Navigating the complexities of launching a Forex brokerage requires careful planning and strategy. This comprehensive guide provides insights from experienced industry insiders on key aspects such as communication channels, team composition, security, and risk management.
Whether you’re an aspiring CEO or an entrepreneur considering this lucrative field, you’ll find invaluable advice on building a robust team, choosing the right software, and implementing foolproof security measures. Dive in and explore how to successfully kickstart your journey into the dynamic world of forex. This article will review the last couple of things to take care of before launching your forex broker.
Communication Channels
There are communication channels that you will use for communication with your staff and those you will use to communicate with your clients. Both are equally important.
Your clients should be able to contact you whenever they face a problem or want to talk to someone. So it would be best to have at least a couple of easy-to-use communication channels (chat, phone, ticketing system, email). Be sure to spend time selecting and testing the platforms you will go live with.
Over the years, we have tried many types of chatting software. We can’t name them here for legal reasons, of course. But when choosing such software, it is essential to pay attention to how flexible the platform is, what features will be helpful to you, what metrics it tracks, and so on.
Personnel
Some of your employees will likely be scattered across the globe, and they all will have different degrees of computer literacy. This aspect presents a potential security threat. Various unsavory characters will try to exploit it, which may ultimately lead to problems. It is a risk for your business, and you must do everything you can to protect it at all costs. Please make sure you use highly secured business solutions that are foolproof and hacker-proof. Don’t repeat our mistakes. Be sure to conduct “security drills” for your employees to educate your team about social hacking methods, phishing, etc. Someone will try to hack you at some point, and if they succeed, this won’t be pretty. And the reputation damage may be irreparable.
Customer Support Team
Next but not least is your support team. Before launching your broker, you need to assemble your customer support team. Your job is pretty simple if you know the exact region or regions you will concentrate your marketing efforts on. All you have to do is find at least a few people from that region. Ideally, they should be bilingual. When we went live, our support team comprised four people. Once we hit the break-even level, we realized it was time to expand the team, and from that point on, we have done so gradually.
To make your broker a success, you must ensure you get the best talent you can get your hands on. And our advice is don’t be cheap.
Let us look at the composition of the minimalistic team that should make launching your forex broker a cakewalk.
If your goal is to be as independent as possible and to be in total control of your client base, then consider building a proprietary CRM/back office system. If this is the case, at a very minimum, look to hire at least a couple of high-caliber web programmers or even more if your budget allows it.
Besides that, you will need someone who knows how to set up and deploy the MT4/MT5 infrastructure. That person should be able to set up the bridge. They will also take care of the whole thing once it is up and running.
At some point, before you go live, you will need to decide how you are going to manage your risk. I just wanted to let you know that you will need someone to take care of this particular aspect. That person will monitor your clients’ trading activity. Also, they will make sure nobody is exploiting your platform. And they will decide who stays in book A and who gets transferred to book B. In the very beginning, when the client’s pool is small, one knowledgeable person can handle that. But as your client base grows, you will need to consider adding more people and introducing shifts.
From the get-go, your client support team (minimum of 4 people) will need to provide support to your clients and also handle the onboarding process, including checking their IDs and proof of residential address, as well as processing their deposits and withdrawals.
And last but not least, your accountant. When you hire people, someone will need to organize the payroll, taxes, etc., which should be pretty straightforward. Once you go live, you will receive funds from your clients (your liabilities). Your clients will trade and, when they are good and ready, will make withdrawals. All that will need to be reflected in financial statements, and that’s where your accountant comes in.
During the research phase, you don’t need to have all these positions filled. But before launching your forex broker, you may start looking for people, interviewing potential candidates, and making other preparations. As far as the research phase goes, you can either do it yourself (you’re the aspiring CEO) or hire a reliable person. That person should possess a skill set that may later be used in areas other than research. For instance, that person can later become the head of any of these departments: customer support department, finance department, onboarding of clients, etc.
That’s about it. Kidding; that’s just the beginning of your exciting journey into the world of forex. In this article, we’ve provided an insider’s view of how a successful forex brokerage can be started. To learn more about Forex trading in Foreign Exchange Markets, you can learn more through our latest articles.
Don’t forget to check out the other two parts of this guide (part one, part two).
