The British gambling industry pulled in annual revenues of around £15 billion last year with double
It’s no wonder then that the online gambling market in the UK – even across the world – is incredibly saturated. Ambitious entrepreneurs are pinpointing online gambling as a “get rich quick” industry, but it’s not quite as simple as that.
Starting your online gambling company
As well as being an ambitious, dedicated and hard-working entrepreneur you’ll also need to be a significantly wealthy one to succeed with your online gambling company. Conservative estimates from industry experts recommend starting with no less than a £1 million bankroll.
The reason you’ll need all this capital is because you’ll have to jump through a number of hoops to get started. Firstly you’ll have to obtain a gambling licence for the country you’re planning to operate in – a process than can take up to 12 months to complete.
Whilst you’re waiting for your licence you can start to look around at a payment service provider (PSP), which will unfortunately be expensive. Securing a deal with a good PSP is vital though as it’s the only way to facilitate withdrawals and deposits safely and securely whilst maintaining high levels of satisfaction amongst your customer base.
If you’ve decided to go with the £1 million budget then you’ll have no choice but to buy gaming software from an external provider. You can choose not to do this and design your own software but guess what? That’s SUPER expensive.
There aren’t many options in the gambling industry when it comes to gaming software with less than a dozen reputable companies offering their services. To be successful you’ll have to choose one with a good track-record of producing high-quality. Also you’ll need to pick a provider with a huge selection of games to ensure your site isn’t a carbon copy of another online provider.
Now you’re in the final straight you can think about designing your website and coming up with a niche. Something that will help you stand-out from your competitors. This can be done on the cheap but don’t forget how important a well-designed website can be to potential new customers.
Finally with everything done in terms of the site you can set about promoting your company online. This can be done organically but you’d be well-advised to consult an advertising agency to get your name out.
Then what?
You’ll need to consistently market your website to attract new customers as you attempt to recoup your initial outlay in setting up your website. The best way to do this is by focusing specifically on one niche. Are you going to focus mainly on poker? Roulette? Online slots etc?
If you’re successful in doing this and make a name for yourself in your chosen niche then you’re best bet (pun intended) is to try and sell your site to one of the industry’s biggest names.
In order to rival them in the long-term on your own you’ll need to invest way more than your original £1 million, and unfortunately that is a real gamble (again, pun intended). As the biggest names in the industry reach a glass ceiling they’re constantly looking to expand through purchasing smaller companies, and that’s where you can cash-in on your investment.
So, who’s managed to do all of this?
In 2008, the creators of Wink Bingo tentatively launched their online bingo platform with the goal of appealing directly to middle-aged women in the United Kingdom. Thankfully for them they had done their homework and invested their money wisely.
Customers flocked to their site, drawn in by the enticing offers and the unique design of the site. However, the owners knew that they didn’t have the bankroll to continue with sustained growth, so 12 months after launch they sold Wink Bingo for a huge profit.
888 Holdings, one of the biggest names in online gambling, bought Wink Bingo for a reported £60 million making the original owners of Wink Bingo very happy indeed. In the 12 months preceding the purchase, 888’s executives had been taking a keen interest in the online bingo industry.
They had noticed that bingo was growing in popularity and pinpointed it as one way for their company to break into the elite level of online gambling providers. Following the purchase, Wink Bingo finally had the investment it needed to boost its profits and bring it to the next level.
888 introduced their
Plenty of money was invested into advertising as well driving more and more customers to the site. Within 12 months of the takeover Wink Bingo was starting to look and feel like a premier online bingo site.
10 years on from that initial purchase, Wink Bingo is one of the many jewels in the glittering 888 crown. It is now the fastest growing asset in the 888 Holdings portfolio and is providing the blueprint for the company’s latest purchase.
Earlier this year 888 purchased a series of smaller online bingo sites including Costa Bingo & Fancy Bingo. It is thought that 888 will try to recreate the success of Wink Bingo with their latest purchases and there’s nothing to suggest that they won’t be successful.
Conclusion
Just starting your own online gambling company is incredibly time-consuming, not to mention very expensive. If you make astute decisions in the development period then you will give yourself every opportunity of carving out a name in a saturated market.
Unfortunately transforming your gambling company from an exciting upstart to an industry leader is a huge gamble. Once you reach a point where your bankroll doesn’t match your ambition it’s perhaps best to sell and cash-in on your outlay.