• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

ForexSchoolOnline.com

Learn to Trade Forex Online

  • Compare Brokers
    • Broker Type
      • Paypal Brokers
      • Swap-Free Brokers
      • Low Spread Brokers
      • ECN / STP Brokers
      • Market Maker Brokers
      • Non Dealing Desk Brokers
      • Low Minimum Deposit Brokers
    • Country
      • Brokers for Australia
      • Brokers for South Africa
      • Brokers for the UK
      • Brokers for the US
      • Brokers for Nigeria
    • Regulation
      • FCA Regulated Brokers
      • ASIC Regulated Brokers
      • FSCA Regulated Brokers
      • CFTC Regulated Brokers
    • Platform
      • MT4 Brokers
      • MT5 Forex Brokers
    • Strategies
      • Hedging Forex Brokers
      • Scalping Forex Brokers
      • Carry Trade Forex Brokers
      • Brokers for Indicators and EA’s
  • Start Here
    • Start Trading Guide
    • Beginner Trading Lessons
  • Free Forex Course
    • Public Login
    • Register
    • Password recovery
  • Lessons
    • Strategies
    • Videos
    • MT4 Guides
    • Money Management
  • Trade Setups
  • Tools
    • Correct Free Demo Charts
    • Forex Journal Download
    • Position Size Calculator
    • FULL List of Tools
    • Forex Demo Accounts
  • Price Action Guide
  • Free Course

How to Trade Forex Professionally 2020

Johnathon Fox
12/21/2012 | UPDATED ON: 08/07/2020

Most people say they treat their trading like a business, but the truth is they don’t. 

This article will discuss how to run your trading as a business, and what you need to start thinking about if you want to become a professional full time trader.

Trading Forex professionally is much more than just having a sound strategy that makes money. 

The strategies you are about to read you won’t find in most other places because the truth is most people don’t know how to run a Forex business successfully.

 

Find and Use a Profitable Trading Strategy

Obviously a profitable Forex trading strategy is the first thing any trader wishing to trade full time needs to have. 

Here at Forex School Online we focus on teaching traders how to trade price action because the fact is, if you can read price action then you have the ability to trade any market you choose.

Your chosen Forex strategy does not have to be some complicated black box system, or a system where you have to watch the market for hours on end. The simpler the system often the better the results tend to be.

clean price action chart

 

Successful Trading Strategies

Most professional Forex traders use price action in some form of their trading strategy. 

Trading with price action is not an automated system and that’s why it is so successful. The market is always changing and trading with price action allows you to change and adapt as the market does. You can read more about price action here at Ultimate Price Action Trading Guide

Below is an example of a very simple price action trading setup; the Bearish Engulfing Bar. 

bearish engulfing bar example

Once you learn how to use simple price action setups like this in your trading you will be able to find many trading opportunities. These types of simple trades form on all time frames and in many different markets.

 

Treat Your Forex Trading as a Business

The most important part of your business strategy is making sure you are never left in the lurch without money to pay for your necessities such as bills and putting food on the table. 

In life there can be many curve balls thrown at you including sickness, family issues or many others things that come up.

It is a great idea to have a surplus of cash set aside just to pay the bills. 

Ideally you should never have to touch this money, but having it there will take the pressure off your trading and cover you should anything happen.

When trading full time professionally for yourself there is no work cover or anyone else to come to your rescue if something goes wrong. It’s as simple as this; if you stop trading, you stop earning. This is something every full time trader needs to plan for.

Before going full time you will have to ensure you have your trading business plan outlined. 

What backup capital will your business have and how will you run your daily expenses? 

Will you take money from your trading account every month? Or will you use expenditure cards that you pay off with profits from your trading? 

All of these things need to be considered before going full time.

 

Create Your Own Trading Routine

Having a set trading routine is very important and will reflect directly back into your trading results. 

The best Forex traders are the traders who are consistent in their approach to the market and in their trading decisions. 

The Forex market is a place where there are very little rules. The only rules are those that the trader places upon themselves. For example there are no rules about how much to trade, when to trade, where to enter or exit, how long to hold a trade or how many trades to enter. 

These are all decisions that the individual trader has to make on a daily basis. It is no fluke that the traders who carry out these decisions with the most consistency have the best results and end up on top.

How to trade Forex professionally

To have consistency in your trading results you have to have a set routine that is built around your life’s other commitments and schedules. This routine will be different for everybody because of both different commitments and also time zones.

When making your routine you have to factor in the best times to participate in the market, for example; if you trade the 4hr candle close you may want to be at your computer when the 4hr candle closes during the UK and US sessions.

 

Make a Set Space for Your Trading Business

In your house you need to set up a space that is just for your trading business. This could be a spare room or a free corner that you can use. The idea of this is that this area is just for your business. 

Your family knows that when you are in this area that you are not just playing games, but you are running a business. Your family will also know that it is business time and to not pester you with others jobs.

Making this little area will also help you keep the correct mindset. When you are in this space you are at work and running the business and when you are out of that area you can be with the family.

 

Define Your Trading Business Money Management

This is one of the most important subjects. When defining your money management strategy for your trading business you are not looking at how much money you risk per trade, but how you manage your money within your trading business. 

Not many traders think about this, but if you are to truly treat your trading like a business you need to have plans to effectively manage your money.

The questions you need to start asking yourself are;

  • How do I set up my trading accounts?
  • Do I open a company for tax purposes?
  • Do I deposit all my trading capital into my trading accounts?
  • Do I invest some of my trading capital in other investments such as bonds, stocks or term deposits?

Obviously, I cannot give you direct advice on these matters, which is why I am asking you questions. 

You need to start asking yourself some of these questions and seeking the answers. You may need to see an accountant who can look at your personal situation and give you direct personal advice.

