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View Full Version : Opening a Cyber Cafe?



jtchopwop
06-18-2011, 04:57 PM
To start, the idea i have in mind is to open and operate a place where people can play games on the computers, do work and research, as well as print, fax and all that computing stuff. But i also would like to add "outside the computer" entertainment to my place so those waiting for a computer don't have to sit and "waste" there time. I would provide the latest games as well as keep up with the old classics such as counter-strike. The "outside the computer" entertainment i had been flirting with are a pool table, jitoni table and possibly some arcade machines. To satisfy customers, id offer similar to a concession stand with drinks and snacks such as chips, chocolate etc... In my area, we don't have a location that supports my ideas (adding arcades, or even a simple pool table n jitoni table) Also by supporting i mean theres no location like this at all that i see.

As you can see, the ideas are somewhat all over the place. I got the ideas in my mind, i just need some help organizing everything and getting things in order so i can proceed with the next step in opening the cyber playground if you will. Keep in mind, i live in Toronto so any type of comments or helpful advice should have my location in mind (seeing as someone explaining what happened in china for example wont help me)

tylerhutchinson
06-20-2011, 01:26 PM
I think that the external part is a great idea. I do think your ideas and thoughts are all over the place. You will want to make sure as you design the plans for all of it, you turn all the different external plans into a well designed flow. Make it look organized and uniformed.

I personally have never worked or assisted in internet cafe's. Honestly I have never even been to one. I am curious to learn about the demographics of people who go to these. Are they primarily college students? Or business people? The reason I ask is you will want to build your plan on your target market and demographic. I am younger so I think an arcade is a great idea, but if you are seeing 30+ people who are focused on business will they really want to play these? You will want to cater your targeted customers so maybe a good option would be to simply ask them! Build a traditional cafe if you don't have it already and put out surveys and forms to get their idea on what THEY want to see. Then build it form there!

The food center is a great idea as well. Again you will want to take your demographic into consideration. Younger people may enjoy more "arcade-like" foods such as pizza and soda. If it is more business people you may want to go at it with a Starbucks approach with coffee, lattes, and pastries.

One other concern I would have is I would imagine people at these cafe's would want a quite environment to work, do homework, or browse the internet. Would adding external things like an arcade create too loud of an environment to the point where it may discourage some people to come? That may be one concern you will want to take into consideration. Maybe separate the areas. Put the external stuff in a "waiting room" so that the noise generated from it will not bother the people using the computers.

I would also want to suggest to make the advertising and focus on it being the internet cafe. If you have arcade like features with pizza and soda, people may use it for that only instead of internet cafe. It could bring your demographics down in age and you may see kids coming in just for that which again may scare off people who are coming in for the computers. If you do not mind this then it would not be a problem. Me personally would fear the mixed demographic as I would not want to lower the customer experience for the people using the internet to accommodate the others.

KristineS
06-21-2011, 12:15 PM
I know a lot of bloggers and such that use coffee shops and places that have free wifi to write. I know business people who use the cafes as places to work when they travel. If you're looking for that sort of audience, you may be better off going with a coffee shop type atmosphere and keeping things quiet and subdued so people can work.

One thing you may want to keep in mind is that a lot of people have their own laptops now, so the idea of using a rental computer is strange to a lot of people. If they are going to work somewhere, they'll bring their own laptop and hook into the local wifi.

Dan Furman
06-21-2011, 12:49 PM
Don't mean to be Debbie Downer (or Dan Downer, really), but I think this type of business model goes away soon, just like video stores did.

There is going to be a time - and it's close - where "finding wifi" won't be an issue for a vast majority of people. Right now, my wife's ipad has 3g capability. Yes, you pay for it/etc, but this tells me that soon, this type of thing will not be an issue. I carry an iphone around. I have the internet wherever I go. I realize not everyone has these things, but the time is coming...

I would not invest in a "sit down" computer-based / wifi anything right now.

tylerhutchinson
06-21-2011, 01:03 PM
I do agree in Dan that most people do have tablet pcs or a way to connect to the internet. A lot of places offer free wi-fi now. I was just doing work at Mcdonalds the other day while the kids played because they have free wifi. I also have an internet card through Verizon to connect my laptop to the internet anywhere it gets reception.

