. (See DoodleJump, simple concept, developed by 2 brothers, grossing 10 million sales over 2-3 years)
Other stuff like advertising and marketing will come later...

I'm still learning the programming language, so no backing that it'll work! I won't expect my plan to be 100% smooth-sailing though. Any opinions/suggestions guys?

 

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[CalleZorro]

but the facts are that these stories virtually always leave out the success factors (the process) that made the business what it is.

From my observations, when somebody "goes big quick", the reason they leave the success factors out is often because they don't know what they are. That's why they can only tell you "their story".

Yes, they had some basic understanding of business...an understanding they usually picked up from some business-minded person in their life...and they "stumbled" upon an idea...an idea that served a need so well...that growth happened by itself...IN SPITE of the founder's ignorance.

I personally know a man who was once on the Forbes 400 list and this is exactly what happened to him. He went bankrupt trying to make other ideas work...and they went bankrupt because he didn't know the process or the success factors. And, after each bankruptcy, he would go jump off into another idea...and when he "hit" the one that made him a billionaire, he would have bankrupted that one too from his ignorance...except the business was making so much money so fast in spite of him that he was able to hire some smart people who had a better understanding of the process and the success factors that he was able to make it.

Now, I'm not suggesting that everybody who has made money fast is stupid or inept...but what I am saying is that in order to have a SUSTAINABLE business, a person MUST learn the process and understand the success factors and apply them with diligence and discipline.

So, before anybody starts feeling jealous of somebody who hits it big fast, just wait a couple of years and see where they are at. IF they are still around, it will ONLY be because they LEARNED the process and are now APPLYING the success factors.

I've seen a lot of "flash in the pan" type successes...that have a meteoric rise...and a just as meteoric fall. That's why I've always been happy that my SOLID business has enjoyed REASONABLE and steady growth...because I know that growth is based on solid principles rather than luck.

Warmly,
Calle

 

[DrummerDad]

I think the best way would be a phone application. I dont know the programing languages, and dont want to learn them. But I do see potential in some applications, such as location specific coupons with specialty stores, or games. I would say its not every app that would be effective though. Best to have a few ideas.

My idea would involve an invention. I can file a patent for around $2500, depending on complexity. Assuming you already had a patentable idea, it could be done in a few months. Provided you had access to a manufacturer that would be willing to purchase the rights, or license with you. So far that has taken almost 18 months to attain that information. A trade show would help, but it adds to the cost significantly.

Ill let you know in a few months.

 

[Russ H]

My exact situation, without the $3000 and my hours spent in academics are much more. Also I have barely $150 to spend.

My plan is to learn programming language for developing an iPhone app, then creating an iPhone game since I play games myself so I roughly know what gamers look for in a game. (See DoodleJump, simple concept, developed by 2 brothers, grossing 10 million sales over 2-3 years)
Other stuff like advertising and marketing will come later...

I'm still learning the programming language, so no backing that it'll work! I won't expect my plan to be 100% smooth-sailing though.

Any opinions/suggestions guys?

Yeah-- you're kidding yourself if you think that you're busy now.

Remove non-productive pursuits (ie, playing video games, watching TV, surfing the net for fun)-- and you'll be AMAZED at how many hours each day you have.

I'm not saying do it-- you're only 16 once, so have fun.

But when you're ready to get serious-- read a few books about time management, and how to get rid of time wasters.

It will, quite literally, change your life.

-Russ H.

 

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[CEBenz]

Yeah-- you're kidding yourself if you think that you're busy now.

Remove non-productive pursuits (ie, playing video games, watching TV, surfing the net for fun)-- and you'll be AMAZED at how many hours each day you have.

I'm not saying do it-- you're only 16 once, so have fun.

But when you're ready to get serious-- read a few books about time management, and how to get rid of time wasters.

It will, quite literally, change your life.

-Russ H.

I find my limiting factor be to attention span. lol

 

[Petr Å Ã dlo]

Nice plan. I would suggest to introduce "#12 Make appointments to sale" much sooner in the process.

