Considering how rapidly the online gambling business has grown over the last two decades, not to mention the impressive projections for further growth in the coming years, many entrepreneurs are looking carefully at the prospect of establishing their own online casino business.
Indeed, the gross gambling yield (GGY) for online casinos between 2018 and 2019, according to figures published by the UK Gambling Commission, surpassed £3.2 billion. Considering this can be such a profitable business, it’s no wonder heads are being turned, especially amongst those looking to invest or embark upon new ventures, keen to carve out their own piece of the action.
Exploring the marketplace
If we jump straight to the titular question of this article, which askes how hard it is to start a new online casino site, well, the short answer is that while such a venture can be inherently difficult without some background knowledge, the process can be made a lot easier with plenty of research and consultation with the right industry experts.
Market research is vital because to successfully get any concept or idea of the ground, especially with an online casino, you need to focus on what makes existing ventures successful. Look at aggregation and review sites like Online-Casinos.com which lists some of the new UK online casinos.
Not only will such research help you get an idea of the competition out there, it may guide you towards what directions you wish to take with your own venture. Some online casinos are built around specific themes or gaming niches, such as focusing on traditional card games like poker and blackjack, lotto and bingo, or the latest video slots. Others take a more sweeping approach, aiming to appeal to the widest audience they possibly can.
There are positives and negatives whichever direction you take, therefore identifying the audience for each game will be crucial, as you head towards evaluating what kind of online casino gaming you want to launch. Live dealers for card games and virtual sports are increasingly popular, so any new venture should always consider embracing the latest trends and technology.
Legal requirements
While the legislation and regulations are fairly straightforward in the United Kingdom, any new online casino venture must be fully registered and licensed by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), who enforce compliance with all their regulations and local gambling laws. They can also revoke licenses and impose fines if an online casino operator doesn’t abide by the rules.
The UKGC also fully monitors and tests online casino site software and the games themselves, ensuring they are fully compliant with all their regulations, prior to issuing individual licences for each gambling activity. This may also affect your choice of games and services, because separate and individual gaming licenses may be required for each.
There can inevitably be lots of legal hoops to jump through, just to get a new online casino off the ground. For that reason visiting the UKGC site is always the best place to start. Not only do they provide comprehensive guides for each kind of gaming license, they also have information about other regulatory bodies involved with the gambling industry, plus strong ties with a number of trade organisations where further support can be obtained.
Setting up shop
Right from the offset, it’s important to be clear that given the stringent laws and regulations involved, running an online casino business is entirely different to any other kind of online venture. Your new online casino will need a whole host of applications and software, in order to run effectively.
At the core will be a quality content management system (CMS), accompanied by player management systems, game management systems, payment and withdrawal systems, an effective anti-fraud system. There are also the financial and marketing reporting systems, others dedicated to affiliates and marketing, plus applications dedicated to managing bonus offers and promotions.
While all of these things can be established and customised individually, then combined into one effective hub, some new online casino ventures prefer to take a more straightforward approach, contracting a White Label Solution as a one-stop-shop for all their needs. In fact, there are numerous companies who are dedicated to providing such solutions for the online gambling and gaming industries.
Such companies can help a new online casino get established more quickly, providing key expertise and knowledge. They have ready-made gaming platforms that can be adapted and tweaked around your own ideas and preferences, not to mention being able to provide software and games that are already fully licensed. The latter can obviously save a lot of time in that regard, given that licenses with some bodies can take months or even years.
Is running an online casino worth the effort?
Providing you’ve taken the right steps to begin with, consulted industry experts and laid down all the most important foundations, while also setting out a clear and focused objective for the new online casino venture, then yes, it can definitely be a worthwhile and profitable business venture. Nevertheless, even if you meet with initial success, one should always be looking at ways to improve and enhance their casino business.
