An internet cafe or cyber cafe is a place where internet applications are accessible by the general public.
It is a type of business where computers are provided for accessing the internet, chatting with family members, friends and business partners, playing games or doing other computer-related tasks. In most of the cyber cafes, access to the in internet is charged based on time spent by the users and not the data consumed by them.
In many developing countries like Nigeria, the cyber café business is one of the booming businesses and because they are majorly the primary form of internet access for many people.
One amazing feature of the cyber cafes is that the subscription is far less expensive when compared to the personal computer because they make use of shared access models. Computers used in most cyber cafes cafes are generally faster and have high performance thereby making them the perfect choice for PC gamers.
Apart from the regular internet services offered in the cafes, things like printing, photocopying, scanning, lamination and registration/checking of results like WAEC, NECO and JAMB can also be done there.
Cyber Cafe Business Plan In Nigeria
Many people have been contacting me for a cyber cafe business plan in pdf that will help them in setting up the cyber cafe business in Nigeria. The cyber cafe business world is still unsaturated in most Nigerian cities and you can easily scale through in it.Just like any other business, you'll need to be prepared before starting a cyber cafe as it is capital intensive.
Some things you need to put do before launching your business include:
- Draft out your business plan and run a feasibility study
This is very important and contribute a lot to the success of every business. Endeavour to carry out a detailed feasibility study and try your best to understand everything about the business how to run it and what to avoid.This will also help you in knowing the required capital you'll need to keep the business running and the expected profit in a stated number of years. The feasibility study will help you in drafting down your business plan. Your business plan is very essential as it'll help you bank loans, investors, grants, competitions and more.
- Rent your shop
This will be the next step and it's best to rent a shop in busy parts of your area. Also, the shops should be situated in business oriented areas or near schools and universities as they are highly needed in those areas. The price of shops vary with location but ranges from ₦2,000 to ₦4,000 on the average. The price is determined by the standard of living of the area chosen by you.- Furnish your shop
After renting the shop, the next line of action will be to furnish to an extent. You can buy some primary things as a start-up and upgrade with time.Equipment needed to start an internet cafe
• Tables and chairs: Your customers and staff will have to sit down while using the computers or carrying out their duties. Depending on your budget,you can go for the plastic seats and maybe upgrade to the classic furniture later. As for the tables, you can contact any good carpenter to construct them for you.• Generators: Due to the epileptic state of the Nigerian electricity, power generating sets are very necessary for the running of your business. Since you'll b powering many different equipment, it'll be better to get a good generator that can carry all the computer sets, air conditions, peripherals and more.
• Air conditioners: Air conditioning units are important as they ensure the comfort of your customers and also help in cooling the computer sets. If you don't have enough money, you can even decide to go for the second-hand air conditions as they are cheaper.
• Uninterrupted power supply (UPS): Inasmuch as you have an alternative power source having an uninterrupted power supply will also help your business very well. Your customers won't have to bother about losing their works in case of power failure or something of that nature.
- Source for personal computers
This is the computers your customers will be using and should be of good standards. No on likes working with faulty or slow systems especially when your time is reading.Some features your computers should possess include:
• At least 320 gig hard drive
• Computers of 2 gig RAM or above
• Processors that are either Celeron (the lowest tier x86 family offered by Intel), dual core, quad core, core i3, core i5 or core i7
• 100 Mbps minimum network card
• Monitor of at least 15"
• Working USB ports
• Standard English keyboard
You an also include the following peripherals to ensure the utmost satisfaction of your customers:
• USB cables
• UPS units
• Speakers/headphones
• Webcams
- Source for your serving computers
The stated features are for your clients' computers, the serving system should have the same features or even higher. A good serving computer should be equipped with the following programs:• Basic operating system like Windows 7, 8, 8.1 or 10
• Microsoft office packages
• PDF reader
• Anti virus and anti malware
• Standard browsers like Google Chrome, Moxilla Fire Fox, UC Browser and Opera Mini
• Quicktime
• Winzip, etc
These software are very essential to ensure your customers' satisfaction and the smooth flow of your business. Many computers come with many of the listed programs come as default software in many computers.
- Get your internet server package (ISP)
There are many different mobile service that you can us and your choice should depend on your location and budget. Many of them work well in different locations are have competitive prices so you should consider that before making a choice. Make your choice based on reviews from other cyber cafe owners.In summary:
Choosing to run a cyber cafe business is a wise decision and it has the potentials of yielding good monthly dividends. You can also combine other services like photocopying, lamination, printing of documents and checking of results as your customers will likely need those services.Also endeavor to have stand-by systems that will replace any faulty ones as they are the most important things in your business. Your systems should be properly covered when not in use and dusted regularly, at least very three months.
You can also set up rules that will guide both your employees and your customers.
Some important rules and regulations include:
• No smoking• Water or other liquid substances should not be allowed in the cafe
• No playing of loud music
• No watching of pornography. You can even blog pornographic websites from the main server
• No criminal activities should be gone there
Also endeavor to keep proper records of your business and activities. You should keep record of each customer that comes in how much you made from the customer, how much you used in paying your employees and your profit.
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