Do you really want to hire technical person (=negative cash flow) before trying to sell (=validating) your idea to customers? Get your courage and put it somewhere around #5.

We did the same thing about three years ago. There was an idea for a website and we needed to find out if the investment of about 30.000USD would pay off. Our tactics? We created a mock-up of a web-site in PowerPoint, it looked like the real thing, and we invited potential customers and gave them presentation. After that we let them sign an order form with 100USD entry fee. They signed and that was our proof the idea is correct. Later we told them the system is in production and it will take a few months and that they of course need not to pay anything. We got important hints about pricing and functionality and market reaction with investment of about 5 days of work.

 

[adiakritos]

MY plan right now is this...

I've actually got 2k in the bank right now and close to $110 on hand.

I'm implementing an email marketing strategy to sell affiliate products. Within 3 months of tweaking and flipping whatever profits are generated from the strategy I'll begin to invest in developing a product that can easily produce results of 20 times more value than it's cost.

Finally, once the product is launched to my initial email list I'll make a list of 4 of the most sure-fire marketing strategies known today. And then I'll spend an allocated amount of time working on each strategy to give it an honest hard push and see the results before moving to the next.

If my product costs $40 I'll have the goal of selling at least 150-200 each day to reach my goal of 1.8M within 15 months.

If my product costs $1000 I'll only have to sell 4-5 per day to make 1M within the 15 month time frame if I can successfully manage the affiliate campaign AND create a true quality product.

Even if I don't reach my goal in 15 months I'll still have 1.8M worth of experience that most likely will cruise me over to 1.8M at some point.

Kind of like a ship reaching its port of call.

For motivation I'll use the 1. Jerry Seinfeld Calendar 2. Move in with a room mate to get away from negative relatives 3. Visualize my outcome religiously every day as if it's already happened 4. keep an egg timer next to my desk to work in very intense short bursts to avoid burning out and staying productive 5. Forget about women and basically block out anything that can distract me or slow me down at all costs.

-----------

I'm really glad I wrote this out because that's exactly what I'm going to do now. Maybe that was the hidden motive behind creating this thread in the first place because honestly... I was kind of scared to write out a strategy because a little voice in the back of my head says "You won't be able to do it anyways".. plus a fear of the huge amount of success that is possible in 15 months scares me a little.

But F*ck it.. I've written out my plan. This is most likely the most important thing I've ever done. Thank you for posting this thread OP.

I'm off to continue on my plan.

I'll be back to this forum at various points to ask questions like when its time to tweak my affiliate campaign or start developing a product or how to devise an effective product launch.

 

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[bigbet1234]

Adia.....Can you explain affiliate products?

 

[adiakritos]

Adia.....Can you explain affiliate products?

Its more like... selling products as an affiliate. I'll find a market to serve, understand their need and concerns, as well as what their experiences with products of the past most likely have been.

Then I can set up a strategy where I offer them someone else's product through an affiliate network like Clickbank.com or ads4dough.com.

An affiliate network is a online web service that connects people who have products to sell with people who can sell those products for a commission.

As an affiliate it's up to you to create or use a pre-existing strategy to offer those affiliate products that fit the needs of your market best.

Hope that helps. =)

 

[PV123]

Real estate website

Okay, I haven't read the other ideas here yet, but I have a little time to stretch my brain today, so here we go...

Month 1 - I spend this month in research, mostly on the internet using free resources, trying to figure out what direction to go, and learning a little bit about SEO and other basic internet skills.

Month 2 - I decide to build a subscription based site that fulfills a specific need. In order to sell the site for $1 million, I figure it needs to be bringing in about $50K per month in profit at the time of sale. (That's $600K per year. Assuming that revenues are on the rise at the time of sale, that should safely be $1.5 million revenue over two years, making $1 million a reasonable investment for the buyer). After coming to that conclusion, I figure I should be able to bank $250K in the process, so could actually sell for $750K, netting me $1 million total. I then decide that my target at the time of sale needs to be $35K per month profit for a $750K selling price.

