I am curious. What do you guys do for a living?

[fan27]

That is not a bad idea. My aunt installed locks on all of the coin laundry machines so her or my uncle are the only ones that can get to that money. Like I said though, the majority of their money comes from the wash/dry/fold service where they charge by the pound. Whoever works for you will need to be able to hustle with that. Perhaps the employee's pay could be "piece work" based. Anyhow, my uncle is selling the business in a couple of years when he retires and I might consider buying it. I was just thinking today after reading this thread that they have a back office and I could continue my work as a software developer/trader there while I keep an eye on the business. Plus, my grandfather started the business in the late 60's so it would be cool to keep it in the family.

fan27

I spoke with my uncle and he pretty much talked me out of buying the business. He is able to do 95% of the repairs on the equipment and to get a repair service to come to the laundry mat it is $100 minimum. He is fixing something every week. I am not very handy myself so I do not see myself doing the repairs. Also he said he pockets about $75000 per year after all expenses/taxes etc. But that is with him working at the business full time. To open up a new laundry mat you are looking at about $150,000 in impact fees so buying an existing operation is likely the better bet. All this being said, it is a business that has been steady for grandfather and uncle since the late 60's. In my case it makes more sense to focus on maximizing the amount of money from what I currently do (writing software) rather than getting bogged down in a business that would need a good bit of hand holding.

fan27

 

[Iwilldoit]

I swing trade full time, just in my fourth year now. First two and half years were very good, the last six months, well, not so good.
Moving ahead, I've made the adjustments and look foreword to an excellent fourth.
Can't think of anything else I'd rather do.

@Jones75 what do you trade?

 

[Iwilldoit]

I was not saying you can't own businesses but your comparison with celebrities is incorrect.
If you're a sports start, you lend your name to a business and you get 50% for just that, no money changing hands, as an unknown trader you'd need to invest millions.

Of course we are not debating the idea of having alternative/backup businesses, that's obvious to everyone I would think but only after your trading is fully established and you have free time in your hands.

It's much better to focus all your efforts on trading in the beginning years. Doing it properly requires great efforts, a lot of time and all your focus (not half, not quarter). You seem to suggest that doing it while working a full-time job is a realistic possibility, I can't agree and don't know any very successful traders who have done this.

You focus only on schedules/time when in reality it's about "mental time". You have around 3-4 hours of sharp mental focus per day only, the rest is just mundane repetitive tasks. If you waste 3 of those hours working a job, that 1 hour that is left won't be enough to focus on a trading plan.

Like in the show Shark Tank, they always insist that the entrepreneur has no side jobs, no other business ventures. This isn't for nothing, they know what they're doing.

@d08

I have this dilemma now, looking to get a job and making trading a lower priority, I am thinking of transitioning from being a daytrader to a swing/long term trader....

What if I wake up at 6am, and have 2 hours of high quality focus, to work on my swing trade backtesting etc..then go to work?

 

[Iwilldoit]

@wrbtrader There's a very well known trader on ET who did exactly that, quitting his job and going away to focus fully on developing a trading plan, he's very successful. Hint: he used to be a fireman.

Are you a full time trader who did it on the side first? Do you know many people who did it like that and are very successful in trading now?

If you have a family to support then save up expenses for at least 2-3 years and use that time to focus on trading. You made choices to have responsibilities, that's quite unrelated to the effort needed to be a good trader. Excuses don't matter.

Would you run any other business part-time? "Hey, daytime I'm a mechanic but 2 hours every night I run a restaurant", does it sound like a successful venture?

Your post got a bit too long for me to answer the many points...

PS. I used to work while trading for a bit and I didn't like it. Focusing on menial tasks and replying to silly e-mails was taking much of my time and mental energy. If I had spent that time to improving my trading back then, I would've gotten further faster.

@d08 @wrbtrader

With all due respect to you and your high quality posts......

You mention to make trading your fulltime job, and focus on it 100%.

But taking into consideration that trading is a business with 95% failure rate, where most who quit their jobs and trade full time fail (like myself), how wise can this be?

Can you name any other business that has a failure rate as high as "trading"?
(Perhaps deciding to become a hollywood movie star, or a become a major label artist etc)

You mention to save up for 2-3 years, but do you know that most traders are not even breaking even after 2-3years?



Respectfully,

IWDI

 

[wildchild]

I agree d08,
When people suggest daytrade/trade part-time on the side...I always roll my eyes in confusion. you can't actively trade part-time, in my opinion.

Trading requires one's undivided attention.
if you can't devote that time, then one should just buy and hold/invest for the long haul...otherwise you will just slowly bleed away your capital, eventually.

This sounds like when people ask me 'How do I get into this real estate game?'.

I always ask 'What game are you referring to?'. Done correctly you can make a lot of money, but it ain't a game or something you do for fun. It doesnt mean you can take enjoyment or fulfillment from it, but if it is something you think you will do in your free time and be successfuly, it aint happening.

 

[newwurldmn]

I spoke with my uncle and he pretty much talked me out of buying the business. He is able to do 95% of the repairs on the equipment and to get a repair service to come to the laundry mat it is $100 minimum. He is fixing something every week. I am not very handy myself so I do not see myself doing the repairs. Also he said he pockets about $75000 per year after all expenses/taxes etc. But that is with him working at the business full time. To open up a new laundry mat you are looking at about $150,000 in impact fees so buying an existing operation is likely the better bet. All this being said, it is a business that has been steady for grandfather and uncle since the late 60's. In my case it makes more sense to focus on maximizing the amount of money from what I currently do (writing software) rather than getting bogged down in a business that would need a good bit of hand holding.

fan27

it makes no sense to start a business (operating or trading) for a salary. You do it to try to get scale and wealth creation.

 

[d08]

@d08

I have this dilemma now, looking to get a job and making trading a lower priority, I am thinking of transitioning from being a daytrader to a swing/long term trader....

What if I wake up at 6am, and have 2 hours of high quality focus, to work on my swing trade backtesting etc..then go to work?

Focusing on trading before work would definitely help but that's still only 2 hours.
Think of it this way - there's somewhere a guy just like you but who focuses on trading 10 hours per day. Who do you think has a better chance of making it, you or him? As you know with trading, there's very few people who "barely make it", there are typically those who lose and those who gain a lot.