Page Source for AboutCallingcardbusiness
=begin options
write = root
=end options
=head3 Considerations About the Calling Card Business
The prepaid calling card industry is a massive worldwide business.
People are on the go all the time and need to keep in touch just about
every day of their lives. Its a great business to get into.
Diamondcard provides the technical platform and all support that runs
the prepaid calling card business. We are approached every week by
people that want to get into this lucrative business. Here are some
considerations you should think about.
1. This is a business. You need a plan and marketing strategy. Without
a proper plan and marketing strategy you will find it difficult to
succeed.
2. You need money to get started. You have to design and print your
calling cards, marketing brochures, flyers, posters, etc. You need to
deposit money for your call traffic. You need money to pay for the
usage of a software and hardware platform that runs the business.
3. Commissions. You need to design a commission program for paying the
people who are selling your cards. Whether they are individuals or
shops that carry an inventory of cards available for sale. Without
sales people or shops your cards will sit in your house taking up space
and not being used.
4. Technical Platform. You need to have a technical platform that will
run your business. This means local/toll free domestic and
international access numbers, software to calculate the billing and
routing of your calls. Multiple termination providers that will
terminate your calls. We say multiple because you cannot depend on just
one provider. If the provider goes down you are out of business. You
always need backup providers. Diamondcard all of this.
5. Pricing. This is YOUR prepaid calling card business. You are the one
in charge. That means you need to figure out what your pricing per
minute will be. You have to take into consideration what your
competitors are advertising, what they are actually charging per
minute, what your costs are and what the perception is of the existing
calling card user base think they are paying.
In this business what calling card companies advertise and what they
actually deliver can be two completely different things. Your
competition may advertise 800 minutes on a calling card but only
provide 150 minutes.
6. Management. Once you get started you will need to manage the
operation. That means a few things. Support. Who will support the
people who are buying your cards? Who will manage the termination
providers and routing of the calls? Who will make changes when things
are not working? Who will check the account of the termination
providers and billing system to make sure everything is calculated
properly? Who will make sure your accounts with your termination
providers have enough money to get you through the weekend? Who will
manage your salespeople or shops to see how they are doing and if they
need more cards? Who will handle various situations when they need
fixing?
These are some of the things you need to think about as you get into
the prepaid calling card business.
The good news is that Diamondcard provides most of these things which
allows you to get started in this money making business.