The bulk of my month two time is again spent in research and education. By the end of the month I decide to create a waterfront real estate listing site where sellers and agents pay to list their properties. My main competitor is lakehouse.com, which is primarily lakefront property. My site will encompass all types of waterfront property. I feel my site needs to be as good as or better than theirs, and I must meet or beat their pricing.

After researching scripts, I feel that phprealty best fills my need and provides the user a better experience than my competitor.

Not including agent spotlight ads, their prices basically break down to

1 listing $10/month - 6 month increment
3 listings $21/month - 6 month increment
10 listings $25/month - 1 yr increment
20 listings $41/month - 1 yr increment
40 listings $63/month - 1 yr increment
100 listings $83/month - 1 yr increment

I figure I'll keep the 1 listing price the same, but don't need so many price levels.
I'll do an agent special for 10 listings at $20/month in 6 month increments, and a broker special for 40 listings at $50/month in 6 month increments.

Figuring my primary customer base is going to be agents with 2-10 listings, my target is 2000 customers. (2000 x $20 = $40K per month. I would need to keep my costs under $5K per month for my $35K/month profit goal)

Month 3 - I buy the phpmyrealty script ($200), web hosting, and three domains. One domain is for the script, one is for waterfront real estate buying and lifestyle content, and one is for waterfront real estate selling content. The two content sites are for driving traffic to the listing site. I spend $800 on graphics, modifications to the script and data entry. I use Wordpress with free themes for the two content sites, and spend $500 on writers for the initial content. Total investment so far: about $1550.

After the listing site is functional, most of my own time is spent contacting agents with listings on lakehouse.com and offering them a free 90 day trial of the ten listing agent package. This will populate the site with the initial listings.

Months 4-15 - This leaves me a full year to further develop, market, and drive traffic to the site. The rest of my $3K is spent on content creation, SEO work (keyword research, backlinks creation, etc), and marketing. By the time that $3K is spent, the site will be generating revenue and paying for any further costs.

With all of their focus on this project, I don't think it's unreasonable for a 17 ye3ar old going to school and living with their parents to be able to acquire a base of 2000 paying customers in a year once the groundwork has been laid.

Hello John

I was wondering if you have your real estate website.. If you do have it, how are you doing?

Regards,

PV123

 

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[bkypes]

Oh you make this too easy for me since I just turned 18 and graduated, have less than 1000 and I still plan on having over 1,000,000 in 15 months.

What I've done so far, including my older and younger brothers work but about half is mine.

Created a product with demand that fits my age group and demographic.
Figured out how to manufacture it.
Located manufacturers and found different ones to produce different elements of it so that it is perfect.
Ordered samples, only $59 including fees from western union.
Completed multiple designs for the product because it will be redesigned each week.
Hired a graphic/web designer to design logo which is awesome and he is currently working on the website, I just gave him the deadline of July 25.
Currently working on packaging samples.
Planned out different divisions of the company such as products we will make for charity, coolness, and for business and events.
Still trying to figure out display units.
Working on filing a patent.
But we are extremely close to being able to launch this product and once it is totally ready I will have to figure out distribution but that will be once we start making money on the product.
Also once we are ready to launch we are going to set up a meeting with the national skate shop zumiez because my product would be perfect for that store.
I will keep you updated and show what the product is once it is released but for now it has to stay undercover.

 

[KevMoDee]

Going to throw my 2 cents into the ring on this one.

Check you weekly mailer and see what businesses exist in your area. If they are running ads, there exists a demand and they are profitable enough to have a marketing budget.

Check the barriers to entry, see if you can determine which ones require the least amount of start up capital.

A lot of established businesses won't have what a young entrepreneur will have: hunger and drive.

Beat them on price, beat them on customer service, beat them on convenience, and beat them on quality.

If you are a one man shop, you can control all of these factors. The real trick is to maintain all of these factors during expansion. And I deal with businesses everyday that have lost sight of these core concepts. If you can scale and maintain core concepts, I think your business will thrive.

