I have $4000 +Is Internet Cafe Business Good for it?

Hello,
for almost a year and a month plus, I earned $4000 and now it is in my bank.
Now, I want to invest this money to make it more and more bigger.

I am planning to have a OFFLINE business which i choosed is Internet Cafe inside the mall. .

what do you think?
is it a good business or not?
will lots of people go there to play games, rent for internet etc.?
sorry im just new i just turned 18 last november

Comments will be greatly appreciated.

thank you.
narci

 

I don't think it's good business. Lot of people can play today via internet on very high speeds from home. And internet is cheap today as well. Try some PPC with that money. People becoming millioniers with that

 

Thanks for teh reply DPParadise.
and no, mostly people in the phil have not computer in their home.
I am making step to step now . to see the outcome if this will grow.

 

How about restaurant, bar or cafe? You can make it for teens or young generation. Check this site www.springwise.com for more business ideas. The information about businesses on this site has helped me a lot in starting 2 new businesses in my country.

 

It is depend on your area. SOme area is still good to have internet cafe.
You need to do some research on the area, i believe you can get the answer, people in your age is the majority like to play internet game at internet cafe
Wish you do your best

 

Rightly said.

Just make a survey around the place where you intend to start a net cafe and if you think that the facility is lacking and there are more people ready to surf or play games, then you have taken the right choice. Go ahead and take a plunge. Take care of the procedures laid down by the local authorities so that you do your business without any hitch. All the best.

 

make some marketing research in the region and then decide

 

Even in places where most people have a computer in their home, there is still a customer-base for an internet cafe. I had to rely on them recently for a week when ISP fecked up my connection by "upgrading it", and it was interesting to see who uses them. I would say it's mostly people who are 'away from home' for some reason or another - people working abroad, on an extended travelling vacation, foreign students. So in your case, I would say, think about the whether the location is good for those sort of people, because if it is, it can be a thriving business.

 

If you are planning on preparing and serving food, you should definately investigate that portion of your idea. The profit margin for restaurants is typically extremely thin, staff can be a nightmare to keep and should anything go wrong with equipment, fixes are extremely expensive.

If you are just planning to offer pre-packaged goods + coffee, make sure you aren't close to a large library, as most already offer similar settings at this point.

 

neckbone, which restaurant can you open with $4k ? don't make me and others laugh

 

Hi when u asked this qns and u said $4k i was thinking u were day dreaming or that statement was quite immature.

WHen u said u were in philippines i was thinking that maybe possible. Im not sure about your rate. Here I will give u the lowest possbile rates:

Unless ur 4k = 4k USD.

This is ur assumed breakdown:

1 pc - $100. 10 pc = $1000
Rental of shop in a MALL = $500 a month x3 = $1500 (assume u need to down 3 months of rental)
Renovation = $500
Internet = $50 a month for 10 pc
Power + misc bills = $50
Marketing = $100

Total: $3200

Well it looks good. Can u get a pc hardware + software (with WinXp + games) for $100 ?
Is your rental in a mall only $500 a month?
Will your business internet line cost $50 ?

etc etc etc...

This is my cafe in Singapore running for 8 years:
http://www.goodspeedcybercafe.com

Hope u rethink your plans. You might need at least $40,000

 

not a good business in my country,i would rather invest in online business

 

Narci,

I am also from the phils, and I totally suggest you check your avenues first... Internet cafe is too lucrative to think as a business when you only see the "Earning side of it" but you need to consider a lot of stuffs first before you start jumping to it.

I know a lot of people in Phils dont have computers which was your reason of wanting to setup an internet cafe, but let me give you some insights to think about.

1. Technical support - are you into repairing your own PC if they break down? if you are thinking of hiring a person to do this for you, you are already throwing out money down the tubes
2. Legal Software - are you planning to use pirated programs? I personally knew people who went to hell and back when they got hit by authorities for using illegal softwares, and their machines got confiscated
3. Machine wear and tear - if you are planning to offer gaming computers, who are your customers? students? kids? they tend to hang around and watch people play more than paying you to use your PC. Also, games tend to use more PC resources and can get your hard disk and video card fried easily
4. Electricity bill - calculate how much you will spend before you will even start, go ask the local electrician how much an aircon would consume. Wouldn't you turn it on if there is only one person in your internet cafe? I wouldn't want to be in an internet cafe that has no aircon
5. Competition - look around you, is there another internet cafe present? if so, check their machines, if you can exceed those, then you are good

These are only few stuffs I can tell you and there is lots more, so before jumping in, try to assess how much you will shell out of your hard-earned $4k because at that amount, you can only buy around 6 to 8 PCs and the rest of the money goes to maintenance and other unforeseen needs (internet connection, router, switch, hubs, wires, aircon, etc...)

Hope that helps you clear out few things in your mind...

 

savegemp5, well made points! As for pc for $100, yes, you can play on it year 2000 games, not 2009 maybe xp and old browser, that's it. Good gaming PC will cost around $1000.

 

heh i live in singapore... and there are those pentinum 3 700mhz pc sold off to other countries at about $30 usd, with monitor and win98 license key lol

Oh yes, I havent include aircon, network setup, and technical support for te $4000.

 

well, question is what you can do today on pentium 3 700 ? It's 10 years old machine. I think even win xp will not work so good on it.

 

Narci, I was thinking about opening my own internet cafe just because I thought it would be fun. They had them everywhere in Thailand and it was brilliant. I made a lot of friends playing DotA.

You are in the best position to learn more about setting up in Philipines. Just go out and speak to a few Internet Cafe owners. I'm sure if you are friendly enough they will be helpful.

I know you could make more money online as people here suggest but there is something cool about having your own brick and mortar business! Especially if it means you get to hang out with friends and like minded people abd mostly importantly you enjoy it.

Just ask around get as much info as you can and then you will be able to work out how realistic it is.

Savagemp5 has got a nice outline of what you need. Obviously prices will vary for yourself.

If it's anything like the all internet cafe's in thailand I'm pretty sure they don't care about software licenses and they handle all tech support in house...most of these guys are going to playing games and therefore geeky. There were a lot of popular online games as well which were free to setup.

Oh don't forget to include furniture such as comfortable chairs! and extra devices such as webcams and headsets they were popular as well.

Best of Luck Narci

 

Whoop. My eyes read 40K, not 4K. Maybe opening a push cart taco stand with 4K? Then again, I suppose that limits your internet accessibility. : )

Mmmmm.....tacos.

 

Hi guys. thanks for all the replies, really appreciated

for now i am planning to stay put the money in my bank .
maybe i will just earn more money in online business and offline business.
yes i got one business here in the phil. and its a coffee shop.
and yes i am 18 yrs of age. I started the coffe shop a years ago, and the income was not bad at all.

and I put a donations in the charities 20% of my income to help.
Ages like me likes to play online games, playing something to enjoy they're age.
but for me not. I am looking forward for a good future that is why im thinking how to get stand on a good business, good income etc.

maybe 2 years or so on by now . hope so that i will achieve my dreams to be a good, successful and friendly businessman. . and this is for future >>> child and family soon.

Thanks for reading and replies everyone
I still looking in this thread to get some info about business ideas
so post here if u have . Thank you.

 

4K ? We just spent over USD100,000 for a small restaurant. I would imagine internet cafe would cost more than that. Rent, Shop Renovation, Furniture, Computers, Utilities, employees, Cafe License fees, Software fees and maintenance all have to come into consideration.