How To Open Online Casino Business

• Own Your Own Casino
• How To Start A Casino

If you’re a fan of online casinos, why not turn that into your next side hustle? Starting an online casino business is something anyone can do, even if you’re new to entrepreneurship and betting.

Thanks to the Internet, any hobby you have can be monetized and even turned into a full-time job that allows you to be free from the 9 to 5. Online casinos are no exception.

In this article, we've put together all the information you need to start a casino business. According to experts, around 1.6 billion people play or have played in casinos in their lives. This represents 24% of the world's population. There are 3 ways to start an online gaming business: 1) Most Expensive - Design and implement all gambling software for an online casino, sportsbook and multiplayer poker room which could cost you millions of US Dollars. You will also need to obtain a gaming license to run your online gaming business, which requires approval from most governments. With the world of online gambling generating billions of dollars every year, there are some obvious attractions to starting your own online casino.For starters, increasingly sophisticated payment and back-office systems mean that it's far from the technical challenge it once was. Whether you are new to the online gambling business and want to start a casino from the ground up, or already work in iGaming and want to diversify your operations, our managers will perform a detailed analysis of your requirements and business needs.

You can own a casino, poker, sports betting with live scores and stats, bingo or general gambling website or you can start a niche website like Online Sportsbook Reviews for example. Sportsbetting websites are very popular with Sports Betting Tips providing a informative service and assistance to tipsters. Online gamblers are always interested.

Just like those spending hours every day on YouTube can start their own channels, become influencers, and even make millions, so can you turn your passion for casinos into your career.

Let’s see how.

How to Start an Online Casino Business

Own Your Own Casino

1. Get to know the online casino industry.

For a start, learn more about the online casino market before you start a business in the niche.

The research phase of every new venture is important as it allows you to see the big picture, set the right goals, know who your audience is, and make a plan.

Usually, every business idea must be validated. With the casino industry, however, you don’t need to worry about that. Even though you’ll have plenty of competition, people are playing casino games more than ever.

If you provide them with yet another platform to do it on, they will happily head to your site.

To start a proper online casino business, it’s worth exploring the past too, not just how things currently are in the market.

2. Check out the competition.

In a competitive niche, it’s hard to stand out. You need to provide value to people and give them what they want.

Head over to the top sites for online casino games and learn all you can about them. You can find plenty of reviews about them too with both good and back feedback.

Each comment you read is important, especially if it’s in a forum and from a real person.

Aside from that, to make sure your online casino business is a success, you should see what each competitor is doing well and decide how you can do it even better.

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3. Understand the regulations.

Whether you’re doing business in the US or anywhere else in the world, you need to follow the regulations of the country you reside in.

Although you’ll be targeting people globally, your online casino business will be registered where you live. You will be paying taxes there and with that comes the responsibility of being an entrepreneur.

There’s also certain information you will need to include on your website too that will disclose your partnerships with third parties.

4. The main element of an online casino business.

The main elements of starting a business in the casino market are the online casino website you’ll build and the software you’ll choose.

This is crucial and will be one of your first business costs as the owner of an online casino business. The iGaming software provider you work with must be one that offers a great gaming management system, is reliable and has been in the field for a long time.

5. Become a better marketer.

The next step in your journey to starting an online casino business is to attract players and keep them on your site.

The more loyal they are, the better off you’ll be as they will gladly bring their friends too.

Constantly look for more exposure in order to attract new players. Promotions are a great way to grab their attention. From then on, your offer must be good enough and the user experience great to make them stay.

In the long-run, you should be looking for ways to give incentives to regulars so they can bring others on board.

Paying for ads, in the beginning, might be necessary, as well as investing in any other kind of advertising such as influencer marketing and content marketing.

Starting an online casino business might not be as easy as opening an online store or making money blogging. It might be a side hustle for you, but the more time and recourses you invest in your casino business, the more you will need to make it a priority and grow it as much as you can.