Will this strategy yield 1MM in a year? I don't know, but you could certainly start moving in that direction. And you'll never make as much money working for someone else as you could by working for yourself. You become the bottleneck and success or failure will lie squarely upon your shoulders.

 

[Udine]

My vehicle of choice is Forex. Where I would invest the "fast forex profits" in "slow cash flow passive income".

The reason for forex is, because it is the best business in the world:

1. no rent of offices
2. no staff
3. no inventory or stock to buy
4. no boss, no collegues in fact no people involved at all - just you
5. no customers
6. no coldcalling
7. no age requirements / limits
8. low investment to start
9. recession and depression proof
10. possible to add to your investment in time
11. does not involve physical labour
12. easy to start part-time
13. you can borrow as much as you want
14. you can close the business in a moment
15. you can "scale" the business to whatever size you want
16. very low overheads
17. profit potential with controlled risk
18. absolutely minimal paperwork
19. location - totally flexible - with internet you can trade from anywhere in the world
20. you can run a million dollar business from a laptop
21. time - totally flexible - you can work whenever you want
22. You can start trading fo others for a 20 % commission, but then it is just like a job
23. something you must educate your children
24. it is exiting and fun
25. all the features and benifits of a true dream business


I have been studiying very intensively and demo trading. I have been finetuning "my system" and written my business plan, trading rules, trading checklist, trade log & journal.

I am in the final stage now, which is demo trading the last month, before going live.

In order to reach the goal of 1 million in 15 months I would need a little over 2 % / day. This would mean 1 good trade per day (= +2.5 % to the account).

Per currency pair I get between 3 - 5 perfect trade set-ups. As I only trade EUR/USD & GBP/USD, this means I get between 6 - 10 perfect trade set-ups. As I work fulltime I cannot get them all, but I always get al least one / day.

I have been averaging much better than that though. While I am writing this I just added 1.5 % to the account, trading time 3 minutes.

The proceeds will be invested to produce three different passive income streams.

I see the different passive income streams as part of a table, the more legs, the more stable the table stands.

I will keep you posted.

Good luck to all.

Udine

 

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[jzchristian]

Ok – so my plan will take longer than 15 months but will make me a multi billionaire.

My Ultimate goal is own a car manufacturing company. – I have designed a car that runs off its self. I have worked thru the math several times over and created a computer model. I need to create a prototype, get a patent, and set-up a manufacturing plant. I will be able to match the current market value of new vehicles and still profit around 5k a car. However, due to economies of scale it requires an extreme amount of capital to get into the car manufacturing business. I would need roughly 2 mill just to get things going for me. So, I have decided to put that on hold for a few years.

In the mean time, I have come up with a web design that I know will bring in the revenue I need for my car design. This will take me a couple of years to build as I have to learn everything required to develop it. I am going to create a web site to learn on in a couple of months. I am currently reading web design for dummies and building social web applications. Once I finish these books I am going to get a book that covers html and css. After that I will continue studying different program languages.

So in short it will take me about two years to develop and go live with my website. Probably another 2 years to build it up to were I can sell for at least 5 mill. After that, another 2-4 years to build my car company. Ten year time frame = BILLIONAIRE.

 

[awesom-o]

My Ultimate goal is own a car manufacturing company. – I have designed a car that runs off its self. I would need roughly 2 mill just to get things going for me. So, I have decided to put that on hold for a few years.

Really??!!

Wouldn't you want license the engine/ design out to a current manufacturer? Starting your own car brand is not only unrealistic in my opinion but also getting the car into production is going to cost a hell of a lot more in the long run than 2 million. Maybe multiply that figure twenty times and you might have a more realistic figure!!!

 

[HenkHolland]

I have designed a car that runs off its self. I have worked thru the math several times over and created a computer model.

Again somebody who thinks that a perpetuum mobile can be created.:wave:

 

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[jzchristian]

Really??!!

Wouldn't you want license the engine/ design out to a current manufacturer? Starting your own car brand is not only unrealistic in my opinion but also getting the car into production is going to cost a hell of a lot more in the long run than 2 million. Maybe multiply that figure twenty times and you might have a more realistic figure!!!

