Open trading account 
I read this story on one of the forum and thought I would share it with fellow traders:
I wonder if any of you guys can help me?
I can't understand what I did wrong this year.
I had such a great idea for a business but it just fell apart.
The idea was simple : I know a supplier that I can get items from really cheap and it was my intention to sell them on for a nice profit in the expensive area I live in (people will pay extortionate prices!!)
I guess my misfortune was a combination of a terrible economic climate and a good old dose of bad luck because my business failed right from the start.
Let me tell you what happened.
Firstly, in April, I bought 300 pairs of Green Wellington Boots ready for the statistically rainy month we have here in the UK! The idea was so good that I put 50% of my net worth into it. Unfortunately, rather than pouring with rain, it was the warmest April on record. I mean, who can have predicted the weather???
I didn't sell a single pair. My friend at the successful store in the next town, told me to mark the stock down drastically, sell it on as quick as possible, get whatever I can and take a quick loss. Well, this sounded great in principle. But what if I sold it all off on the cheap and then the weather turned??? Who wants to take a loss??
I decided to keep them on display and hope for some rain in May. Unfortunately, two things happened. Firstly, while I had taken up half my shop with these boots, my friend made a fortune when there was a run on those fancy new coats that all the Yuppies buy their dogs. I could have made a killing but I had almost no space for them and had no money left over after buying up all those boots.
Then, I got hit with a double whammy, there was no rain in May and by the time the heat wave rolled around in June, I couldn't even get rid of the Wellingtons in a fire sale. I ended up having to dump the lot at the local tip.
My friend said I was crazy to have risked 50%. He said even the best made plans can go wrong. But the way I see it, you have to risk money to make money and it sounds to me like he was simply scared.
Anyway, as you can imagine, I was very angry at this stage. So I was looking for a quick opportunity to make my money back. My friend told me I was trying to get revenge. He told me to sit on my hands and wait for the next craze to develop and then have money ready and waiting to take advantage of it. But who wants to wait??? I've got bills to pay!! There was no craze at the current time and I didn't intend to wait around.
There was a slight problem in that the suppliers didn't have much that looked good but still, if you look long enough you can usually find something. That's what my best friend in school used to say. He now works as a cleaner incidentally...anyway, I am digressing.
I browsed the catalogues looking for something - anything, that might sell. And then I found these fancy red raincoats. Now, I know what you are going to say...its June....but the thing is, they were a beautiful deep red and it had been known to rain in June sometimes. Maybe the odds were not great but they were the best on offer and if I could pull it off...I could make that money back I lost on the Wellingtons! So I bought 600. I guess I was being stubborn. But what would you do in my situation???
Well, sadly this bet didn't pay off. I didn't sell a single rain coat and ended up taking a big loss on them.
Well of course, my friend rubbed my nose in it. That annoying &*^% always thinks he is right. It's alright for him. His shop turns over £1,000 each day on average. Mine turned over £85. I felt like I was getting nowhere. He told me to stop worrying about what I was turning over and concentrate on building a client base and a reputation for quality products. Well that's all well and good but I'm not getting any younger!! I need to make money today not in two years time!
Speaking of my friend. He is one of those people that really p*ss you off. Always has meticulous records of his in comings and outgoings. Knows exactly what sells and what doesn't. Knows the cheapest suppliers. Always seems to strike at the optimum time. He always harps on about patience and experience. You'd hate him if you met him. I don't even know why we are friends.
Anyway, I digress. In September, something happened that really appeared to be a good opportunity. These fancy new mobile phone covers came out for the iPhones. Popularity was really building for these covers, especially among the younger generation and Christmas was approaching.
The thing is, after losing 50% of my capital on the Wellingtons and then jumping into those raincoats so quick and losing my money there too, I didn't have much money left and I was nervous. I just couldn't afford to lose again so I ended up buying only 20.
My friend was waiting and prepared and he bought everything he could get his hands on. I think he bought over 2,000. Everytime I went to his shop he had sold out and was busy re-stocking. He said it was a perfect storm ; the price was a good one, the potential mark up (or risk reward as he kept saying it) was excellent, there was proven demand and we were in a seasonally strong period. He kept on harping on about conduence or confluence or some such thing. I don't remember. But anyway, whatever he was on about, it's all very good to talk. But money buys things. And the fact was that he had the money to buy a huge amount. I didn't. It wasn't my fault. Just bad luck. Anyway, I managed to turn mine over quick enough but I had bought so little that I made almost no profit and when it came time for me to re-stock, the suppliers had run out so that was the end of my trade.
I finally went into insolvency in December.
I guess this business is just not for me.
Funnily enough, over Christmas, another friend told me about trading and how you can make huge amounts of money buying and selling currencies. I'm actually very excited about it. He said you can do well if you treat it like a business. I didn't like to say anything but of course, I thought to myself that it didn't sound like any business I know. In fact, it sounds as far removed from buying and selling clothes as one can get. Wouldn't you agree?
