One of the best things about bookmaking is that there’s so much to learn.
I’ve been involved for 25 years now and although I’ve learnt a great deal, I’m acutely aware there’s lots more I need to know
As is often the case, the first lessons are usually the most impactful and one of mine was the old adage, “If you stand still in this game you’ll drown.”
I’d hope that standing still isn’t something my brother and I could be accused of over the last few years.
If you’ve read any of my previous blogs, you’ll know DragonBet was formed as a result of a desire to move away from the rollercoaster of relying on betting exchange punting – for my brother – and the enforced absence from racecourse bookmaking as a result of the Covid lockdowns, for myself.
It’s been a huge undertaking and, to be honest, if we had truly understood the size of the task ahead, I’m pretty sure we’d have self-declared as non-runners.
But here we are, still swimming, rather than drowning, and this week Dragonbet.co.uk gets to take its armbands off for the first time.
For those who don’t know (as I previously didn’t) there’s a few ways to enter the online bookmaking world.
The path of least resistance is to take the “white label” approach and that’s exactly where we began.
Going online is eye-wateringly expensive and the commercial world was a completely foreign landscape to two brothers from Wales.
Going white label means that you use someone else’s website technology and essentially plaster your own design skin and branding all over it. The liabilities and risk are still, of course, your own.
Depending on the platform, there are different levels of customisation, and, in most cases, the trading will be undertaken by yourself “in house”. But there are services available for support.
Customer service can be labour intensive, so this is often outsourced or, as in our case, a hybrid approach can be taken.
The key part of white labelling, however, is that you are attached to someone else’s operating licence.
This relieves the compliance burden from yourself (I can’t understate how big a win that is as a new operator.) But it also means that you are at the whim of your particular licence holder’s compliance procedures across your brand, and others who may be white-labelling with them.
The second method of entry to market is to go it alone as a full, remote operator.
To do this, the first mountain you’ve got to climb is to assemble a team. That team needs various people with the necessary experience and qualifications, especially with regard to anti-money laundering and compliance related roles.
Once you have scaled that peak, then there’s the Everest of actually trying to acquire a licence. This is a process that’s enough to make an onion cry!
Business plans, budgeting, forecasting, and endless forensic accounting will slowly drive you insane. There are, of course, consultants to help you along the way, but for the most part, they ain’t cheap.
Having been through all of this – and finally reached the summit – I’m delighted to declare that as of this week, DragonBet now swims alone.
It’s been a journey, that’s for sure. In just over two short years, since selling our prized Cheltenham festival pitch to finance the whole thing, hopping from one white label with a website that – to be kind – wasn’t quite up to standard, to a new and improved one, almost a year ago to the day, we’re now truly the masters of our own destiny.
We’ll be using the same website technology, so the site and user experience will remain largely the same. But the compliance and related matters will be moving wholly to ourselves.
If you currently bet with us, diolch! You shouldn’t feel much difference. Hopefully, there will be an improvement in response times and more personalised communication, but we’ll still be offering all the boosts, extra place races and loyalty club with our continued desire to lay a fair bet.
We set out this business, not for quick profit, but to build something tangible. We wanted something we could be proud of and something that will make us grow, together, as people.
For the most part, we have done that. There’s a long way to go, and plenty of nightmares still to suffer, but for the meantime, we’re going to keep on keeping on!
So, bring on the next chapter of learnings, the constant fear of the gambling commission and the joy of compliance.
We’re still swimming, not drowning.
What more could a bookie want!
