First of three parts.

An article written by TJ quoted Sam Hamadeh, top honcho of Vault.com, who encourages new graduates to immediately start becoming entrepreneurs. "When you graduate is as good a time as you'll see to start a business,The negative is you're broke. But the positive is you're broke, so you've got nothing to lose..." That is probably a good strategy and in continuation, this article will talk about another good plan, from an Asian perspective.

The most common advice given to aspiring entrepreneurs is to "Get as much entrepreneurial training and experience possible before diving into it." In my opinion, one excellent training ground is a trading company.

Describing it simply, a large number of trading firms operate using the "Buy & Sell" type of business. Over time, opportunities are created and new businesses (subsidiaries) are eventually established. In the long run, the original entities become groups with diverse interests and develop into big conglomerates. And like most companies, it continuously tries to expand. Today, a number of popular Asian brands like Samsung and LG are strategically attached to powerful trading houses.

In Asia, trading firms are so big that until the crisis of 1997, nine of the Top 10 companies in the Fortune 500 list were Japanese trading houses. I can recall that until 1997, the only non Japanese trading firm in the roll was General Electric (No 4). The ranking was consistently topped by mitsubishi followed by Itochu, Marubeni, GE and etc.

Working as a trader for firms like the ones mentioned, provides the experience of actually running a business. Traders become experts in making quick analyses of entire industries, identifying opportunities, negotiating with suppliers and clients and all the other tasks associated with the process.

In trading, entrepreneurial lessons learned (mostly through experiences and strict mentoring systems) are valuable yet costly if it is to be gained through other settings (such as one's own start up company). Because it is painstakingly acquired, the skills gained become deeply ingrained in the trader's individuality, giving him a strong potential to become a successful entrepreneur.