IF YOU TRULLY WANT TO MAKE IT BIG YOU HAVE TO THINK BIG. I dont wat to sell my design to a current manufacturer because I want to be the manufacturer. It is more than just making money to me with this but making money is a part of it.

 

[gabrielpark]

Ok – so my plan will take longer than 15 months but will make me a multi billionaire. ...I need to create a prototype, get a patent, and set-up a manufacturing plant....I have come up with a web design that I know will bring in the revenue I need for my car design. This will take me a couple of years to build as I have to learn everything required to develop it....it will take me about two years to develop and go live with my website. Probably another 2 years to build it up to were I can sell for at least 5 mill. After that, another 2-4 years to build my car company. Ten year time frame = BILLIONAIRE.

I've sabotaged myself many times by adding unnecessary intermediate steps that derailed my projects so I'll put this out there for you... forget about learning web design that deeply and you will not only cut 2 years off your plan, you will also know if the site will be profitable, relatively fast. You can crank out a quick website by using a CMS ("content management system" - like drupal, joomla, or wordpress) and a free template or theme for the site with a (simple) custom logo that can be had for less than $40 through a site like odesk or getafreelancer. Webhosting is $10/year through siteground.com and $10/year for a domain throgh just about any registrar (except godaddy - they have a bad rep). You can learn enough drupal, joomla, or wordpress to develop the site by studying for less than a month using online resources like forums and youtube - that two year thing is just you BS'ing yourself. Unless you want to be a sidewalking web designer, skip that part of your plan. And if you get so far as to produce a merely conventional car, you're still doing well. Go for it, but skip spending 2 years learning web design.

 

[bkypes]

Really??!!

Wouldn't you want license the engine/ design out to a current manufacturer? Starting your own car brand is not only unrealistic in my opinion but also getting the car into production is going to cost a hell of a lot more in the long run than 2 million. Maybe multiply that figure twenty times and you might have a more realistic figure!!!

I remember reading somewhere not to long ago that it costs over 500 million just to redesign a car and put it into production. Although one of the things with licensing is that the bulk of dealership money is earned through service. If cars do not need regular servicing the cost/benefit may not be there and the engine may never see the light of day.

 

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[Udine]

Why complicate matters?

Remember the inventor of the "Powercheck" which is on the Duracell batteries?? What would you think if he would start from scratch and build a factory to produce batteries, instead of "just" selling his product to Duracell and receive a few cents for every item sold ??

Sell the designs to an existing car manufacturer for a lump sum and get a percentage for each car sold. Talk about the Fastlane !!

Good luck

Udine

 

[HenkHolland]

If I would ignore the fact that a perpetuum mobile as jzchristian supposedly has invented is in contradiction with the laws of thermodynamics, I would advise him strongly not to aspire setting up his own car manufacturing company.
As others suggest, licensing, particularly in the case of car/engine manufacturing, would be the only wise, fastlane, route.

 

[Anon3587x]

Oh man, I remember this thread.

I posted some crazy brain storm a few pages back.

I don't even want to read it.

 

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[gabrielpark]

Oh man, I remember this thread.

I posted some crazy brain storm a few pages back.

I don't even want to read it.

lol, I think it's a fun thread and a good exercise.

But the real "fastlane" route *would* be to license the idea after getting a prototype up and running. I'm not sure the idea is simply an engine/motor, it sounds more like a whole system that would underline a car, which would be even better for licensing. Once you have a prototype you'd find sales reps to promote it to car manufacturers (yes, there ARE people who specialize in that) and then you could sit back and profit. The biggest issue, assuming this works, would be getting good attorneys to protect the idea.

 

[gabrielpark]

I remember reading somewhere not to long ago that it costs over 500 million just to redesign a car and put it into production. Although one of the things with licensing is that the bulk of dealership money is earned through service. If cars do not need regular servicing the cost/benefit may not be there and the engine may never see the light of day.