If you have a large trading account you may be better off placing part of that account balance in other investments to earn better returns. 

If you have a large amount of trading capital you may not need all of the capital in the trading account to place trades. A lot of that money is sitting in the account not being touched. Money sitting unused in a trading account is earning nothing and it could be earning you interest in other investments.

Remember; yes we are traders, but we are running a business and the goal is to make money.

 

Have a Trading Journal

All serious traders who are treating their trading as a business have a trading journal.

A trading journal has two main functions that you you will benefit from.

The first is will track all the basic figures from profit, loss and everything important in between.

Your journal can also act as a tool to help you continually improve your trading and iron out errors in your trading.

Trading journal

The only way to constantly improve your trading strategy is to track what you are currently doing. This is where your journal comes in. You will quickly be able to see if you are making the same mistakes or where there are areas to make further profits.

You can get our free journal to use in your own trading below.

 

Have a Passion or Hobby Away From Trading

Having something you are interested in away from trading is incredibly important.

What the passion or hobby is does not matter as long as you have something outside your trading you can use to switch off. 

Trading can be very psychologically stressful and everybody needs something to help them switch off away from the markets. 

Forex trading hobby

Having something away from trading can be especially useful when you are in a trade. The market needs time to “do its thing” and sitting and staring at the charts won’t speed up the process. 

This is where having a passion outside Forex can be useful to keep you fresh in the mind and also away from playing with and messing up your trades. 

 

I hope you have enjoyed this article. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

 

Recommended Broker

  • Broker
  • Min Deposit
  • Benefits
  • Score
  • Visit Broker

$200

T&Cs Apply
  • The Lowest Trading Costs
  • 50% Welcome Bonus
  • Award-winning 24 Hour Support
5
Trade Now FreeBets Reviews
Reviews

About Johnathon Fox

Johnathon is a Forex and Futures trader with over ten years trading experience who also acts as a mentor and coach to thousands and has written for some of the biggest finance and trading sites in the world.

View all posts by Johnathon Fox →
Previous Post: « USDCHF Pin Bar Reversal
Next Post: How to Day Trade Forex With Example on GBPUSD »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Josh says

    03/14/2013 at 10:46 PM

    FX Trading is the best source of income.

    Reply
  2. Blogo Funders says

    02/10/2013 at 10:03 AM

    I saved your post on my bookmarksThank you for sharing.

    Reply
  3. Minhajul Islam says

    12/22/2012 at 8:11 AM

    Best like information…very helpful….

    Reply
  4. Rajib says

    12/21/2012 at 11:05 PM

    Good one jonathan.. Keep it up

    Reply
  5. Mohammad Shahriar Choudhury says

    12/21/2012 at 10:36 AM

    thanks for your nice post.

    Reply
  6. Jan Ceulemans says

    12/21/2012 at 6:04 PM

    Hi Jonathan,

    This is one of the most valuable articles one should read and learn! It is an awesome text and it covers really everything people should know about being a trader.

    I had to learn this the hard way and of course, as we all know, there is no end to learning, but finaly when I came to realise the truth of what you describe so well, THAT was the time when my losing trades changed into winning ones and that was also the time that I realised, trading forex a profssional way is really fun!

    Reply
  7. NAADHAN says

    12/21/2012 at 5:44 PM

    Super like …. was planning to take it full time after mastering a system in demo… this article came in at the right time …. super like for the stress made on trading discipline !

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Forex School Online

High Probability Price Action Trading

How to make, manage and take profit from trades in the markets

Start Learning (It's Free!)

Turn Your Trades into Winners!

The Price action course is the in-depth advanced training on assessing, making and managing high probability price action trades.

Sign up for Free!

Recommended Broker

  • Broker
  • Min Deposit
  • Benefits
  • Score
  • Visit Broker

$200

T&Cs Apply
  • The Lowest Trading Costs
  • 50% Welcome Bonus
  • Award-winning 24 Hour Support
5
Trade Now FreeBets Reviews
Reviews

Footer

Get Our FREE Course, Bonus Strategies & Indicators!
X
Join Us Now!

Your capital is at risk.

X

CORNERSTONE LESSONS

Forex Trading for Beginners

Price Action Trading

How to Trade Forex

Technical Analysis

Forex Charts

Forex Trading Strategies

Money Management 

Compare Brokers

Best Forex Brokers

Forex Demo Accounts

Best Forex Trading Platforms

Forex Apps

Swap Fee Accounts

MT4 Brokers

CATEGORIES

Forex Videos

Trading Lessons

Weekly Trade Ideas

Start Here Guide

ForexSchoolOnline.com helps individual traders learn how to trade the Forex market

WARNING: The content on this site should not be considered investment advice and we are not authorised to provide investment advice. Nothing on this website is an endorsement or recommendation of a particular trading strategy or investment decision. The information on this website is general in nature so you must consider the information in light of your objectives, financial situation and needs.

Investing is speculative. When investing your capital is at risk. This site is not intended for use in jurisdictions in which the trading or investments described are prohibited and should only be used by such persons and in such ways as are legally permitted. Your investment may not qualify for investor protection in your country or state of residence, so please conduct your own due diligence or obtain advice where necessary. This website is free for you to use but we may receive a commission from the companies we feature on this site.

We Introduce people to the world of currency trading. and provide educational content to help them learn how to become profitable traders. we're also a community of traders that support each other on our daily trading journey

Forexschoolonline.com is not a financial advisor. Do your research before investing your funds in any financial asset or presented product or event. We are not responsible for your investing results.

Finixio Ltd, Tower 42, 25 Old Broad Street, London EC2N 1HN | [email protected]

Copyright © Forex School Online - Finixio Ltd Company no. 11705811 - Sitemap  - Privacy Policy - Disclaimers & Terms of Use - CONTACT US