This business idea I had would be similar to that of an internet cafe, where only traders are welcomed. Each trader would have his/her own desk, and computer set up free of charge. They could come and go as they please, and could trade as much or as little as they wanted too. I would not offer margin, or take commissions. The way this business would make money is from charging an hourly fee, and a maintenance charge once a month. This business would have enough back up power supply to run each computer for at least an hour, and there would be two ISP's, a T1 line and cable in case one fails. We'd be open 24 hrs a day for FX traders. The bottom line: * Would you come to a place where you could interact with other traders? * Would you enjoy having state-of-the art hardware and a lightning fast connection? * Would you love to trade as much or as little as you want without feeling any pressure? IMO, it would sure beat being in the office all day by myself.
It's a money pit, don't throw your money behind it. In theory, it sounds great, but the reality is you won't be able to make enough to cover the risk you take assuming the fixed costs of operating the business. Turnover will be relatively high, insurance for that type of business will be high, too!
I doubt that you could do this... Without some kind of securities registration... In which case the regulatory overhead would kill the business one way or another. This is hardly an original idea. Find me an existing, successful business like your model on the net... Otherwise you can assume it either cannot be done or does not work.
Yeah...Open one up in Denver and I will pre-pay my hours Hey you could get a Starbucks agreement on the side
If I ever become consistantly profitable (1,000 $ a day at least), I dont think running the business would be that hard if I were to pitch in some of my trading profits. or maybe it would be.... Its just an idea, nothing more.
It 's a good idea, IF, regulation and insurance doesn't kill ya. Do some research, you might be on to something.
It sounds to me like the idea being proposed is an intent cafe, just marketed to attract traders. I don't see any problems with any regulations or insurance. All you are offering is a place to sit and an internet connection. I actually think it is a marketable idea, the devil is in the details. What would make people come in and pay money every month? What advantage would you have to keep competitors away? What add-on services would you offer? Lots to think about.
Really the biggest problem I see with this idea is the fact that so many traders wash out, I'd need a way of attracting new traders in an honest way, not just that, but also I'd need to locate where I know there are enough traders in a given area that would come on a daily basis. I'm thinking that a good location may be Chicago, or New York, close to where the markets are.