Budget to Start a Casino: The Smart Money Expert Opinion

The iGaming industry is a lucrative sector of the global economy, with multi-million dollar investments and excellent growth opportunities. In just a year, the capitalisation of gambling has grown by 11.4%, and analysts predict a rapid development of the industry until 2029.

2022 is a great year to buy an online casino and see for yourself the prospects of the gambling industry.

Smart Money will help you launch a profitable iGaming project with a small initial investment. We know how to optimise the entrepreneur's budget so that the quality and profitability of the finished product are not affected.

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Turnkey Casino or White Label: What to Pick

Cooperation under a White Label agreement and the creation of a turnkey casino business are the most prominent start options in the gambling industry. These solutions are quite similar to each other, but there is still a difference.

Features of the White Label Business Product

The White Label scheme originated in the USA. In the early 2000s, multi-brand companies produced electronics and shipped them to subsidiaries, who resold the product under their name. Over time, the scheme began to be used in internet business, including gambling.

The key advantage of White Label is the creation of an online casino and the release of a site with an already issued permission. The operator works under a licence of the parent brand, paying the company a percentage of the profit every month — 10–30%, depending on the terms of the contract.

The amount of profit is calculated as all lost bets of platform clients minus their prize money.

A businessperson incurs several operating costs, including:

• tax fees;
• payment of wages and social contributions;
• rental of hosting and server equipment;
• remunerations to casino game providers and financial aggregators;
• marketing expenses.

If we take an entrepreneur's White Label operating income as 100%, then after all the deductions and payments to the parent brand, the company has 20–25% of the profit.

Therefore, the White Label scheme is good for a start in the industry, but in order to actively develop and scale the business, an operator should purchase a turnkey solution.

Nuances of iGaming Project Licensing

The turnkey casino software is a premium solution. The entrepreneur does not depend on the parent company, contractors and other business partners. It is possible to earn and distribute the profit on your own.

At the same time, the operator needs to obtain a licence for gambling, which promises additional costs at the start.

Approximate cost of gambling permits in prestigious jurisdictions:

Malta	The maximum amount of expenses is $50,000. The Maltese government offers preferential taxation, and the licence itself is valid for 5 years. Further, the entrepreneur can prolong the document under a simplified procedure
Curacao	To obtain a permit, the operator will need $40,000; the licence is issued within 2 months. The Netherlands Overseas Territory is famous for its low taxes and simplified business registration procedure. Many processes can be completed online — the entrepreneur can send a package of documents to the gambling regulator, pay a fee, and open a bank account
Alderney	The estimated cost is $45,000. Much depends on the type of licence (B2C or B2B) that the operator receives. The jurisdiction is famous for its minimal fiscal burden and active support of gambling from local authorities.

Even under the most unfavourable business conditions (low season, a series of big wins), it is possible to compensate for the costs of obtaining a licence in 6–8 months. But the operator works completely independently — it distributes profits and does not pay additional contributions to the parent brand.

What Does a Client Get when Buying a Turnkey Casino at Smart Money

Smart Money offers a completely ready-to-launch solution. The only thing left for an entrepreneur is to obtain a licence, but even here we will help to issue permits in a short time.

Key components of a turnkey online casino solution:

Diverse Content

Games are the first thing users look for when they get to a gambling site. To attract customers, an operator needs high-quality and diverse software from leading manufacturers in the industry.

Smart Money cooperates with:

• Microgaming;
• NetEnt;
• Habanero;
• Amatic;
• Pragmatic Play;
• Novomatic and other manufacturers.

All games are certified: users have no questions about the fairness and honesty of the results. The built-in random number generator works with a return of 95–97%, which guarantees a decent profit for the operator over a long distance.

Games are distinguished by genre diversity. Users have access to slots, live content, cards, poker, bingo, and lottery draws.

The proportion of costs for games in the structure of a turnkey casino is 30%, that is, approximately $20,000. When buying entertainment content on their own, the operator overpays 5–7 times.