Online gambling has always been one of the most lucrative and desirable areas to explore for business owners regardless of whether they have experience in the field. In order to open a successful online casino that will benefit an owner and bring pleasure to customers, one needs to follow the proper sequence of steps paying serious attention to all details. As an online casino software provider, SoftSwiss is glad to share its experience to help future online casino owners avoid common mistakes that may impede business launch, inflate budget or even close the business down.

Step 1. Preparation

a) Legal issues

Online gambling is subject to licensing, thus an essential thing is to think about choosing the jurisdiction and obtaining a license. There are two main venues where it can be done: offshore countries and the European Union countries. Each has its pros and cons – budget, time, reputation. Usually, it takes from a couple of months to a year to obtain a gaming license, for example, 6 months in Malta.

The next step after choosing the jurisdiction is to register a legal entity – a gaming company, opening a bank account, and making agreements with payment system providers which will make the legal and financial infrastructure complete.

As an alternative to this method, there is a white label solution scheme which means leasing of software together with the gaming license and financial infrastructure from a software provider and operating your casino under your own brand but with the ready-to-use infrastructure. Such a scheme protects from excessive legal and banking bothers but involves additional costs.

b) Software

As soon as all legal issues are investigated separately or simultaneously, it is time to choose a professional online casino software provider. While searching the market it is wise to evaluate the price and quality balance. Besides the attractive design and a set of popular games, a quality product shall also include a reliable gaming platform that allows for effective management of casino business and includes the following components:

• CMS
• Player management system
• Bonus and promotions management system
• Game management system
• Payment system management interface
• Cashier system
• Reporting engine
• Support of different roles for administrators
• Affiliate management system
• Anti-fraud system
• Retention email system

The regular software and game updates, hosting, and technical support shall also be part of the provider’s package. Professional suppliers always take the responsibility for the full technical support of the after-launch product operation.

The software package that includes all of the above components might be on the upper edge in terms of costs, but the financial investments are worth it because as a result, you get a reliable partner ready to support you during the whole project life cycle. Be aware of the fact that buying a cheaper solution might result in double spending in the future.

c) Marketing planning

An effective marketing strategy is a key point to online casino success. At this stage, it is strategically correct to make a rigid competitor’s research. First of all, it will provide you with a full picture of the market: who the leaders are, what strategies they use, what return on investment they get, etc. Thus, knowing the game rules allows creating a unique offer that customers won’t be able to decline. Using the method of benchmarking plays perfect for the good of online casino success, and what is more important, it is free. Plan your marketing strategy by adopting the best practices of promotion, advertising, and brand development.

If a company starting an online casino is operating a land-based gaming business, it is crucial to bring the existing clients to play in Internet-casino by offering attractive bonuses and thus developing loyalty and respect to the website. Any know-how are always welcome but be aware of wrong calculated ideas from the mathematical point of view.

The next move is to contact internet marketing companies or individuals specializing in online gambling: SEO agencies, email marketing companies, media resources providing casino overviews, etc. This will help define the best offers on the market and choose the right partners before the website is ready to launch.
At this stage, it is also time to think about your future bonus policy and affiliate marketing strategy, as well as check if the selected software provides the appropriate technical opportunities.

d) Budgeting

Once the costs for legal issues, software and marketing are defined, it’s time to plan your budget. The best option for startup companies is to set the budget at least for the first year of operation, whereas for experienced companies who are entering the igaming market, the budget shall be defined for as long as possible. Don’t plan your budget after setting up the online casino website, plan it before. If you are a startup-company you have to understand that your costs will be higher. Your goal is to earn trust of players from the beginning. Existing land-based brands already have trust.

Below there is an approximate expenses separation a future casino owner shall have in mind while developing a detailed budget within a business plan.

At the pre-launch stage, the biggest budget share shall be devoted to software setup in order to provide future users with a quality product. But after the launch, it is vitally important to address half the funds to casino marketing and promotion.