Not anymore. An interesting company called Local-Motors has turned that idea on its head - now anyone can design and/or build a car, have a small batch (or just ONE) built at a microfactory, and/or allow other interested/skilled people to build it using their blueprints and materials. See What is Local Motors

So the bottom line is that if his idea works, he can make it happen on a small scale first and then license it or scale it up much more inexpensively than it used to cost. I think he could get one made for just under six figures if the materials are not too exotic. If it is a good, viable design and he puts one on cardomain.com and youtube, I'm sure he'd get good publicity and manufacturers would be all over the licensing fairly quick.

All he has to do is get ONE built, so I say go for it.

 

[jzchristian]

First off thanks everyone for your comments – Some of them were very insightful and helpful.
So, I guess in order for some of you to believe it is possible I should give you a little back story on my car. 8 years ago me and a buddy worked together as electro-mechanics building Huge loaders and various equipment. Anyways, when we had down time we had the opportunity to play around with all the resources. We designed a system that was perpetual motion. Of course perpetual motion does not exist because of diminishing returns. However, with a full charge on a standard lead car battery our machine would run for 6 hours and 23 minutes. Working from that original design and incorporating new technology (in power generation and power storage) I have designed a car that utilizes perpetual motion. However, you would have to add a gallon or two of distilled water to the car once a month to compensate for diminishing return. Hell of a lot better than a couple of gallons of fuel a day.

 

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[Mike A.B.]

Pfew.. I've been reading/skimming this thread for a while now and I have copied every interesting bit that can help me develope a "formula" Will reply when it's ready..

I'm wondering though.. there were a few people who started this challenge, how far did they get? Did anyone accomplish the challenge yet?

Russ, how about the people that PM'ed you?

Be back soon,
- Mike

 

[RazvanRogoz]

@ Udine, I'd go against Forex.

Let me explain you why. First of all, every get rich opportunity today is about FOREX. Everyone wants in.

Second, to make money in FOREX, you need to use leverage. If you use leverage you increase your winning but you also increase your risks, dramatically.

Third, FOREX is closely related to gambling mentality. If you lose, you'll borrow money. If you'll lose that money, you'll borrow more. You'll stay in house 24/7 just to trade.

(As far as Forex robots, I wouldn't count on it).

In the FOREX game, the winners are always the disciplined, focused people. The people that can lose $15.000 or $150.000 or $1.500.000 in a day and won't get emotional over it.

If you can do that, good luck. If not, I'd reconsider. I have a friend who tried the same thing. He found about the same benefits. What used to be a Fastlane turned into a prison. He lost money so he invested more and more energy into this. He became emotional about it.

In the end, with about $90.000 in debt, he quit.

Oh, one last thing - don't use high leverage. When you are using leverage, it's like playing Russian Roulette.

With one bullet, you have only 1/6 chances to die.

But if you add leverage, you'll add bullets to the gun. And when there are five in the chamber, you are going against the natural laws of probability.

Good luck once again,
Razvan

 

[Shad0w]

Wow. This challenge description is all me. Except I have $1,000 instead of $3,000 saved up.

And theres some great stuff in here as well. I will def get working on this challenge

 

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[Mike A.B.]

1. Keep myself motivated. I will do this by:
- Re-reading T.M.F.
- Printing out all Fastlane guidelines and rules etc. and sticking them to my wall (already did this a month ago!)
- Keep browsing forums like this + watch motivational video’s if needed.
1.5 Keep my oil fresh: Keep studying!
2. Research. I’m going to do my research using the DESTEP method which would result in doing the following research if needed: Demographical, Economical, Social, TRENDS, Environmental, Political. (A lot of you on here probably know this right?). Furthermore I’m going to look in to other research methods that are similar or complement to this one. All this to find needs or markets and to verify that the need is big enough.
3. I will compile a list of possibilities and work out if I can do them myself, need someone else to help me or need to move on to the next idea.
4. Verify that everything is fastlane: Can I set up a good system? Does it abide CENTS? Etc..
5. Do more in depth market research into competitors, what are they doing? What are they doing wrong? What are they charging? Who are their customers? Etc…
6. Execute, Build the system/design the product/launch the website.
7. Set-up and execute a small time advertizing campaign to start with.
8. Set-up and execute a plan to build a hype around it through social media etc.
9. Scale-up, Brand, market etc…
10. Invest millions, buy Aston Martin Vantage V12 (or something similar) :smug2:.

