Elevate your small business by increasing your available capital through our guide on how business owners can invest in the forex market.

How to Invest in Forex as a Business Owner

Most people who are building a retirement nest egg or hoping to make a big purchase may want to grow their savings through investment. Forex is very useful for such a purpose, as there are few barriers to entry and the learning curve is not very steep.

What many do not realize, however, is that small businesses can also benefit from trading forex. Using platforms such as OANDA, small business owners can ensure they have access to money in other currencies while investing their capital with the hopes of turning a profit on most trades.

Below is a guide that explains how you can start investing in currency today as a small business owner.

Why Currencies Fluctuate in Value

The key to investing in any asset or security is to predict whether the asset in question will rise or fall in value. Stocks fall and rise based on the perceptions of a company and its performance. Currencies rise and fall in value based on supply, demand, and other factors.

Currencies with high inflation are likely to see a drop in the value of their currency, as the country has less purchasing power due to inflation. Higher interest rates can also impact currency values, raising them, as investors who have money in that currency can now get higher returns on their funds. Lower interest rates usually see a drop in currency value.

Political stability, government debt, and the amount of foreign currency the central bank of the country in question owns can also impact the value of that country’s currency. If there is instability, the currency is likely to fall in value, while central banks can use foreign currencies to weather volatility in their currency’s value.

Why Trade in Currencies?

Many business owners may wonder why they need to trade in currencies. There are two primary reasons: having access to money in other currencies and making a profit on your existing capital.

If you have money sitting in your business account, putting it to use in the forex market is a great way to increase returns. Rather than keeping it in a company checking or savings account, you can get better returns through trading forex a few times a week.

Even if you are not interested in growing your capital through forex, but you plan to do business in other countries, using the market is useful. The forex market can help you access the best exchange rates while accruing small profits on trades.

Types of Forex Trades

There are two significant forms of trading foreign currencies, spot trading and futures trading. A spot trade is extremely simple, as you agree to exchange currencies with another party at a set price. The exchange rate is determined by the present value of both currencies.

A futures trade is a little more complex, as it involves buying or selling a currency for another at a set future date. A trader may engage in a futures trade if they believe the value of a currency will rise or fall within a set period of time.

Currency Pairings

When you first create an account at a site that allows you to trade on the Forex market, you will likely see a lot of currency pairings. You are trading in pairings, such as GBP/USD or EUR/USD. The pairings signify the two currencies you are exchanging, such as exchanging a Great British Pound for a United States Dollar or a Euro for a US Dollar.

The currencies that make up most of the Forex market are the US Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Great British Pound, Euro, Japanese Yen, Australian Dollar, and the Swiss Franc. You can trade other currencies, but finding other investors to complete spot trades and futures trades may be a little more difficult.

Liquid, 24-Hour Market

A significant advantage of the Forex market is that you are taking part in a highly liquid market that is active nearly 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Trading in foreign currencies opens on Monday morning in Australia and Asia and is ongoing 24 hours a day until Friday evening in the United States or South America.

The Forex market is extremely liquid, as you can complete spot and futures trades in a matter of seconds. If you are trading major currencies, finding a buyer that takes the opposite view of your investment is extremely easy.

Grow Your Business Through Forex

Business owners need to take advantage of every available resource if they are to grow their capital. Whether you are accessing capital through business loans, investors, or other means, you can increase the money available to your operation through trading.

While you may not have time to become an expert in stocks, the forex market is a lot easier to learn.  Trading Forex allows you to access foreign currencies, which may be useful for doing business in other countries. You can also make a profit on most trades, provided you have some understanding of how the forex market works, and why currencies rise and fall in value.

If you are self-employed or running a small business, leveraging the forex market is a great way to put your capital to use.