As a gaming operator, starting a lottery business “on your own” still requires a team. You’ll need more than a betting terminal or an online lottery platform to launch your lottery business. Here are 10 questions to help you plan a successful launch and set your lottery business up for long-term growth:
- Where can I start my lottery business?
- How long does it take to start a lottery business?
- Will this be an online lottery? Printed tickets in a physical retail outlet? Both?
- What staff do I need to hire? What skills should they have?
- What are my game rules and how are drawings offered?
- Will I need payment processors or merchant accounts for a lottery business?
- How will I pay out lottery winnings?
- What kinds of servers and hosting services do I need?
- What kind of marketing do I need?
- How can I add new lotto features to scale my business?
From testing the design of your lottery software to finding the best digital record keeping, cybersecurity, gaming licenses, and payment processors, there is a lot to consider when starting your own lottery company.
How Long Does It Take to Start Your Own Lottery Business? Is It Fast?
Starting a lottery business can be as fast as 45 days for small operators. However, for larger lottery companies in need of more features and technology, it can take up to 6 months to plan, develop, stage, and test everything for a successful launch.
Lottery businesses do not typically start in a step-by-step sequence, because there are a lot of initial needs to address simultaneously. While securing business bank accounts, financial backing, and necessary gaming licenses, you will also need to set up payment processors, develop, test, and debug your platform, find hosting services and data centers, and hire staff.
Where to begin?
While financial backing and lottery license requirements should be top priorities, it’s smart to identify key staff and vendors early in the process. An accountant for balancing books, a marketing specialist and a lottery platform provider are among the first team members you will likely need. You may also need customer service representatives in the jurisdiction where you operate, as well as a reliable IT resource.
How Much Technology Should Your Lotto Business Start With?
The amount of technology required to start your lottery business is a major consideration. Your lottery design, along with game management, player management, integrations and other essential lottery platform features can be furnished by a lottery software provider. Server hardware, hosting services and a wide range of back-end IT capabilities may also come with a lottery platform provider.
You may decide to start your lottery business with a smaller technology investment to ensure a timely, profitable launch. Always be sure to plan for additional technology as you grow, and choose a lottery management platform that adapts quickly and effectively.
For now, an operator who is just getting started needs to decide if their company wants to have:
- Physical sales – Retail spaces may need a kiosk or betting terminal for players to buy tickets and collect payouts. Kiosks must integrate into a payment processing system. Printed ticket sales in a retail building or portable ticket sales on the street might need different equipment and custom lottery software to operate.
- Online sales – A digital platform can include a website, mobile app, or messaging service. Online lotteries can incorporate multiple payment processors, wallet systems, and a host of additional features.
Online lotteries provide games without the need for tickets to be physically printed. Also called iLotteries, they offer numerous advantages for both players and operators. International play, robust management capabilities, real-time reporting, and loyalty systems are just a few.
One of the best demonstrations of the differences between online vs. printed ticket lotteries might be how game drawings are offered:
- Random number generation (RNG)
- Raffles
- Jackpot
- Parimutuel
A low-tech lottery might select its winners using a physical ball machine. A high-tech digital lottery can do the same using RNG software and a lottery platform to target a much wider online audience. Always consider your lottery business objectives and structure your drawings accordingly.
Choosing an Online Lottery Platform Provider
The best lottery platforms offer software tools for everything from marketing to security to complex integrations. Features aside, the best way to streamline the growth and profitability of your lottery business is to choose the right platform provider.
An experienced lottery platform provider will help you set prize tables, configure player returns, and generate real time data reports for better marketing campaigns each quarter. They will help match your lottery with the online or mobile devices players have in your market. They will guide you to a technology solution that fits your startup needs, and will scale with you.
An experienced platform provider won’t just know how to start a lottery business anywhere, they will know how to win at all 4 stages of lottery growth and dominate the market. Have questions about starting a lottery business? Learn how to set it up for success with a free Lottery Growth Map from 4 Leaf Lotto.
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