I wonder if any of you guys can help me?
I can't understand what I did wrong this year.
I had such a great idea for a business but it just fell apart.
The idea was simple : I know a supplier that I can get items from really cheap and it was my intention to sell them on for a nice profit in the expensive area I live in (people will pay extortionate prices!!)
I guess my misfortune was a combination of a terrible economic climate and a good old dose of bad luck because my business failed right from the start.
Let me tell you what happened.
Firstly, in April, I bought 300 pairs of Green Wellington Boots ready for the statistically rainy month we have here in the UK! The idea was so good that I put 50% of my net worth into it. Unfortunately, rather than pouring with rain, it was the warmest April on record. I mean, who can have predicted the weather???
I didn't sell a single pair. My friend at the successful store in the next town, told me to mark the stock down drastically, sell it on as quick as possible, get whatever I can and take a quick loss. Well, this sounded great in principle. But what if I sold it all off on the cheap and then the weather turned??? Who wants to take a loss??
I decided to keep them on display and hope for some rain in May. Unfortunately, two things happened. Firstly, while I had taken up half my shop with these boots, my friend made a fortune when there was a run on those fancy new coats that all the Yuppies buy their dogs. I could have made a killing but I had almost no space for them and had no money left over after buying up all those boots.
Then, I got hit with a double whammy, there was no rain in May and by the time the heat wave rolled around in June, I couldn't even get rid of the Wellingtons in a fire sale. I ended up having to dump the lot at the local tip.
My friend said I was crazy to have risked 50%. He said even the best made plans can go wrong. But the way I see it, you have to risk money to make money and it sounds to me like he was simply scared.
Anyway, as you can imagine, I was very angry at this stage. So I was looking for a quick opportunity to make my money back. My friend told me I was trying to get revenge. He told me to sit on my hands and wait for the next craze to develop and then have money ready and waiting to take advantage of it. But who wants to wait??? I've got bills to pay!! There was no craze at the current time and I didn't intend to wait around.
There was a slight problem in that the suppliers didn't have much that looked good but still, if you look long enough you can usually find something. That's what my best friend in school used to say. He now works as a cleaner incidentally...anyway, I am digressing.
I browsed the catalogues looking for something - anything, that might sell. And then I found these fancy red raincoats. Now, I know what you are going to say...its June....but the thing is, they were a beautiful deep red and it had been known to rain in June sometimes. Maybe the odds were not great but they were the best on offer and if I could pull it off...I could make that money back I lost on the Wellingtons! So I bought 600. I guess I was being stubborn. But what would you do in my situation???
Well, sadly this bet didn't pay off. I didn't sell a single rain coat and ended up taking a big loss on them.
Well of course, my friend rubbed my nose in it. That annoying &*^% always thinks he is right. It's alright for him. His shop turns over £1,000 each day on average. Mine turned over £85. I felt like I was getting nowhere. He told me to stop worrying about what I was turning over and concentrate on building a client base and a reputation for quality products. Well that's all well and good but I'm not getting any younger!! I need to make money today not in two years time!
Speaking of my friend. He is one of those people that really p*ss you off. Always has meticulous records of his in comings and outgoings. Knows exactly what sells and what doesn't. Knows the cheapest suppliers. Always seems to strike at the optimum time. He always harps on about patience and experience. You'd hate him if you met him. I don't even know why we are friends.
Anyway, I digress. In September, something happened that really appeared to be a good opportunity. These fancy new mobile phone covers came out for the iPhones. Popularity was really building for these covers, especially among the younger generation and Christmas was approaching.
The thing is, after losing 50% of my capital on the Wellingtons and then jumping into those raincoats so quick and losing my money there too, I didn't have much money left and I was nervous. I just couldn't afford to lose again so I ended up buying only 20.
My friend was waiting and prepared and he bought everything he could get his hands on. I think he bought over 2,000. Everytime I went to his shop he had sold out and was busy re-stocking. He said it was a perfect storm ; the price was a good one, the potential mark up (or risk reward as he kept saying it) was excellent, there was proven demand and we were in a seasonally strong period. He kept on harping on about conduence or confluence or some such thing. I don't remember. But anyway, whatever he was on about, it's all very good to talk. But money buys things. And the fact was that he had the money to buy a huge amount. I didn't. It wasn't my fault. Just bad luck. Anyway, I managed to turn mine over quick enough but I had bought so little that I made almost no profit and when it came time for me to re-stock, the suppliers had run out so that was the end of my trade.
I finally went into insolvency in December.
I guess this business is just not for me.
Funnily enough, over Christmas, another friend told me about trading and how you can make huge amounts of money buying and selling currencies. I'm actually very excited about it. He said you can do well if you treat it like a business. I didn't like to say anything but of course, I thought to myself that it didn't sound like any business I know. In fact, it sounds as far removed from buying and selling clothes as one can get. Wouldn't you agree?