Carrying on where I left off in yesterday’s post.
When initially setting up Exponential Bet I didn't consider the impact it would have on my life too much. I wanted it to be a success, and worked hard on what I was producing, but I was creating do it yourself Dutch betting guides at the time.
Exactly as described, guides to show you how to do it yourself, and that’s all you needed to get started. Everything included within the PDF, and me on hand to answer the occasional question, but once customers were set up that was it.
In my mind I thought I would continue this alongside my own betting and trading.
This progressed in a very natural way to become a subscription service, evolving from the information provided in the guide, as people like to learn how to do it themselves, but some members requested to see my daily bets to make life simpler. I could understand this given not everyone has time in the day, so the BSP Multiple service launched.
However, compared to sending my Dutch bets at midday as a bet slip screenshot, this was a very different experience to providing automated betting services, or software.
It's been a huge learning curve for me, and it still is. Let me explain.
Working with developers to create software solutions is a whole different ball game, and with that alone can be a minefield of time-consuming rabbit holes.
Especially while juggling what's involved and still trying to run a membership-based betting service, develop new ideas, and enjoy the ride.
A job that you would think may take a week with a developer can turn in to a week, a month, or more. This has left me many times feeling powerless, and like piggy in the middle.
Definitely more so with the creation and running of the downloadable automated software, not too much with cloud bet bot, although that has had its own unique challenges I'll go in to later on.
I’d report to members about something, something else would happen to direct our attention on to fixing that with the software, I’d have to report back to members things would be taking longer, like a monkey jumping from branch to branch.
This has affected every aspect of techie work, both download and online versions, but with the download version it was never ending, which is why I moved to online as this I could see a light at the end of the tunnel.
These obstacles are time consuming and very annoying, as I’m a man of my word, and the subscription service I ran sending the emails each day was 100% in my control, not at the mercy of a million and one IT glitches at that time.
What I would judge as a simple one-line question in an email, could receive a reply that may as well be written in Martian from the dev, and then a convoluted process of back and forth to reach some understanding with problem solving.
This of course depends who you’re working with, and I have to say working with Nige is now a joy in this department, he’s a many of many words (said in a sarcastic voice) which suits us both perfectly. It’s a healthy balance.
We don’t always agree, but we can argue the toss without falling out, and resolve anything that needs to be done, as we both have a shared common vision.
Having a subscription service though creates a unique relationship with your members as I wrote yesterday, it’s a journey we take together.
Add on the additional time required making sure emails are replied to in a timely manner, helping members with any set up, and dealing with continual software development behind the scenes can be an overload.
Fitting in time to work on the system production, or doing my own trading, which is something I truly love to do throughout the day, and brings an extra income, had to take a back seat and put on ice when I’ve got hundreds of emails coming on, or questions about software and automated systems that need to be answered, or software issues I need fixing but my developer is having a meltdown...
These are things I did not consider when deciding to create automated betting systems and software development. I went from getting up in the morning, assessing a Dutch bet to send to members, creating new automated systems running using third party software, and setting my stall up for the day with my own bets and trades, to #spinningplates #abusyidiot
I can openly admit that I've let some plates smash to the ground along the way, it's not been a smooth perfect transition to where I am now (as you can probably guess), from being solely accountable with my own strategies and services running on third party apps etc, to bringing it all in house with our own custom built software.
There is a chasm of difference between being a user of automated betting services, or manually placing your own bets for example direct to Betfair, when compared to providing betting services for hundreds of members.
When I began looking to provide custom made automated solutions, the idea was to make life simple for both the members and myself.
For me using automation to place my bets and trades initially came via Fairbot and using the strategy editor within this platform.
As a result of running these automation's I began publishing beta versions of the systems for early access, and including files to import and run within the third party software.
This was all fully in my control, as they were files I was using and created myself, and more like the original concept of the one off guide I could provide to members, but with the option to run the systems using recommended software.
I used well established products such as The Bet Engine to run these automated bets, and Fairbot. Both of which are excellent by the way for what they provide.
I should have covered how I started earlier in the post, my apologies, but we're here now. I was approached and asked if I’d like to partner getting software to run these beta version fully automated, to create a branded Exponential Bet solution, and the rest is history.
Well recent history as it’s coming up to 12 months in March, and it feels like a lifetime ago.
I now presently use online platforms for my members automated betting and trading, Hedger Pro and Cloud Bet Bot from Levelsoftware.
I do still use Fairbot as my workbench to create new ideas, which I'll include more information about this when I get the 'Betting for A Living' domain active (new ETA end of March). You can read more on that here: https://www.exponentialbet.co.uk/post/betting-for-a-living-part-2
Without a doubt there are plus and minus points for using downloaded or online tools, and for anyone running a service using software, there are things you won’t even consider that go on in the background and consume your life.
I may sound like a moaning bastard, but this is me now happier than I've been in a long time, with automation is finally doing what its supposed to be doing, and I can now plan my time effectively.
In tomorrow's post I want share more about the stress and challenges I had when first setting up the online Remote Dutch Betting service, the original RDB, as I haven't shared this with anyone.
More on automated vs manual, and the different aspects you need to consider as a user and developer. Also, creating the leverage to focus on the JV MK2, RDB, my Trading Service, and the imminent Hedger Pro developments.
Thanks for reading
Ryan