How to Start Your Online Gambling Company

Online Gambling has registered consistent growth and is one of the most lucrative businesses today. According to stats, online gambling’s total revenue is expected to rise to USD94.80 billion by 2024. There is no better time to set up an online gambling company.

There are many people who want to become entrepreneurs. While some are wondering how to start legal gambling business, only very few will dare to start.

You can start an online gambling company in many ways. But most importantly you must maintain confidence in every decision you make and be ready to take the risks.

Though we may not offer a secret recipe for building the best gambling business in the market, we can for sure give you all the necessary clues to build one.

To start an online gaming business, you need the following:

• business plan
• business incorporation
• professional gambling software
• online gambling license
• merchant account
• marketing plan

Contact Us to Start Your Gaming Company Today

Szilaghi Consulting has worked in the gaming business for over 17 years. Contact us today to find out how we can assist you with the incorporation of your gaming company, right through the business, fiscal, and licensing matters.

---

1. Online Gambling Company Business Plan

To start your online gambling company, you need to do some serious business planning. Start with answers to the following questions:

• What are your goals?
• Who are your clients? What do they want?
• Which market is best for you?
• Which games will you offer on your site?
• Who’s your competition? Which niche you should target?
• What name your business should have?
• Do you need to register for trademarks and copyright protection?
• What budget you’ll need?

GOALS: Your business plan should start with your goals, what you want to achieve, and how. You should also figure out which markets you are targeting, where they are located, what they are interested in, and of course, what kind of games they are into.

COMPETITORS: Is very important to check out the competition. See who else in the gaming business is offering a similar concept to yours. Check your regional and international competitors, as well as those that are offering products like yours. Search and find a niche that is currently not being served or find a competitive advantage that will differentiate you from those that are already established.  The online gambling industry is a huge, international market and there is a range of demographic groups that all have specific preferences.

COMPANY NAME: Once you have established this, you need to pick a name for your gaming company. Make sure the domain is available, buy it, and consider registering trademarks and copyrights relating to your new brand. This will prevent someone else from coming along and taking your idea, or coincidentally launching a similar concept before you.

GAMES: Based on the license you opt for will influence the kinds of games you will be offering. These usually include live casinos, online betting, esports, poker, bingo, lotto, online casino, and slots.

BUDGET: Decide on your budget for setup and a reasonable deadline for going live. This will help you decide on which gaming license is best for your needs based on a range of factors. Knowing how much you can afford to spend is important as this will have a direct impact on your profitability in the first months and even years.

---

2. Business Incorporation.

Now that you have an idea of what your company should look like, it’s time to set up your business and select a corporate services provider.

There are many companies providing corporate services, but keep in mind that they will vary in quality of service, price, attention to detail, professionalism, experience, services offered, and location-specific factors as well. Not all are going to be suited to your needs.

When selecting the service provider, you consider working with, consider the following:

• Experience: Your service provider should have at least 10 years of experience in your selected jurisdiction. They should also have over 15 years of experience in the gambling sector. 
• Transparency: Select a provider that is transparent about the services they offer, which products you need, and how much they charge.
• Flexibility: Your service provider should provide you the option to create a customized package for the services that suit you.
• Availability: Select a service provider that will respond to your needs efficiently and promptly.

Now that you have selected your service provider, is time to incorporate your business. Of course, the next question is where to incorporate. It is no good to select any jurisdiction. You need to consider if the regulations in that country suit your needs, what the applicable licensing environment is like, and of course fiscal considerations.

Szilaghi Consulting will help you weigh the pros and cons of each location and decide on the one that is best for you. The process of collecting the right documents and submitting them to due diligence processes can begin.

It is very important to do your homework and learn about each jurisdiction. Some countries regulate their online gambling in-country, and some have banned it within their jurisdictions. Some other countries are not regulated at all.

Popular Offshore Jurisdictions to register your Betting Company

Make sure you discuss each jurisdiction’s different obligations when it comes to company incorporation, time frames, costs, and requirements with your corporate services provider.

Once you have your gaming company set up, you need to make sure you stay on top of maintenance and ongoing obligations. These include filing, reports, statements, and compliance and can vary greatly between jurisdictions.

