157
http://umec.oesm.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?topic=446&forum=25 ) gives an
overview of what's involved.
Consider taking small consignments of cheap (but high profit margin)
commodities when flying between stations with another mission. These can be
safely traded at high tax rates, and won't cost you your career should you crash
with them.
Octavius space is probably best for finding short local profitable cargo runs for
low value commodities, like Grain and Chromium. Solrain has a few good runs
within its own space. Quantar space should be avoided since there are few
natural internal cargo routes. The best early inter-faction space cargo runs are
probably between Octavius and Solrain space: The routes tend to be shorter
than visits to other factions, commodities plentiful, and risk of Conflux attack
relatively low on most routes. A good start for poor, high tax paying newbie
traders (specifically Solrains who have the cash and cargo space to trade at the
very start of their careers) is Wake to Outpost with Water and back with Helium
- you can double your money after two return trips.
When you buy a new ship, try it out in the simulator with a heavy load (try filling
it with Iridium), to see how mass changes how the ship handles.