What players should learn from failed online casino startups.
They say history is among the most important educational subjects because, without it, we would not learn from the mistakes of our past. It’s hard to ignore that logic. Knowing what the world’s first atom bombs did to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan has stopped world leaders from launching nuclear warheads ever since (albeit reluctantly, for some). History taught us that segregating people by race, creed or religion is a terrible concept. These are just some of the most obvious examples. At its core, history helps us to find better solutions to present and future problems.
For online casino enthusiasts, this concept can help to protect people from the all-too-real threat of rogue iGaming operations. Most of the duplicitous operators of the past did not enter the market with the intent of going rogue. Some did, yes, but the majority attempted to launch an honest business, only to find the industry far too complicated to succeed in. From there, they either began operating unfairly to make a profit, or they simply disappeared, unable to pay customers and unsure how to handle the situation. Either way, it was the players who got the raw end of the deal.
Fortunately, through the lessons of the past, we can learn to avoid depositing with operators who exhibit a high potential to go rogue or disappear into the great blue yonder. It’s a lot easier than you might think,. Too. We don’t have to examine the parallels between duplicitous websites of the past, but rather the underlying causes behind failed startups.
Learning From Failed Online Casino Startups
If we take a glimpse at the online gambling market today, there are a few things we can easily decipher. First of all, it is a heavily saturated market. There are only so many online casino enthusiasts in the world, and yet there are well over 4,000 online gambling sites vying for their business. This would make sense if the casinos were land-based, speckled across the globe to entice locals and regional tourists. But that’s not the case. As an online business, players from all over the world – in jurisdictions where it is legal, or at least not expressly illegal – there is far less need for thousands of rival operators.
Now, consider this. Those 4,000+ operators are still in existence, meaning they have achieved at least some level of success. For the most part, those figures do not reflect the annual 90% of start-ups that the world’s experts say fail in their first two years of operation. What they do reflect, beneath the surface, is the steady input and output of operators that come and go, proving that the global market simply cannot sustain a higher number.
What we, as players, can take from this, is an array of patterns among operators that do and do not succeed in the iGaming community.
What Works and What Doesn’t
According to Forbes, there are 4 main things that give a business true potential for success. If a startup does not possess these qualities, it’s most likely going to get flushed down the proverbial drain in less than 24 months. For the iGaming industry in specific, some of these qualities are more important than others.
First and foremost is the ability to bring to market a product that is perfectly suited to the clientele. Today’s most successful operators offer their players a complete package. RNG casino games, live casino games, a tremendous slots variety; some go so far as to include poker, bingo, lotteries, etc. In today’s modern age of superfluousness, an operator that launches with nothing but a hundred or so RNG-based gaming titles has no chance to succeed. It will never appeal to players over what other websites can offer.
Next up is financial backing that can survive the cost of launch and player acquisition. It’s not just about throwing a product onto the internet. You have to market the product, giving players a reason to join this website over the other 4,000+ available. An affiliate program will help tremendously, but the operation is going to take a loss out of the gate. If the operator has no notable backing – maybe from a supremely rich entrepreneur, or an already successful iGaming brand – that two-year mark will be very hard to reach.
So Much Work… Isn’t There an Easier Way to Know?
Yes, digging into the initial offerings and financial background of a new startup can be a lot of work. And yes, there is a much easier way. As Forbes Magazine said, 90% of all startups fail within two years. Therefore, the easy route is to simply find out how long an operation has been in business. Once it hits the 3 year mark, you can be fairly certain they’ve survived the rough seas, righted the ship, and are now smooth sailing to profitable success.