The Joking aside… This came from the top of my head and is just plain logic. However I am missing a lot of unforeseen steps in between. The biggest one being step number 0. The Fastlane idea itself. I hate that I’m stuck in the “If only I’d get the right idea” circle… To quote Freddy Mercury: “Got to get out, I’ve got to get right out of here!”

P.S.

Brainstorming for idea's right now! That's where it begins right?

 

[outsourcery]

@ Udine, I'd go against Forex.

Let me explain you why. First of all, every get rich opportunity today is about FOREX. Everyone wants in.

Second, to make money in FOREX, you need to use leverage. If you use leverage you increase your winning but you also increase your risks, dramatically.

Third, FOREX is closely related to gambling mentality. If you lose, you'll borrow money. If you'll lose that money, you'll borrow more. You'll stay in house 24/7 just to trade.

(As far as Forex robots, I wouldn't count on it).

In the FOREX game, the winners are always the disciplined, focused people. The people that can lose $15.000 or $150.000 or $1.500.000 in a day and won't get emotional over it.

If you can do that, good luck. If not, I'd reconsider. I have a friend who tried the same thing. He found about the same benefits. What used to be a Fastlane turned into a prison. He lost money so he invested more and more energy into this. He became emotional about it.

In the end, with about $90.000 in debt, he quit.

Oh, one last thing - don't use high leverage. When you are using leverage, it's like playing Russian Roulette.

With one bullet, you have only 1/6 chances to die.

But if you add leverage, you'll add bullets to the gun. And when there are five in the chamber, you are going against the natural laws of probability.

Good luck once again,
Razvan

This is not advice, this is opinion. Leverage is a part of every successful business, it is neither good nor bad. Too much leverage and you blow up, too little and you will be swallowed by your competitors. It's not how big it is, it's how you use it

Regarding FX, it is just a market place, just like CBOT, CME, NASDAQ... or ebay if you prefer. It is a very large market with very very clever and motivated people in it. If anyone here thinks they can rock up on Monday and mix it with the big boys, they will be sadly disappointed. It takes years of work and discipline to make a business of it.

Using the eBay analogy, if you were to buy random products, and sell at random prices, would you expect to make a profit? Clearly not, but this is what most amateur speculators do.

If you don't know what the current and likely future fiscal and monetary policy positions are of the ruling parties in a nation you trade, if you don't have well researched expectations for economic performance in the future, if you don't understand the correlations between your FX market and credit/commodity/equities markets, if you don't know what the draw down characteristics are of your system are, or if you rely blindly on some indicators you picked up off the web, you have no business being in FX. You trade against people that do, and even they lose money often.

If you think you don't need to understand the economics, and can build trade automation that is superior to the investment banks and the HFT industry, I think you are mistaken. You might have a good day, a good week, or a good quarter, but you will get eaten.

That said, I don't think that FX has a legitimate place in this thread. Informational or tactical advantage, novel innovation etc. are not really possible in a market with defined, preset, products. The market inefficiencies that most of the often talked about 'boom' startups rely on are not really present in these pure markets, and the opportunities for arbitrage are fleeting. It doesn't pay to be a 1 trick pony, even if it is a good trick, and there is no secret sauce.

It takes years of experience to be successful, at least that's what it has taken for those that I know who do this as a business. I've met no one with less than 5 years experience that makes a living doing it, most have 10+ (actual people as opposed to web 'identities'....), and all have spent/lost far more than $3k to get there...

I trade FX for a living, so I know for a fact that it can be done. But it is not quick, easy, or 'fun', just like getting qualified as a doctor is not quick, easy, or 'fun'.

I realise this post is a bit of 'rain on the parade' but there is just so much BS about FX on the web, and people are just so eager to lap it up...

*end rant*