Setting up an online gaming company can come with lots of costs- some of which you probably haven’t even thought of. To help you set realistic and achievable goals, as well as efficiently manage your budget, follow the list of possible expenses:

• Setup costs which include: legal fees, corporate service provider fees, company incorporation, hardware and software licensing set up, gambling license fees, compliance fees, shares capital, merchant account set up costs, office rent and set up, staff hiring, domain purchase, website design and integrations, app development, marketing, and other certifications.
• Ongoing costs which include: renting an office space, staff salaries, electricity and water, office supplies, insurance, software provider fees, marketing, and costs relating to maintenance of your license and company.

The best practice is to set a budget that will cover the first 1-2 years of operation.

---

3. Select a Gambling Software Platform Provider

Now that you have your company set up and ready to go, you are ready to take the most important decision since you will be entering a long-term partnership with an online gambling platform.

There are many software and games providers and they range from high-end and super expensive, to basic games or platforms with a lower price point. Look for flexible, fully customizable software solutions that allow you to control the entire process, from design to post-launch.

You want to select a software provider that has a deep understanding of the online gaming industry and experience in launching successful online casinos.

Depending on your requirements, you should generally aim to find a software provider that offers the following features in an online gambling solution:

• an advanced gaming management system
• payment options with multi-currency support
• large coverage of betting markets
• access to a large selection of top international casino games
• a customizable front-end
• customer support

But your gaming company will also need some other software, not just gaming software. When are you discussing with your software provider you might want to ask the following key questions:

• Do you need a CMS? If so, what features do you require?
• Will you use a Customer Relationship Management system?
• What about a game management system?
• How will you manage promotions and bonuses to your clients?
• What type of payments platform are you planning to use?
• Do you intend on offering different payment methods including cryptocurrency?
• Will you require reporting software to pull off analytics on revenue, clients, retention, game popularity etc.?
• How do you intend on protecting your customers from hacks, fraud, and security breaches?
• Do you intend on working with affiliates? If so, you’ll need software to manage them
• What about an email platform to handle customer service and promotional emails?
• Do you plan on offering tech support to your clients?

These might seem like tough questions to answer, particularly for a startup gaming business but thankfully your iGaming Services Provider will be able to assist.

---

4. Obtain an Online Gambling License for the targeted jurisdiction

The fourth step in the process of starting your online gambling business is obtaining an online betting license from the relevant authorities.

Getting a license for your online gambling business is one way of showing your legitimacy. Most players will want to place their bets with a reputable and licensed online casino. Therefore, you can use licensed online gambling software to prove to your customers that your business operates within the laws.

Building an online gambling business is not an easy task for today’s operators that need to face challenges and regulatory requirements across various jurisdictions.

At this moment, the following legal frameworks dominate the gaming industry:

• countries that regulated online gambling within their territories;
• countries that regulated and imposed monopolies;
• countries that banned betting activities within their jurisdictions;
• countries that lack regulations on gambling activities;

Though there are popular gaming jurisdictions like Curacao, Malta, Kahnawake, Isle of Man, and Gibraltar that offer licenses for a great number of countries, in the end, the local legislation prevails and is imposed over any international law.

As a provider of gambling activities, you need to apply for a license in the country where you want to set your business. It takes a few months to a year to obtain a gaming license, depending on the country.

When choosing a jurisdiction, one must take into account the following:

• reputation
• licensing requirements
• duration of the application procedure
• costs and taxes

The cost of obtaining a gambling license may vary from country to country, depending on the gambling regulations. The most affordable way to get your license is to partner with your software provider or apply to an agency that works in the gambling industry.

---

5. Merchant Account and Payment Provider

Most players will want to cash out their winnings anytime and deposit funds to place a bet round the clock. With a fast and reliable payment system, you can stay ahead of most online gambling sites. When choosing a company’s payment solution, you must ensure it offers a seamless payment transaction, fraud detection, e-merchant integrations, customer support, and multi-currency support.

You should be providing your players with multiple payment options including credit and debit cards, bank transfer, payment providers, and cryptocurrency. There are lots of providers out there so you have to find ones that are widely used and offer favorable terms and usage conditions. Doing so enables your customers to make quick and easy transactions through a method that is convenient for them.

Having multiple payment options on your online gambling website is another added advantage. Lastly, to improve your customer’s gaming experience, you should have the simplest payment mechanism that matches your market choice. Ensuring you can get paid and make payments is crucial to your gaming company. Therefore, you need to set up a settlement account and a network of payment methods for your gaming business.

