I need help, businesslink etc wont give me any advice???

[paul762]

HI I am trying to start an online business for tipping racehorses, but because it is gambling I cant get any help or advice from the proper channels, I am really overwhelmed with it all, I dont know what im going to need with regards to bank accounts and accountants and tax issues etc. or how I can start, all I can manage at present is to pick the right horses, I also had a go at building a website, which was very basic but thats all thats really needed for this.
I hope this is not in the wrong forum, I will be very grateful for any advice.
thankyou

[ebonybailey]

Paul

How old are you? You may be able to get help with the Princes Trust. You may want to ask around for a business mentor. Or you may want to give me a few winners and I can help find the people you need for you.

Michael

[mattk]

I'm sure the Russian mafia will give you some advice.

[directmarketingadvice]

I've known some pro punters (including one full time tipster), so I should be able to give you some advice on the marketing.

There are a few issues you have to get clear on.

What are you going to be selling? (this usually means either selections or ratings)

What's your expected strike rate and profit margin?

How are you going to deliver the information? (premium phone line, email, text)

When are you going to deliver it? (ie what time of the day will your selections be available)

How are you going to deal with the credibility factor?

How are you going to get noticed?

You've also got to think about the life of a tipster. Is it really something you'd enjoy? Are you going to work well under the pressure of finding selections every day? I know of one pro punter who thought that tipping would take the pressure off him (a steadyish income) but felt really stressed by the responsibilty and hated not having any days off.

Steve

[Pilfo]

If you're that good at tipping winners, why do you need to go into business? :lol:

Pilfo

[bwglaw]

Paul

How old are you? You may be able to get help with the Princes Trust. You may want to ask around for a business mentor. Or you may want to give me a few winners and I can help find the people you need for you.

Michael

I am a Business Mentor with Prince's Trust. You need to be between 18-30 to qualify for any assistance.

[paul762]

I am hoping to give 1 -2 strong pieces of information per day, I have not decided the best way to deliver it , I was hoping for a download of some sort after payment , but thats where I come unstuck again with my limited pc experience this time, I am thinking that most of my business will be from word of mouth, I am aiming to achieve double the strike rate of the average newspaper tipster, which should be around 40-60% my average sp of winners is 5/1 I am 30 but I do not need financial help for the business from the princes trust etc. I really need advice regarding tax, bank accounts, accountants etc. as for some reason its frightening me at the thought of it all. I am also housebound due to chronic illness - not life threatening though apparently :)
I appreciate the help
thanks

[Joyous]

Hi Paul

I'm surprised that Businesslink can't help you. Unless they have a moral objection to gambling, advice about accounting, tax etc should be pretty standard for them.

I'm happy to go through the tax and accounts stuff over the phone if you like. Can't help you on the racing side of it though.

Regards

Joy

[directmarketingadvice]

I am aiming to achieve double the strike rate of the average newspaper tipster, which should be around 40-60% my average sp of winners is 5/1

Those would be pretty good numbers.

For example, assume a 30% strike rate, all winners at 5-1 and 40 bets a month.

I ran this through a simulation program I wrote and, with a £5,000 bank and only betting 2% (£100) per selection, it produced an average monthly return of around £3,000 and never came close to going broke in 500 trials.

So, if you had the starting bank and the stomach/discipline, you could just do it for yourself without the hassles of business. And that £3k would, of course, be tax free.

However, there are those who are great at tipping but have the tendency to lose the plot when they are putting their own money down (particularly when they are on a losing streak).

The full time tipster I used to bump into at my local course once confessed to me that he never bet for that very reason.

I have not decided the best way to deliver it , I was hoping for a download of some sort after payment , but thats where I come unstuck again with my limited pc experience this time

Why not just have an email list? That would probably cut down some of the technical side of things.

You could run it as a member service where people sign up for a certain period of time. This would give you a lot more business thanhaving people pay every day.

You'd need a site that gave info about your service and an order page where people could sign up.

Of course, you'd have to have some mechanism to drive people to your site.

There are a couple of "traditional" ways of doing this in the tipping industry (involving advertising and direct mail), but I've got a few other ideas of how to promote a tipster without a big marketing budget.

If you decide to go ahead with this project and you want help with your marketing, I'm going to immodestly suggest that you should seriously think of hiring me for a consultation.

Steve

[paul762]

Thanks again for the help/info. nobody will help if its to do with gambling or porn apparently. I really want to make sure everything is perfect before I go live, I do not want people to think that its just another con service etc. which is why I was trying to get as much info. as possible before setting up, Steve I used to subscribe to a service when I was 18 and he had 1000 clients who paid him £25 for 1 horse on a saturday morning, it didnt even manage 50% strike rate but I kept on paying !! and he kept on making £25000 for one days work!! I think he used to take out a full page every saturday in the racing post. I didnt want to be like all the other services and get people locked into a long subscription, I want to be genuine and provide a good service whereby if people are not satisfied they havent lost too much money. I can think of nothing worse than spending £1000-£2000 and the results turning sour after the first week, wherby if that were to happen with my service, people could just rejoin when results got back on track, its looking pretty consistent at up to now though, but past results are no guarantee of the future, which is why I would prefer not to get people stuck in a long subscription, but you are the expert.

[steve atkinson]

gambling is good fun it makes the heart pump
but i have seen many a good person destroyed through gambling
its not something i would encourage people to do or invest in you have to have alot of luck to achieve anything
why dont you get a proper job instead
steve

just a thought :shock: :shock: :shock:

[paul762]

thanks for your advice