Financial Aggregator

The customer receives a powerful payment system with the following characteristics:

• multicurrency (transfers in dollars, euros, rubles, and pounds sterling with the ability to connect local currencies);
• processing of various payment methods (bank cards, mobile and voucher operations, transactions in electronic money);
• flexible limit policy (the operator itself sets a max- and min-limits for depositing and withdrawing cash);
• minimum commission (the person can independently adjust the number of deductions);
• convenient admin panel with additional options (credit line, referral program, support for Bitcoin transfers).

Connecting a reliable financial aggregator will cost $4–5 thousand, which is equal to 7–8% of the total budget for launching a casino business.

CRM System

This is a highly useful service that will help with the following:

• launching an advertising campaign,
• optimising marketing costs;
• creating a good loyalty program;
• following the reaction of gamblers to receiving bonuses, gifts, and prizes;
• collecting and analysing data about customers, competitors, and public services.

The cost of a good CRM arrangement is $4,000–6,000 or 8% of an entrepreneur's costs.

Gaming Platform

The casino platform is the “backbone” of a gambling site. All internal and external programs are connected to it, including entertainment content, a payment module, a CRM system and other components.

Platforms are highly technical programs that contain:

• prescribed algorithms;
• arrays of structured data;
• application libraries.

Software visualisation is presented in the form of a convenient backend, which is accessed by the operator and the personnel hired by them.

The performance of the casino site, the ability to cope with maximum loads without loss of picture quality and system failures depend on the reliability and security of the platform.

The cost of the platform is $20–25 thousand (or 33% of the starting budget).

Additional Components

Turnkey online casino development by Smart Money specialists includes:

1. Creation of gambling site design. We offer modern graphic online casino software solutions with connecting triggers, and layout, filling the site with useful content. The customer receives a practical front-end with easy navigation and a memorable design. A turnkey casino website for sale is about $3–4 thousand, which is equal to 5% of the budget.
2. Technical solutions. These are payment for support services, hosting rental, creation of domain names and site mirrors, integration of live chat and other solutions. The total cost will be $8–10 thousand (or 17% of the general budget).

How Much Money Is Needed to Start a Casino Business

To buy an online casino, an entrepreneur needs to spend about $60,000. Adding the cost of licensing in a prestigious jurisdiction ($40,000), we get the final budget, which needs to be focused on at the start — $100,000.

It should be noted that there is no fixed price for creating any iGaming project. Much depends on the content of the gaming platform with entertainment content, payment modules, and extra services.

In addition, an entrepreneur can independently design a website (if there is sufficient experience in web programming) or organise their technical support group.

After turning to Smart Money, the client is guaranteed to receive high-quality services without wasting time on staff training and learning the basics in the field of internet design.

The Margin of Safety at the Start of a Gambling Project

Experts recommend creating a reserve fund before opening an online casino. Additional assets will guarantee the payment of large prizes and help attract solvent online traffic.

The approximate size of the insurance fund is $30,000.

As a rule, this money goes to:

• creation of an interesting bonus program (to collect the backbone of regular customers of the gambling site);
• cooperation with affiliates (regardless of the format of work, CPA or RevShare, the first months are spent on the formation of stable traffic arbitrage with a high level of conversion);
• payment of jackpots (the operator may not be lucky in the first month of the casino site, but in the long run, the ratio of wins and losses is always on the side of the entrepreneur).

A businessperson may not form a reserve fund but rely entirely on luck. The presence of extra money is a guarantee of honest and stable work of the operator. This is the only way to earn the trust of gamblers and B2B partners, as well as create a successful business with long-term growth prospects.

The Main Things about Starting a Profitable Online Casino

Smart Money offers you to buy a lucrative online establishment with a quick return on investment.

We deliver a turnkey casino solution that does not require additional cash injections. In addition, you can order gambling project licensing services in jurisdictions with an impeccable reputation.

• A turnkey establishment includes an entertainment catalogue (slots, live games, cards, bingo), a payment module, a CRM system, and a wagering platform on which all technical components are installed.
• The approximate cost of a turnkey casino is $60,000. Along with the gambling components, the customer receives a stylish website design, hosting with a dedicated domain name, support for gamers, live chat integration and other useful solutions.
• To start the best turnkey online business, an entrepreneur needs to form a reserve fund. This is a safety net for the operator in case of large user wins, as well as a tool for attracting solvent internet traffic.

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