Cyber Cafe? Suggestions?

[aeallison]

Hi everyone,

I have an opportunity to open a Cyber Cafe, my son and several of his friends have expressed an issue to open one up.

My questions are purely for my own "peace of mind" as I will have to put a significant amount of collateral to start up.

I open the floor to all of AO as to their opinions of these types of establishments around the world, and any suggestions from you on what you would like to see, or have, at a similar place should one open up near you. Would you go to one that offered high speed Internet access, multi-player games, a space for board games like D&D, Battle Tech, etc.? Snacks and Drinks, frozen pizzas, etc. ?
I have loads of ideas myself, but, alas... I have never been to one to experience it. I live in the United States midwestern region, high speed internet access here is only for ISP's and businesses. We don't have DSL or Cable Internet access, just 56k dial up for 95% of this region. I have had high speed access in the past at places I have worked, I MISS IT A LOT!!! I would probably spend a lot of time at one just so I can have that "incredi-uber-fast-bandwidth" I so long for anymore.

[techtech]

We have one here. But it's weird, they don't offer snacks, or anything like that, and they're b open 24/7, but you pass by during the day, and it's empty, but all night long, it's packed. So what hours are you contemplating? Oh, and don't forget the printers...

[BoogieMan]

I think it would be a good idea myself.
and by the way D&D is an RPG not a board game

[mathgirl32]

I spend a lot of time programming at Starbucks and these are a few of the things I always wish for:

1. Task lights (so there isn't one God-awful bright light).
2. Tables large enough for at least two laptops AND books/papers.
3. Lots of electrical outlets....not just in the walls.
4. Comfortable seating / variety of seating.
5. Not just coffee but beer, too (GOOD beer!!).
6. Stay open later than 11.00pm.

I wish you lots of luck...it sounds exciting!

[ChrisWuk]

The few cyber cafes that have opened up around my area have closed down within a few months, as nobody goes in there, and fast internet access is soo cheap now a days. The only place that does well is a computer shop that has a LAN set up in the back room of about 10 computers which has HL : ounterstrike playing. They charge £1 for 20 mins, and its full of kids ALL DAY, they must make a fortune.

Good Luck anyway

[hatebreed2000]

ive always wanted to open a place like that, and i happen to live in iowa currently...and we have high speed internet all over the place..*hint* *hint* anyways if i was gonna make one it would have two diff parts.one big room being for LAN parties and for games like Magic and such, and the other for ppl who just want to chill and do homework or just have quite.snacks and such would be a must and so would be a bar.you could advertise daily LAN parties, everyday a diff game UT/counter-strike/diablo etc.etc. you could have a small book store in there built into the chillin part of the cafe. sell things like linux/windows/programming books....maybe even computer parts....i dunno if it was me i would just try to make it a oasis for the geek.and of course youd have to have music, get some bose speakers set up and a bad ass system and put on a diff kinda music each day or after a awhile you might find out what your custemers like and go from there.you could even hold seminars there.like on friday nights you could come in and give a talk on computer related topics.or have someone else do it....man, theres lots of things i would try and have goin on.hope this helped.take it easy.

[Jabberwocky]

i think something like that would be awesome. a cafe area, some computers for general use, some dedicated to lan games...

you could also organize special interest "hacker" clubs or classes.... simple networking or software groups to meet. kinda like 2600 meetings. sounds like it could be fun.

[g00n]

alot of cyber cafe's don't serve alot of food because they don't want people to spill it on their computers... Beer would be a problem since you have adults as well as children in the same rooms, where it would be easy for someone underaged to get an alcoholic drink. It also adds alot of issues when it comes down to zoning and permits... not worth it. and besides, who'd wanna deal with a pack of drunken middle aged wanna be special forces?????

perhaps a room (rented by the hour??) with a large solid hexagonally gridded surface with good chairs and access to pop and pizza, would do nicely for D&D fans, an area in the front of the building with browsing stations (4 or so stations with no games, purely browsers and office suites attached to printers for people to do work and relax... then a larger section with 10 or so computers that are very capable of playing games, keeping the numbers at round numbers easily divisible into teams.. so that you can have in house matches..

that leaves you needing an internet connection.. perhaps you could contact your phone company, and some youth clubs in the area to see if they would be interested in helping you to set up places where kids could hangout and have access to equipment that they might only have access to at school.... Well not the phone company for that, call them about availability of t1 or the like connections...

i'll think more and see if i come up with more later...

[EaseZE]

The cafe' I usually go to in Florida is nice. They serve coffee, danish, well mostly breakfast stuff. You pay by the hour and can print and pay by the page. These places only seem to be successful in tourist areas and sometimes malls.

[mathgirl32]

Beer would be a problem since you have adults as well as children in the same rooms

I see what you're saying, g00n, but beer and children can be found in the same room at most "family" restaurants. I don't see how a cyber cafe would be any different. But you do bring up a good point about permits and zoning....severing alcohol would definitely have an influence on these (though it wouldn't stop me ).

I thought hatebreed had a really good idea about two different rooms -- one for special meetings, gatherings, and groups, and another for general use.

I remember when I went to A&M a few of the coffee houses there had small book and game libraries so that you could play or read while you relaxed. You could also have a sort of policy where people can donate books and games to the "library" for a free coffee or something like that.