Holding lotteries in Russia along with the betting business did not fall into the category of prohibited gambling, so they can be held throughout Russia, and not just in certain gaming zones. Lotteries were not so popular among the population, while casinos and slot machines were available, but after the introduction of the law, interest in them began to increase. There are some companies, of course, which illegally under the guise of lotteries contain their own casino, and such offices can become competitors to an entrepreneur who decided to start a legal business in lotteries, but they are constantly closed, and as a result, many illegal entrepreneurs find themselves in court.
It is, of course, difficult to deal with the lottery, but it’s quite realistic, given that this is actually one of the two types of gambling that remains available everywhere, the demand for lottery tickets will almost certainly be. Moreover, even in big cities there are not too many companies that conduct their lotteries, some competition, of course, is all-Russian lotteries, which promise huge rewards, but many consumers prefer faster games, which at the same time cost a little cheaper, allow promptly receive information about the drawing, and in some cases, some companies hold several lotteries per day - this attracts avid players. There is one more important point - in 2014 the issuance of licenses for the so-called stimulating lotteries (which, however, was more a marketing tool than a full-fledged game) was stopped, restrictions also touched on some other aspects, so you should find a good lawyer before starting your activity able to help with registration.
To start work, you must register as a legal entity, and as an individual entrepreneur it is not worth registering. In general, this process will not drag on for too long; it is much more difficult to obtain permission to conduct lotteries. Now the state is aiming for lotteries to be held throughout the country, in other words, so that a player can get a win regardless of where he bought the ticket and where he lives. This complexity, in fact, is easily dispensed with using electronic systems, so it’s worth initially thinking about being able to operate throughout the country. There are also international lotteries, but they have not received such distribution, because for their registration you need to conclude an agreement between several organizers, get permissions in your country, as well as in that (those) country (countries) where the lottery will also be held, and there you need to take into account someone else’s jurisdiction. In general, this is a difficult enough direction for a beginner to do.
To register the Russian lottery, you must first of all, having all the documents on the registration of your legal entity in your hands, contact your local tax authority. An important point is that a legal entity must be registered in Russia, that is, foreign companies do not have the right to hold their lotteries. To obtain a license to conduct a lottery, you must provide the following package of documents:
Application for permission to conduct a lottery.
- Lottery Terms.
The standards for the distribution of proceeds from the lottery (in percent).
Layout of a lottery ticket (receipt, other document stipulated by the conditions of the lottery) with a description of the mandatory requirements for it and, if necessary, ways to protect the lottery ticket from falsification, as well as with a description of hidden inscriptions, drawings or signs applied to it; degree of protection - "B".
Rules for identifying a lottery ticket when paying, transferring or providing a win.
A feasibility study for holding a lottery for the entire period of its holding, indicating the sources of financing the costs of organizing the lottery, holding the lottery and calculating the estimated revenue from the lottery.
Description and technical characteristics of the lottery equipment.
The procedure for accounting for common and non-distributed lottery tickets.
The procedure for the return, storage, destruction or use in other circulations of non-distributed lottery tickets.
The procedure for seizing non-distributed lottery tickets.
The procedure for storing unclaimed winnings and the procedure for their claim after the deadlines for receiving winnings.
Charter (notarized copy).
Certificate of the tax authority on the absence of tax and levy arrears from the organizer.
Organizer's balance sheet as of the last reporting date preceding the filing of an application for a permit to conduct a lottery.
It should be noted that the amount of the state fee for considering the application is 6 thousand rubles. However, it is usually more expedient to register your company, which will conduct lotteries through a special office, which is engaged in obtaining licenses of this kind. And the cost of the services of such a company is usually very high, you have to pay for a considerable number of operations, but today, given that the state does not seek to develop this sector (and, on the contrary, introduces new stricter requirements), working through a licensing company is practically the only one way out. Here you need to count on several hundred thousand rubles, a lot also depends on the format of the lotteries, for example, it will be electronic lottery, non-lottery or some other format. It is also good if the company has a full-time specialist lawyer who will deal not only with assistance in registration, but also with the settlement of all other issues that will almost certainly appear during the work. In the end, this is a rather complicated business, including from a legal point of view, and an enterprise that has not insured itself against risks can quickly leave the market, incurring considerable losses.
Currently, in fact, an entrepreneur chooses from two possible types of lotteries: this is work through electronic systems or in the “traditional” way, that is, issuing and distributing tickets, after which a lottery is held. The advantages of the first method are obvious - less costs, more efficient running of games, eliminating the need to check tickets, because often a person can receive money through the terminal itself, in which he joined the game. In general, progress has greatly affected the possibilities of holding lotteries, so do not neglect the emerging opportunities. Today it’s quite difficult to organize a “traditional” All-Russian lottery, it takes a lot of time and money, and the entrepreneur does not get any special benefits. Although a certain percentage of the population is interested in just the usual lotteries, moreover, there is still a considerable demand for them, and a person who buys a lottery ticket at a nearby newsstand will not always trust the terminal, which promises him to play the game in an hour. That is, to say that the organization of a simple lottery is futile is impossible.
Let's take a closer look at the general requirements for the lottery. The fact is that an entrepreneur does not have to act alone, there are so-called lottery operators who have at their disposal lottery equipment - this is the name of all the technical means that generate winning combinations. This can be, relatively speaking, just like a rotating sphere that throws barrels of numbers (we are talking about the very means that are supposedly used for generation in television lotteries), or just a computer with a special program. The main condition for the use of lottery equipment is that it be tested by a regulatory authority, it is there that they determine whether it is suitable for holding a lottery. So it’s not always necessary for the entrepreneur to have such funds, it’s enough to find a company that, in fact, conducts the game, and to deal directly with the sale of tickets and issuing winnings. Sometimes it is much easier. You just need to understand that both the organizer and the operator must have licenses here.