Step 2. Launch

The time frame for an online casino launch depends on both, business owner and software provider. Usually, it takes up to 3 months for the provider to set up the software. It includes website design, platform, and games set up, custom settings, and possible individual features. The business owner may speed up the process of launch by providing regular feedback to all questions that designers and programmers might have. Any issue can be resolved if discussed in time.

Besides, the business owner shall timely address the issues discussed above:

• Obtaining a gaming license;
• Opening a corporate bank account and merchant account;
• Making agreements with payment system providers.

Setting legal and financial infrastructure is the task that only the business owner can accomplish. In SoftSwiss we provide consulting services (best options, contacts, etc.) on such points but we can’t guarantee success as the whole responsibility lies on the business owner. You will have to collect a bunch of documents for lawyers and banks like certified passport copy, utility bill copy, certificate of non-criminal records…

Step 3. Marketing

The secret of the most popular and successful online casino success and popularity is not about the top-notch design or billions of games included. The best online casinos are simply designed and contain 500 games on average at the beginning. The secret is in responsible marketing strategy implemented on all stages of the project. The online casino market is an extremely competitive one: first, it is very hard to break into it, and then it is even harder to take a firm stand. Thus, a company has only one chance to win a fierce race among competitors. Below is a list of points that are vital for any online casino that is planning to be prosperous.

• Positioning – Gather professional marketing team and develop strategic and tactical development phases, announce your goals (business, company, brand), and mission. Determine what niche you would like to step in, how you are different from the competitors, what unique features your casino has, and what steps you are going to make further.

Use only quality games from trusted game providers. You can start your casino with a limited number of game providers, with a focus on games based on HTML 5 technology. This technology allows users to enjoy rich graphics games and enhance the overall experience of playing casino games on mobile devices. At SoftSwiss, among our own high-quality HTML5 games we offer game content from well-known providers, such as Amatic Industries, Microgaming, NetEnt, and we are sure about their quality.

• Prelaunch advertising campaign – Announce your casino, inspire your potential customers to wait for its launch; use all possible methods: online advertising, presentations, publications, etc.

How To Start A Casino

• Online casino promotion after launch – Use SEO, online advertising, banner networks. Everything will work in such a competitive market.

• Client attraction and retention campaign – Establish an efficient support service or 24h call-center which your customers can address at any time. Take care of your clients by making navigation through the website: create “How to” sections or FAQs, write manuals on how to play the games, provide demo versions, make everything clear and understandable.
Develop a bonus system, make auctions and entertain and reward your customers all the time.
Remember! Only business owners can establish the right content on the page. The software provider should give you the possibility to work with the content, but not create the content.

•Implement affiliate networks – Develop contacts with partners which will be an impetus to online casino development.

Additional Step 4. Bitcoin casino

Forward-looking online casino software providers offer Bitcoin as an alternative payment system for their solutions. Online casino owners all over the world appreciated such advantages of Bitcoin casino as significant savings on license application costs and monthly fees, increased customer loyalty, fast payment processing and many more.

As an acknowledged Bitcoin casino expert, SoftSwiss would like to recommend all potential Bitcoin casino owners to get a clear understanding of the cryptocurrency, research the peculiarities of Bitcoin gambling, and learn how transactions work by making a couple of bets at an existing casino. Understanding the core of the payment system is essential in business, moreover, it will help to build a strong marketing campaign and further manage the Bitcoin casino. Contact SoftSwiss for professional advice on Bitcoin casino launch.

Managing an online casino is hard work but with all legal and financial issues resolved in a timely manner, quality software chosen, and a strong marketing strategy in place, it can be successful. The demand for online casinos will increase – specialists predict 40% growth of this market segment in the nearest year. Following all the steps described above will help a newly made online casino to develop sustainably and outweigh the competition. Good luck!

Also, learn how to start an online casino with SoftSwiss.