To simplify the process, you have the option of choosing a gambling software provider that can deliver:

• complete services
• payment processing
• integration with all major e-merchants
• multi-currency support
• advanced risk management
• fraud detection

Your corporate service provider should be able to help you get even better corporate and merchant accounts with favorable rates and terms, as well as help you set up the accounts. Remember, they have been working with most of the leading names for decades.

---

6. Implement a sound marketing strategy including loyalty and retention programs

When everything else has been taken care of, you’ll need to focus more on marketing your new online gambling business. A sound marketing strategy will help you connect with potential customers, keep existing clients interested, enhance your reputation, and of course, boost your sales. Research your competitors and find out what they’re doing right and what they’re doing wrong, so you know which mistakes to avoid.

Your main goal should be to position your online casino as a quality, trustworthy business. It’s going to be tough to do this at first since the online gaming market is a highly competitive one. The best approach is to only have quality games on your website, from trusted providers, to keep the website design clean and offer users a near-perfect experience.

A lot of effort must go into announcing the launch of your new online gaming business. But you shouldn’t stop there. Ongoing marketing efforts are required to keep your players coming back and attract new ones on a constant basis. Set up retention campaigns and bonus systems and make sure your players are always happy. Some of the most used methods are:

• Branding. How you visually market your gaming company is very important. Based on your target audience, you need to pick a simple but desirable logo, a tag line, a color scheme and a image/voice for your company.
• Loyalty programs. Some frequently used loyalty programs offered by online operators are: Sign up bonuses: Players acquire a sign-up bonus the moment they join a gambling website; Deposit bonuses: Players obtain a bonus the moment they choose to deposit a certain sum of money; No deposit bonuses: The sportsbook offers free money without asking for a deposit; Free bets: Free bets are generally connected with the size of the deposit.
• Retention methods. At the same time, every serious operator needs to focus on increasing the retention levels too. Here are some standard means to keep players with you: Frequent Player Points (FPP): This type of loyalty program is important not only as a bonus initiative for your players, but it proves to be a great retention tool as frequent bettors feel appreciated for their loyalty; VIP loyalty programs: These programs are running in an ongoing manner and they are addressed towards VIP players and high spenders; Promotions for seasonal events: Season-related events are important to be observed, such as a World Cup Championship or a European tournament, or by offering various promotions on festive moments, such as the Christmas or the Easter times; Notifications: Keeping an open channel with your players means that gambling websites need to have an automated system to detect and take notice of a player’s betting behavior; Betting assistance for new players: Great online sportsbooks offer not only many betting options and a large range of markets, but they reach out to new players in order to provide assistance.
• Distribution Channels. You also need to think about how you will reach out to potential, current, and future clients. What methods will you utilize? SEO, SEM, email marketing, in-software tools, text messaging, push notifications, sales calls, affiliates, paid advertising campaigns, are some of the most popular ways of contacting users but there are other things you should consider as well. Social media marketing, forums, press releases, sponsorships, gaming directories, networking, article writing are all great ways of reaching current and potential customers.

Be consistent, ensure your user experience is seamless from beginning to end. From the fonts, colors, and content on your website to the imagery and design on your emails and general communications, to banners and marketing materials used to promote your brand on other websites.

---

Conclusion

Starting an online gaming business is a daunting task.

Regional frameworks are important for every operator, not only from a legal point of view, through the necessity of obtaining a gambling license, but also because every player in the industry must develop and provide products that are specially customized for a particular jurisdiction in order to assure a high level of compliance standard.

Since operators, especially start-ups that are ready to access the gambling industry, need to consider aspects like online gambling licenses, payment mechanisms, and solutions specially tailored for a specific market, a growing demand emerges for dedicated iGaming providers that can respond to these requirements through software solutions and professional services.

Ongoing efforts must be made in order to maintain high standards and keep your customers fully satisfied. At the end of the day, it’s the joint effort of your software provider and your marketing and sales departments that need to align in order to bring your business forward.

Contact Us to Start Your Gaming Company Today

Szilaghi Consulting has worked in the gambling business for over 17 years. We can assist new clients with incorporation of gaming companies, fiscal registration, and licensing matters. To draw on our experience and to benefit from our advice, contact us today to find out more.