I do think there will still be a market, but you may have to shift your strategy and expect to have to shift your business model as technology progresses. For example, one thing I cannot do right now while I am out is print! If I saw your place and I really needed something printed I would come in, get a smoothie and print whatever I had.

billbenson
06-21-2011, 01:14 PM
someone I know made a comment about cyber cafe's the other day and she said of course! I didn't probe further. She lives in Washington DC and has kids in college. It implies there is a demographic for that.

One thought that comes to mind is security. I would be worried about paying bills or making purchases online from Starbucks who offer WiFi. I don't have a laptop, so I don't really know how secure you are in places like than. But a cyber cafe could offer wireline security as a reason to use them?

Spider
06-21-2011, 01:32 PM
I don't think the older, business demographic is there for this. This is more something for a younger crowd who want noise (aka. music), video games, arcade entertainment, party atmosphere. 1950s-style (dressed up to be 21st century style) soda-fountain, juke boxes, a place to meet girls (if your're a guy) or guys (if you are a girl) and generally hang out, chill out or whatever the terminology is today. I see a brightly-colored, super-modern, noisy, party-scene - "the place to be" -- where your GPS mobile device let's everyone know you're there and invites everyone you know to join you.

You'll probably sell more pop than coffee, and need fewer chairs, but a few very cozy, very dark booths might be in demand!

jtchopwop
06-21-2011, 01:53 PM
i dont want a coffee shop like establishment. I wont mind making coffee for people (espresso, or instant coffee lol) but its not something that id be majoring in so to speak.

Spider, i like that idea and now that i think of it, that is doable. My idea would generally have those involved.

I used to love going to the internet cafe (and i had a computer at home with internet and games i had bought) but sometimes you just wanna be out and enjoying spending time with friends even if ur on the computer. Id like my place to be that kind of environment but also have room to expand on the idea. I want a place where you can come, chill, use the computers for games or whatever, play arcades, shoot some pool, talk with friends, meet new friends. I went to a place in texas inside a mall that had computers, ps2s n xbox (at the time) arcade **** and it was a real neat place. I want something similar to that.

Spider
06-21-2011, 02:01 PM
I think it is very doable. How will you make money? There's tons of profit in CocaCola, Pepsi, etc. but will you sell enough to make that profit? I cannot imagine young people would want to spend all that much on renting a computer or game consol, shooting pool or playing arcade games.

All the pool halls I know have a bar and, I suspect, make their money on liquor - you won't be able to do that. So what will your people spend money on, for this to be a viable business?

jtchopwop
06-21-2011, 02:05 PM
Don't mean to be Debbie Downer (or Dan Downer, really), but I think this type of business model goes away soon, just like video stores did.

There is going to be a time - and it's close - where "finding wifi" won't be an issue for a vast majority of people. Right now, my wife's ipad has 3g capability. Yes, you pay for it/etc, but this tells me that soon, this type of thing will not be an issue. I carry an iphone around. I have the internet wherever I go. I realize not everyone has these things, but the time is coming...

I would not invest in a "sit down" computer-based / wifi anything right now.

yes video stores are on a down due to sites as netflix and all. but my establishment would be a gaming type place, some place where people can chill out and play a computer game or arcade game, shoot some pool, have can of coca-cola n chips whatever they want. I want to bring people together n have fun, i feel that (and dont get me wrong i love the idea of wifi where ever you go) if they make wifi everywhere, people wont be spending time together. And if you bring your laptops to the park for some fun time there, there's risk of you getting robbed. So i would think to take advantage of that risk, offer a place where they can feel secure, even if its a price but even then it could be a manageable price where it could offer you security not just physically but online. You cant trust public wifi, but you can trust a private network IF you get people to trust you. Another way to manage that cuz i understand people could just give the password to others, is to change the password daily. You see where im getting at?

jtchopwop
06-21-2011, 02:09 PM
I think it is very doable. How will you make money? There's tons of profit in CocaCola, Pepsi, etc. but will you sell enough to make that profit? I cannot imagine young people would want to spend all that much on renting a computer or game consol, shooting pool or playing arcade games.

All the pool halls I know have a bar and, I suspect, make their money on liquor - you won't be able to do that. So what will your people spend money on, for this to be a viable business?

Well making money could come from different means, definitely from snacks n drinks like chips n all that. Plus i could invest some money into said companies to make some money. I also know people who make clothing n stuff so maybe if i work a deal with them, i could add some revenue from there. But i think i could make "renting a computer" profitable, if i make it somewhere that's a trusted location, maybe implement a membership service (another means of revenue).

