How do I start a prop firm from scratch?
Quick answer
Decide your market and model, form a company, take legal advice on where you can sell, choose a trading platform, design your challenge rules, set up a website with checkout and a payment provider, prepare KYC and payout processes, and launch with a small range of account sizes before expanding.
Detailed answer
A workable order of operations:
- Pick the market. Forex and CFDs, futures or crypto. This decides your platform and data options.
- Form a company and get advice on the countries you will sell into and how to describe your product.
- Choose the trading technology. You need a terminal for traders, account provisioning and a rule engine that enforces limits in real time.
- Design the challenge: account sizes, profit target, daily and maximum loss limits, minimum trading days and any behaviour rules.
- Build the storefront: website, checkout, payment processor, terms, privacy and refund policies.
- Set up operations: support, KYC before payouts, a payout process and a reserve for paying traders.
- Launch small, measure pass rates and payouts, then add sizes and markets.
The technology step is where costs vary most. Platforms that charge setup and monthly fees can cost thousands before the first sale, while PropExecutor sells the terminal, rule engine and admin panel for a one-time payment starting at $129, so the main budget can go to marketing and reserves.
PropExecutor team · Updated