In general, the licensing authority checks the equipment for suitability for the game so that the necessary threshold for winning combinations is identified. According to the law, the prize fund of the lottery must be at least 50% of the amount collected from the sale of the tickets themselves, and if the equipment does not give out so many winning combinations to satisfy this indicator, it cannot be used.
Now, in more detail, consider the option of organizing a simple lottery. First you need to issue a certain number of tickets, for this you can contact a professional printing house. Professional - because tickets must have security features applied; this, of course, is not a printing of securities, but such printing will not be carried out in a simple center for operational printing. Not every relatively large city has a company of this kind. The cost of one ticket can vary greatly, but usually amounts to 5-15% of the final cost for the end user. In other words, if a ticket at a kiosk costs 50 rubles, then the cost of printing it for the organizer was 5 rubles on average. With a circulation of 100 thousand tickets, half a million rubles is already obtained, and such a circulation is acceptable only for lotteries that take place in a small territory.
In addition, care must be taken to deliver tickets to points of sale, that is, distribution must already be managed. As you can understand, an entrepreneur is unlikely to be able to do it all alone, only if he does not plan to sell tickets exclusively in his city. You need to contact third-party companies when ordering transportation, and here the cost of a ticket can increase very much, but the exact figures depend on many factors. Tickets can also be sold through printing houses if they deliver their products to different cities (for example, they print newspapers). There are also distribution companies that buy all possible products for newsstands; Today, lottery tickets are just the most efficient way to distribute through them. In general, it makes sense to work throughout Russia only if there is a large (very large) circulation. And you need to understand that people are unlikely to trust an unfamiliar lottery. That is, here you either have to conduct a large-scale marketing campaign, or start small.
In addition, after holding the lottery (and it is almost always advisable to give it to the operator), you need to post the results to the media, and then ensure the winners receive the winnings. Small amounts of winnings can be issued through points of sale of tickets, but large ones - already through credit organizations, that is, you need to find an organization that will be ready for cooperation.
In general, holding a lottery that is not too large will cost about a million - for the same circulation of 100 thousand tickets, provided that you work in only one city and provide the results through local media. As for profit, then out of five million (with a ticket cost of 50 rubles), two and a half will leave as a prize fund, in total, the entrepreneur will receive about one and a half million rubles. A lottery of this format can be organized in a couple of months, and with established work, even in one month. But you need to understand that not all tickets can be bought, unforeseen expenses may occur, and a prize pool of 50% does not always allow you to generate jackpots and winnings that are interesting to the target audience are simple, that is, you have to increase it sometimes. In addition, the costs of a marketing campaign are not calculated here, which even in a small town can be very significant. And, of course, a certain amount of funds goes to the operator, there are no exact indicators, because it all depends on how the lottery is conducted. The maximum is if you have to cooperate with a television channel through which the game is broadcast, then the bill goes to millions of rubles; however, it will be somewhat cheaper to hold a lottery on local television, but it will still take a lot of money.
The situation is different with electronic lotteries. Here you will need to purchase a considerable number of special terminals, they are also called lottery terminals. The cost of one is an average of 100 thousand rubles, may vary depending on the format and some features. You need to buy several cars at once, and then place them in special places for which you also need to obtain permits. The easiest option is the bookmakers, it is easiest to engage in such activities, and the flow of visitors to the bookmaker is more or less the target audience.
It is better to apply for the purchase of terminals at companies that themselves are lottery operators, because such companies are licensed, which means that their equipment has already been tested, and it is not profitable for the organizer to purchase lottery generators and directly conduct them. That is, here it’s better to work in tandem with an operator who will issue electronic keys supplied to the terminals. You need to understand that the terminals are not slot machines - this is a means of informing, issuing tickets and, sometimes, issuing funds (if we are talking about small wins). For the end consumer, the difference is not too large, but from a legal point of view it is significant. Having set up several terminals and having established communication with the operator, there is no need to post the results in the media - the user receives information about the drawing promptly through the terminal itself.
It is clear that this version of your business is much easier and much less expensive. And you will have to spend money only on the purchase of terminals, subsequently there will be no need to print tickets and sell them. The main expenses will be only for terminal maintenance and rent space payment (it starts from about 5 thousand rubles a month for one terminal, in some cases a little more expensive). The cost of one electronic ticket is usually lower than the simple one, but the cost of the ticket is much lower, that is, here the entrepreneur receives a slightly higher percentage. But the complexity of this undertaking is that the number of players in one game can be several times less than with the traditional form of organizing a lottery, a standing terminal will attract players, but this does not mean that the total number of participants even in a month will be the same as in the organization of the "traditional lottery". Working with bookmakers, of course, you don’t have to worry that nobody will be interested in the lottery, gambling people generally want to play by all available means, but it is unlikely to attract too many buyers of their tickets.
In some cases, the operator spends several games a day, in each of which only a few people participate. Of course, this is of no interest to anyone, because the amount of winnings is rarely a serious amount, and here you also have to engage in marketing, trying to attract any consumers, and not just regulars of bookmakers. But in the ideal case, you can take a little less than 50% of the amount of tickets here with net profit, but this is only when you have your own equipment for conducting lotteries, that is, when the organizer is also an operator.
Summing up, we can say that this business is quite complex, especially its registration stage, there are many risks in one direction as well as in the other, the main one being the inability to sell the required number of tickets. However, the advantages include a considerable amount of potential profit, quick capital turnover and the possibility of further development. If you are not afraid that there may be some changes in the legislation (but they, alas, may be), then you can build your very profitable business.
Matthias Laudanum
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08/18/2019