Calling independent LBO owners

very strange suppose you tried TVc 01204 395 999
how much u paying sis per month at mo ?

.

I pay them £1400 at the moment

I have iSIS 5 year contract plus sundays no evening £18k per annum £15 before vat
I have no turf
bit of a struggle at mo

maine rd the man you need very helpful and knowledgable

good luck

nohands (capt thanks for the kind words) SIS have no interest what so ever in small indys. The latest thing will be one massive big screen with separate screens integrated. You will need a giant wall space and it will cost fortunes to install and keep. You are not going to gain any new customers by paying bombs for new technology.  I was one of the first to get ISIS and it was fkin terrible for a couple of years, they rolled it out to indys who became guinea pigs for somethin that did not work ( notice none of the big boys touched it). I am sorry to be doom and gloom but its fkd up for the small fella. I packed in last month after being in the game since leaving school. You must make money everyone said. Correct I made 85k a year but had overheads of 80k a year., so I looked at it that I was makin £1500 for everyone else and a ton for myself a week. I stopped tote direct, insurance, public liability, and tried to cut down on all sorts but still it wasnt enough. Your only hope is to do the phones with a few decent pubs (they are still out there) back door all the bets and crack on they don't exist. Declare nothing. Whats the worst that can happen? You will end up being owed money but so be it, just find some more, you will not survive relying on over the counter shi t., and if you get caught just give em the keys. You can give the customers all you want. Start to give all sorts away to drum up business and you will end up with shrewdies who will take yer pants down. most of the normal joe public  will not come near you because they dont have a clue who you are.
If you open a butty shop selling fresh chicken buttys for £2 next to a Subway selling processed sh it chicken for £4 you will be empty because the public are brainwashesd into dealing with names they know. Sorry its doom and gloom but thats how its become. Try this. Go and ask the land lord of a busy boozer if you can take bets on a Sat and he can have 10% of any profit you make. You will be better off than sittin in your shop all day takin virtual sh it irish sh it and payin bombs for the privalage. If you do carry on take the 5 year contract with SIS they wont chase you if you close down , but if you sign for the monthly contract they charge you £35 a month extra. What the fk is all that about. In other words they so we know you are struggling so you can have a month/month contract but they charge you £35 extra!!!!!!!! Football data. Ignore that. DO NOT reply to it they will stop askin for the £500 after about 6 month. I never paid that for years. It must be the only business in the world where a shop could have a value of 500k one day then be worth fk all the next, thanks to the gamb bill.
Anyway I will be sat in a boozer Royal Ascot , Derby Day, Euro 2012 and my expenses will be a pint o lager and a pen, and win or lose I will be doing it all for myself not for; SIS TURF GAMB COM COUNCILL RACING POST RENT ELECTRIC WATER GAS STAFF EPOS TILL ROLLS COUPONS LEVY CUSTOMS .................

After all this if you have a mad busy shop then it still is a great business, but the overheads for a mad busy shop are the same as for one thats dead as a dodo good luck.

Sorry I just went off on one then getting back to the original question try tv video direct in Bolton ask for Andy Greaves he has been in our game for years and wont bull sh it you he  is a top lad who will do his best for you. Good Luck.

Gotta be in the running for the most down to earth, honest post of the year.
Anyone read a better one ?

Maineroad, sorry to hear you've had to give it in. I've read your posts in the past, so I know how knowlegdeable you are in the area. If you can't make it pay, then there isn't a lot of hope for the rest of us.

We rely mostly on our credit trade and the machines for our profit, but things are getting tougher every year. We're losing a lot of customers to the likes of 356 and dappypower who give away so much, it makes me wonder how they make any money at all. We give plenty away as it is - margins were nearly 20% 10 years ago, now it's around 10%!

Sorry, that last post was from me, thought I had logged in!

Good luck maine lets hope city win title

No Hands CaptF
Hows the last few weeks been?

Maine, turnover on the horses has been fairly poor, but results have been ok-ish. The machines are still making a bit which keeps us going. Trouble is, I can only see the business going one way and I can feel it starting to get to me - I'm sure you know what I mean, getting very bitter and twisted! Trying everything to keep customers happy, but trying to compete with big internet firms is very tough. How's life out of the game?

No Hands I've sent you a message go on the new forum to find it

My old boss in east London packed up 3 years ago after managing 4 shops from the first day they opened, he took over the company when the owner died, who had no sons. One by one the shops were sold off to Laddies and Oxlows and a CPP.  The last shop had to contend with major road works, which meant no parking for months on end, then the council moved a zebra crossing to virtually outside the door when the road works were done.  To the left of the zebra crossing they put a new bus stop, and 5 yards to the right of the crossing it was made a red route. In London that mean no stopping at all.

Business went down, while Laddies around the corner had no parking problems.

SIS charges, licenses for FOBTS, rent and wages, etc, all went up.

Even phone business from pubs, chinese restaurants and working mens clubs couldn't prevent the inevitable, and after two robberies in 3 months, late 2008 and early 2009, he gave up. He now works from his house to a few pubs and private clients.

Twomatch he will be makin more now sat at home than he would have done in the shop.

Well, not making more, but paying a lot less in bills

Of course SIS have no interest in small independents. The formation of SIS was for the express purpose of forcing independents out of business, and to be fair to them, they have done a very good job.

Couldn't agree more. I'm paying SIS as much now as I was 4-5 years ago and I've got less than half of the horse racing content. The biggest problem is independents have absolutely no clout with SIS or the wonderful Gambling Commission, so we just have to sit and suffer, and pay whatever price these organisations ask for. I pay the Gam Com £2k a year and I've not seen or heard from my compliance officer for 18 months.

betfair and the purple site, its all here for you if you are good enough and have an edge... no overheads, bar commission and pc.