If you own your own business can you help me please?

Thanks for your suggestions

There are some useful ideas there

 

Well I think the gaming sounds like fun and they always say you should be in a business you love. My biggest concern is that the age group that you may be targeting are ussually on a fixed budget. My biggest tip or thought is why limit the number of potential customers with a business that sells to a local area. With the web you can sell to an endless number of potential customers and with your SEO skills I am sure you could get creative on finding potential customers. Flyers and hot dogs or content and back links you have to think about what you want to be thinking about on a Saturday night. Having a retail location takes a lot of dedication and can make you a slave to your job. Just something to think about the last pieces of advice I have are "Do not ever give up" and "why wait til tomorrow, when you can start today!" Good Luck

 

Just out of curiousity, how much does it cost to rent a decent size retail space in your town? Think about what kinds of decorations you would want to your space and how many computers you will need. Maybe some LCD tv's to add to the atmosphere??? How much initial capital are you planning on starting with?

I wish you the best of luck!!

 

Great idea! We had a place like that in my city as well. They required anyone under 14 to get a T&C sheet signed. It makes some great money, especially if you sell soda and food.

 

I have an online business and an offline real world business. If you are any good at SEO concentrate on your online activities. Much more rewarding financially.

 

It's great to see you have ambition; I think however that these internet/lan gaming centers just aren't profitable from the business cases I have seen.

I'm not trying to just tell you not to pursue your goals, it's clear you are passionate and you want to make this work but the number 1 thing you need to do is: research research research!

I've lived in Birmingham for a couple of years now; an internet/lan gaming center opened up there. This place was swish, like fantastically and amazingly sleek. And the prices were excellent too, but I walked past it almost every day, and there was never anyone in there! Birmingham isn't a small place, 1 million people, thousands of students (far more than Chichester and surrounding towns) and this place was literally in the dead center of the town.

Please just take it into consideration; learn from this: http://www.omega-sektor.com/ http://gaming.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=15854

If you think you can make it work, then good luck.

 

Thank you for your input! Well I'm not just targeting at that particular age group, just that they I believe would be my largest target audiance, I understand that they would be on a fixed budget, thats why we offer special services to the younger lot, discounts, special rates etc... I wouldn't mind being a slave to this job lol, I'd be happy to spend 12 hour shifts in a place that I've set up, even if nobody came in I know my group of friends would be there with me so I'd never be alone
I'm not the type to give up either

BTW I'd also offer special discounts to anyone from DP hehe

Well the place I'm thinking of renting is here: http://www.cluttons.com/find_c_detail.cfm?id=29975
It's 5-10 min walk away from the college and 3-4 min walk away from the 2 highschools, directly opposite a bus station (well it's built into the bus station complex) and directly opposite the trainstation, so theres always alot of people walking past, We're going for around 10-15 machines at first, the building next door has also just been let out: http://www.cluttons.com/find_c_detail.cfm?id=29973
So if it was a hit I was alos thinking of renting that too and turning it into more of a cafe style area, with tables out front and knocking a door through so you can walk inbetween the two buildings. Erm I was thinking starting with maybe around £40-50K.

Yes that was one of my main concerns, anyone under the age of 15-16 would have to get their parents come in and sign a T&C the first time they came in, we'd keep their contact details on record just to make them feel that their children are more secure.

Well to be honest SEO isnt my lifes calling, I dont know how good I am at it exactly, I love my job and I enjoy what I do, but I'd much rather be running my own business.

Thanks for the links,
my partner is from Birmingham and I know how busy it can be! I'm surprised that it wasn't a bigger hit, is the place still open? It'd be more expensive to run a place like that up in Brum I'd imagine.

I'm not too sure what the people are like in Birmingham, Well I know a few but not the whole population obviously lol, but I know for a fact that the people in Chichester students, kids are VERY PC focused lol, knowing a good number of people from that age group I know they think it'd be a hit, and to know that you've got afew people that age who'd be into going there is a good thing, that way they talk to their friends about it, word gets passed around and more customers come in! Hopefully.

I'm really focused and hopefully within the next few years I'll be on a definitive path to making this business a reality, I know it wont be a one day turnaround but I'm willing to stick with it and hold my ground and preservere and make it work.
I'm not rulling out failure, that'd be a one way ticket TO failing, but I'm willing to take the good with the bad, and not lose my head and make rash decisions when it is having a hard time and losing alot of money.

Thanks everyone for your input.

 

First Step is to Do Opportunity Assessment

• Objective: Rapidly evaluate whether it makes sense to offer this service and define the vision of the offering
• Activities:
o Create the Service whitepaper that describes the service, outlines the value to the customer, identifies key technologies /approaches,…
o Create a business plan to evaluate whether it makes sense to offer this service
o Define the strategic fit
o Define the key concept and value proposition for the service
o Define the service requirements and key service elements
o Test the concept, service elements and value proposition with customers to see if the customers would want this service
o Outline development strategy and the timeline for service development
o Outline the development and resource requirements
o Define the funding requirement
• Result: Evaluation of the concept and opportunity for the service, which is presented to the SAC .Based on this evaluation, the You can makes a decision whether they will offer this service or not

PM Me your email I will guide you through whole New Service Development Process and How and when to raise money

Remember: Angel Invert or VCs will never Fund to your ideas. They want to see Working Prototype

 

Thank you for that post,
if at all possible could you 'guide me through' the process by PM?
I like to keep me DP and my email seperate.

- Piro

 

Check your line: young children can come play some pc games in a safe and friendly environment, so their parents wont have to worry about what their doing.

Make this more than a motto and you'll definetly be succesful. Also put yourself in the shoes of your customers, and in the start up you should offer something as sick as 1h (get 1 free) in the first 2-3 months to build your client base.

All the best,
Scorpiono

 

Hey thanks Scorpiono,

Yeah I mentioned in my other posts that I'm going to go hand out leaflets for 2-3 weeks before opening and anyone who comes into the shop with one gets an hour free, only one per person though, I dont want to get rinsed! and only for the first 1-2 months.

And anyone who signs up for membership during that time gets it half price, so they get the bonuses and discounts for that too.

- Piro