Russ in Vancouver
06-21-2011, 03:43 PM
In my city, there was an arcade that flourished for 20+ yearr, it had 6 8 ball tables, dozens of video games that were always updated with the times, food, snacks, etc..... then in the past 5 years it struggled alot, they brought in computers networked so ppl could play counter strike and wow etc..... then the gang crowd moved in and could not be removed.

It shut down last year.

Before you go much further, You need to write a business plan and then take a look at it from there. It is easy to talk oneself into a business idea or desire if it fits into your personal lifestyle. I am one who has done this a dozen times and still have a hard time backing up.

Best of luck to you.

Spider
06-21-2011, 03:56 PM
Membership could work as long as you provide something of value for that membership fee. A similar model you could consider is an entrance fee with most everything inside free.

How about a prepaid card for internal "credit."

MyITGuy
06-21-2011, 04:37 PM
I could possibly see working in conjunction with an arcade offering in a high volume area such as a mall, or in conjunction with a coffee shop in an area with lots of hotels...but in my opinion its a model that is quickly fading away if it hasn't already (The only internet cafes I see in my area are ones that are essentially casinos with arcade type gambling).

1st - You mention that you want to create an atmosphere that promotes socializing. How will you be different from the others that are out there already where people can gather and have access to the internet, most of the time for free (I.E. Starbucks, Panera, any local restaurant)?
2nd - One of your responses to the point above is that you will be providing the hardware as well, I would state that almost everyone already has their own devices already, and if they don't then they most likely wouldn't pay the premium to rent yours either. They would most likely hit up the local library (Free hardware use and can socialize with others).
3rd - You state that you want to target the gamers, however the gamers I know of spend allot of money on their own gear to maximize their advantage (High end video cards, low latency network equipment, water cooled/overclocked processors). Are you ready to spend thousands of dollars every few months to keep the gamers coming back, or do you expect them to pay you for sub-par/mediocre performance of your equipment?

There just might be a reason why you don't a location like this in your area...but as someone else suggested, do a survey and see what the results say.

MyITGuy
06-21-2011, 04:43 PM
someone I know made a comment about cyber cafe's the other day and she said of course! I didn't probe further. She lives in Washington DC and has kids in college. It implies there is a demographic for that.

One thought that comes to mind is security. I would be worried about paying bills or making purchases online from Starbucks who offer WiFi. I don't have a laptop, so I don't really know how secure you are in places like than. But a cyber cafe could offer wireline security as a reason to use them?

You are correct, hotspots offer no means of protection/security so anything you do online could be intercepted by a third party if they choose.

However, using a rental computer over a shared line could also pose the same risks if not more since another user (Or the owner/employees themselves) could install a key logger on the machine to capture everything you do.

Personally, my own hardware connected to a hotspot is the best option. If I'm concerned with the security I could always start up my VPN and tunnel all of my internet traffic back to my office in encrypted form (There are services available for users that accomplish this as well for a small monthly fee)

tylerhutchinson
06-21-2011, 05:52 PM
I know of several businesses in my area who went at this a few different ways.

One let you come in and rent time to play video games on large tv's. PS3, Xbox, Wii. They also had an area to buy food, drinks, and hang out.

Another was a modified Check E cheese sort of place where it had game rooms, rock walls, and tvs with video game consoles. They also offered tickets to get prizes and was really a good place to take your kids.

Another was strictly a coffee shop that offered a wifi spot with coffee.

All three of these had the same thing in common that they all failed in the first year. We are primarily a college town with a lot of 18-25 year olds (when schools in season). I think the concept is good, but you need to have a strong business and marketing plan behind it to be able to survive. Hopefully your area can support it a lot easier then ours.

tylerhutchinson
06-21-2011, 05:54 PM
I know of several businesses in my area who went at this a few different ways.

One let you come in and rent time to play video games on large tv's. PS3, Xbox, Wii. They also had an area to buy food, drinks, and hang out.

Another was a modified Check E cheese sort of place where it had game rooms, rock walls, and tvs with video game consoles. They also offered tickets to get prizes and was really a good place to take your kids.

Another was strictly a coffee shop that offered a wifi spot with coffee.

All three of these had the same thing in common that they all failed in the first year. We are primarily a college town with a lot of 18-25 year olds (when schools in season). I think the concept is good, but you need to have a strong business and marketing plan behind it to be able to survive. Hopefully your area can support it a lot easier then ours.