Metalgear, I have no idea how young you are, but don't stop having ideas, and you're doing the right thing canvassing would be clients. The key to a successful business idea is does it solve a problem and is the cost going to be worth the solution. Your idea solves the deposit problem, but how many punters put deposits down once they have been shafted once.
1) From my perspective, carrying cash for the punt and a bit more is a risk, but no more risky than carrying cash anywhere.. Yeah, there can be mugs waiting to see who is on their way to the flat, but this is pretty rare.. At the end of the day, we are punting at the budget we can afford to lose anyway.. So, if I am at the beer end of the bidget anbd I lose my, say £60, that's life; If I am at the Champagne end of the budget and I lose my £500 for that hour's punt, well, let's face it, I was going to lose it anyway for an hour of fun.. Of course, there are those that save an eternity for the overnighter, but in general, my loss of an hours shag isn't going to phase me me too much. and I am prepared to risk that rather than being traced.
2) Holding funds for a dispute will have the SPs off the platform in a shot. I think we all accept we can walk, argue for a refund or take it on the chin.. Those in the punting world will be smart enough to have found UKP or similar sites to assist them with their endeavours.. That's how I found UKP.. and I am pretty sure that is how all of us did.
3) Topping up and not being traced by wife or gf? Think about it.. If I take out, say £150 and it shows up on the statement or I send £150 to Day Entertainment (or even some more bland name, like Pete's Golf Shack), if my wife or GF is the inquisitive type, they are still going to ask.. Just as they will if I take out £150 notes from the ATM. Therefore, if it really is an issue, I am scurrying away the notes to an account she has no knowledge of to spend big on the night. This actually creates more hassle than it solves, because at least if I take out £150 from an ATM, I can say George from work needed to borrow some money - he's good for it and it will be back next payday.. Can't do that of I send money to some random named business, especially with entertainment in the name.
4) What is the problem with human involvement? This may sound weird, but I like the fact I hand over cash.. It establishes the nature of the relationship - transactional and service provider to service receiver.. It also provides structure.. expectations are clearly set. Commerce is the oldest profession.. Why are we so bashful about money. I also like to know the SP has seen me hand over hard earned money - having it out of sight to me diminishes that part of the transaction and in theory can lead to people forgetting the nature of the transaction.
5) Yes- it solves the deposit issue - but hoe many of us pay a deposit and of those of us who do, how many times do we do it?
The fact that you are prepared to hold peoples' money for no defined service (i.e. the top up) means you could be classed as a deposit taking company and unless you held that money in trust for each client separately (very expensive undertaking), you may find yourself being regulated by the FCA - can't be sure, to be honest as I don't know that end of the business, but it wouldn't surprise me..You don't need a banking license, but you will need to have a compliance team an client portfolio reporting requirement - in other words, sending a statement.. And that may well raise the inquisitive naure of wives and/or girlfriends.
The picosecond you execute a transaction electronically, it is traceable. And not many punters nor SPs will want that. In fact the nature of your business will probably send shivers down the financial crime units of payment providers, and you will find yourself having to go to some very expensive payment providers to take electronic payments, anyway. And you will have to slug someone for it.. and whoever you slug, if it is anything more than a very minor amount, they won't be with you for long.. because for most, there are no issues with payments 99.9999999% if the time (one hopes).
Finally, the big one for punters more than anything else.. and has been said already - the risk is, this could be a darned big scam. For SPs, generally anonymity is not such a big deal as it is their livelihood (although for some it is, of course). But for punters, well, it is almost everything. Which is why you rarely see any of us who complain bitterly in a negative review taking it to the local trading standards, the county court, or Rogue Traders. Basically, if punters have a problem with your service, they are generally not going to enforce consumer protection against you because they want to remain anonymous.. And for me, that, along with traceability is the deal breaker. You could my money, the SP may not provide the service and you can hang onto my money. Yes, I will post about it here, but I'll never see the money again.. May as well have it robbed from me, because at least I will get some form of Adrenalin rush.
Look, there are plenty of people who will put the poo-poo on ideas just because they are jealous they didn't come up with it and know that they don't have the mettle to take an idea and run with it.. and they want to see everyone who has a good idea and the mettle to see it through fail. I am really not one of those.. When someone comes to me with a business idea (not that I am an investor or anything), I ask them not to think if other people would buy it, but if they were the customer, would they buy it.. Put yourself in the punters and SPs mind and then ask yourself whether you (not someone else) would buy it.. And answer honestly...
Keep the ideas coming.. keep testing them... And when you have one you think is right, go for it.. You may succeed, but you only fail if you fail to learn from things that don't work out..
Book recommendation: The Lean Startup (and Blue Ocean Strategy)...
