Investigating The Ins and Outs of Opening an Internet Cafe

Hi,

As the subject states I am reseaching the requirements for opening an
Internet Cafe.
Looking for info on preffered ISP,looking at BT Business Connection for
reliability and Tech Support at the mo.
Also any suggestions on Satellite Providers in the SW.
Any other suggestions and advice on required Bandwidth would be greatful.

If I have directed this to the wrong NG I do appologise.

P.S. No comments about what brand of Coffee to serve I'll get that from
alt.rec.coffee.

(E-Mail Removed)

So in exchange for this advice ( saving you any work on making a business
plan etc ) do we get a percentage of the profits or part ownership of this
Internet Cafe

--




Regards,

Someone who has done his own research :-)

>

"Bill H" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:df2dh3$d6q$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi,
>
> As the subject states I am reseaching the requirements for opening an
> Internet Cafe.
> Looking for info on preffered ISP,looking at BT Business Connection for
> reliability and Tech Support at the mo.

We use PSINET where I work, but the Internet Cafe is a small part of the
service. Probably too big for you.
Possiblt PIPEX?

> Also any suggestions on Satellite Providers in the SW.
> Any other suggestions and advice on required Bandwidth would be greatful.
>

No use for an internet cafe, latency far too long,,,

> If I have directed this to the wrong NG I do appologise.
>
> P.S. No comments about what brand of Coffee to serve I'll get that from
> alt.rec.coffee.
>

Probably, but what about locking down machines etc. We use DeepFreeze and
NetTime

(http://www.nettimesoftware.com/netti..._features.html)

I can really recommend the Deep Freeze. Just re-oot and changes uindone...


> (E-Mail Removed)
>
>

Bill H wrote:
> Hi,
>
> As the subject states I am reseaching the requirements for opening an
> Internet Cafe.
> Looking for info on preffered ISP,looking at BT Business Connection
> for reliability and Tech Support at the mo.
> Also any suggestions on Satellite Providers in the SW.
> Any other suggestions and advice on required Bandwidth would be
> greatful.
>
> If I have directed this to the wrong NG I do appologise.
>
> P.S. No comments about what brand of Coffee to serve I'll get that
> from alt.rec.coffee.
>
> (E-Mail Removed)

Never really worked out the economics of this. If you have 10 machines say
at £500 a piece that's £5000. You can't really charge more than £1 an hour
so all machines full 8 hours a day is only £80 a day - so £560 (if you open
7 days) a week meaning £2240 a month. Take off maintenance, broadband,
overheads, rent etc and add in a few coffees you'll sell (but probably no
more than 1 an hour to each user) and it doesn't add up to much IMHO.

Am I missing something?

Stephen (aka steford) wrote:

> Am I missing something?

No - far better to get a Starbucks franchise and add the T-mobile
wireless service on.

"Stephen (aka steford)"
<R_E_m_O_v_Esaboten@T_H_i_Skei99.co.uk> wrote in message
news:df2iuo$lsf$(E-Mail Removed)

[snip]

> Never really worked out the economics of this. If you
> have 10 machines say at £500 a piece that's £5000. You
> can't really charge more than £1 an hour so all machines
> full 8 hours a day is only £80 a day - so £560 (if you
> open 7 days) a week meaning £2240 a month. Take off
> maintenance, broadband, overheads, rent etc and add in a
> few coffees you'll sell (but probably no more than 1 an
> hour to each user) and it doesn't add up to much IMHO.
>
> Am I missing something?

I think probably the successful internet cafes offer other services
besides internet and coffee. Maybe as part of a larger business. Certainly
just internet access isn't going to bring in the money when people can go
to a library and get access for free.

Ivor

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, Ivor Jones wrote:

> I think probably the successful internet cafes offer other services
> besides internet and coffee. Maybe as part of a larger business. Certainly
> just internet access isn't going to bring in the money when people can go
> to a library and get access for free.

You've hit the nail on the head (as has the poster who was muttering about
getting a business plan done for free). Has the concept run its course and is
the OP 5 years too late? He could get some free advice from his local
Business Link. You need deep pockets to start anything like this.


--

Jock Mackirdy
Bedford

In article <df2dh3$d6q$(E-Mail Removed)>,
Bill H <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>Hi,
>
>As the subject states I am reseaching the requirements for opening an
>Internet Cafe.

Get a time machine & go back 5 years before the bubble burst?

>Looking for info on preffered ISP,looking at BT Business Connection for
>reliability and Tech Support at the mo.

Any old 2Mb ADSL provider... Maybe get a business service for a slightly
lower contention ratio.

>Also any suggestions on Satellite Providers in the SW.

Why? (and a satellite provider tends to operate on a national or even
european level, so there shouldn't be anything specific about the SW)

>Any other suggestions and advice on required Bandwidth would be greatful.

Don't do it. I can't see that it would ever pay these days, unless you
are going to have dozens and dozens of terminals...

Get as much bandwidth as you can afford and stick a web-cache in.

>If I have directed this to the wrong NG I do appologise.
>
>P.S. No comments about what brand of Coffee to serve I'll get that from
>alt.rec.coffee.

If you are in the SW, then get it from the SW - Wogan Coffee in Bristol...

Gordon
(Living in the SW, and we have broadband everywhere now - even in the
middle of Dartmoor! (almost))

"Jock Mackirdy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, Ivor Jones wrote:
>
>> I think probably the successful internet cafes offer other services
>> besides internet and coffee. Maybe as part of a larger business. Certainly
>> just internet access isn't going to bring in the money when people can go
>> to a library and get access for free.
>
> You've hit the nail on the head (as has the poster who was muttering about
> getting a business plan done for free). Has the concept run its course and is
> the OP 5 years too late? He could get some free advice from his local
> Business Link. You need deep pockets to start anything like this.

I looked into it about 7 years back and the economics didn't add up even then
due to the costs of business rates and letting the premises in a location where
you will get customers. Having run the numbers I was looking at having to charge
more than £5 an hour and still have a high % of occupancy assuming I didn't have
to pay for staff. The cost of broadband may have come down but rates haven't.
The good news for me is about 6 months after I did all the maths and decided it
wasn't feasible someone else opened an internet cafe 2 doors down from where I
was looking at, it lasted less than 3 months before folding.

On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 08:42:59 GMT, "Depresion" <blank@128.0.0.1> wrote:

>I looked into it about 7 years back and the economics didn't add up even then
>due to the costs of business rates and letting the premises in a location where
>you will get customers.

I think adding a wifi hotspot service to a viable cafe is better
option these days.

Phil
--
Tiscali - dialup speeds at Broadband prices, see
http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/postlist...&Board=tiscali

AOL - the unlimited ISP of choice for heavy downloaders.