I always trade to start. You gotta have the patience to take small bites and upgrade your capacity as possible.
Stick to Liberty at first. California to Texas is a good startup. As you get a decent shield under you, you might make your first trip to Hamburg or Manchester. California to Leeds via the Magellan JH is good once you have a decent ship. Never risk everything, always leave yourself enough for another run if you get killed.
Trying to make big money in a little ship will always bring you grief. Unioners and Mollies, even Lane Hacker NPC's are a bane to a startup ship. If you try it, you'll end up losing your hard-fought dough and have to start again., which definitely takes the fun out of it.
