Actually, it does. If you do not treat trading as a business from the outset, you will eventually fail. Wayyyy to many put faith in back tests, wizbang this that and whatnot, and forget the basics. What happens when the “system” stops working, what do you do while you are tweaking or adjusting, even quants need to give regular attention to their models because of ever changing market conditions. Also if a person has never traded “size” live they do not know how they will react to losses and gains. So first you have to see how you react to just plain trading, then you have to see how you react to size. The feeling between moving 100k live is wayyyy different than moving 10 Mio Live. Now there may be a savant that jumps right in without needing to get used to seeing the losses/gains, but it is rare. If you pile the pressure of having to pay rent, food, etc on top of this, you “in the general sense” are doomed. Of course the startup costs as far as location and equipment etc are generally less than many small business’s, but the learning curve is generally much, much greater. At least most small businesses are started by someone who knows the business they are involved in, new traders rarely know the “business”, their own minds and personalities enough to be a success from the start. The question is very simple, how does one pay the bills if one has no, or a negative cash flow?
Obviously one needs a “system” with positive expectancy, which includes money management, but if one is not prepared for the worst how will one survive? If you want to talk about longer time frame swing/position trading, that is a different subject, this type of trading can be done “part time”, and if done properly, can provide not only extra income but also gives the new trader time to learn.
My reference was in relation to getting started full time from the beginning, I know the OP asked about not right away, sometime down the road etc, but again, even if you have a solid system/plan, you need a safety net, going on your own without it is, IMO foolish and bad financial/business planning.
And yes, this is a great site to get started, also there are people who do make money in trading spot currency, but it takes time and commitment to learning the “craft”.
The Ever Cold Hard Facts VIPER