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Thread ID: 43283	2004-03-09 11:06:00	Starting an Internet Cafe	hamstar (4)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
221444	2004-03-14 09:04:00	Go to www.biz.org.nz Good point Laura. Two months is much better discipline. Also put all your bills a in holepunch folder and write the cheque number/payment code on each as they are paid. By all means use an accounting program but keep physical records as well. As a rule of thumb I suggest putting one third of monthly profit aside - before taking any wages- to pay GST and income tax. You'll be grateful in the long run.	Winston001 (3612)
221445	2004-03-15 03:27:00	using VNC is a free option to control and monitor your pc's, look here (www.realvnc.com).	Wayne H (1736)
221446	2005-03-18 16:04:00	Hello Guys, I just read this entire thread top to bottom, and I have to say your discussion has been very worthwhile for me, as I am planning to start a chain of internet cafes in Canada. I have a question for any of you who have any information on the subject: I am planning to use a vending machine as the method by which customers pay to get a receipt with a login/password that can be used at any of the terminals, and I was wondering if any of you are familiar with manufacturers of such a device. Otherwise, I will have to contract an electrical engineering firm to build me one which will be significantly more costly, but at the same time further leverage my competitive advantage in the field. Thanks in advance.	rotten (5379)
221447	2005-03-18 20:31:00	http://tinasoft.com/ may be a step in the right direction for you :) Nothing hardware-related exists in NZ that I know of. There are card reader/writers out there with which you could write a small program to write an encrypted number onto the card, being the amount of credit the user has? Then again, The aforementioned URL does this membership monitoring, just without the hardware :)	Chilling_Silence (9)
221448	2005-03-18 20:40:00	Have a look at your libraries - the manufacturers of their self-issue machines may be a place to look.	Greg (193)
221449	2005-03-18 23:22:00	It's easy enough to write barcode labels. They can contain a lot of information.(There are codes other than IPC ;)). There are handheld barcode scanners which plug in series with a keyboard (old DIN and PS/2) so presumably you could fit them on brackets. I am sure there will be USB ones now.	Graham L (2)
221450	2005-07-23 06:43:00	Hi All, Very interesting reading. I hope there are still some people out there keeping tabs on this thread. Yes, I too am thinking of opening an internet cafe. Is there anyone out there that can give me some information on turnover, usage (number of hours per PC per week), etc for a typical internet cafe?	MEee (5380)
221451	2005-07-23 06:49:00	Depends on what games you have, specs of the PC's, and how many you have. Work it out: One 'Net cafe in town has 100 PC's At any given time they reakon at least 20 are in use $3 per hour Now let your imagination run wild ;) Welcome to PressF1 Chill.	Chilling_Silence (9)
221452	2005-07-23 23:14:00	Nothing hardware-related exists in NZ that I know of. I had a product demonstrated to me about 2 years ago. It was a POS printer with some PC software which assigned login id's and passwords as well as time limits for wireless internet connections (think Starbucks wireless internet lounge) and it printed a docket with the relevant information (and it doubled up as a tax invoice). The software managed the logical wireless internet connections to prevent over-runs. I've forgotten the name of the supplier but they were based on the North Shore (Auckland). I'm curious to hear from hamstar whether this venture ever got off the ground. This thread is chock full of good advice and I'm not going to bother re-iterating it here. Irrespective of plans, gaming software, drink machines, street position, OS versions, business structure, ISP plans, LAN set-up and all that other good stuff, the business will succeed or fail based on 2 things : sales and cash flow. The cash flow aspect has been pretty much covered in this thread but IMO a business is nothing without sales. I'm not talking about your typical fast-talking greasy-haired used car or vacuum cleaner salesman, I'm talking about being a sales creater (i.e. you actively pursue sales) instead of a sales taker (waiting for foot traffic). Also, if you think sales = marketing then I suggest you stop right where you are and go and buy the book "How to master the art of selling" by Tom Hopkins. It is my sales bible. Then you need to go and buy the book "The 22 immutable laws of Marketing" by Al Ries and Jack Trout. If corporate management read this book, we wouldn't have lame products such as Raspberry Coke or Panafen being (re) launched. And if only I had read these books when I first became self-employed, the start-up process would have been so much easier. It is never too late to learn so go and buy / borrow / steal those books! Before I became self-employed, I talked to a few people and my mechanic said to me that I would make my best money from year 7. I thought "yeah right!" and speaking from experience, year 7 was a goodie in my first business (and then I sold most of it) and we are now in year 6 in my second business, and next year is shaping up to be a good one. Looking back on that piece of advice, I can't tell you why my mechanic was right, but he was. If you can get through the first 2 months and the first 2 years, then you are on your way. Good luck My 2c Andrew	andrew93 (249)
221453	2005-07-24 00:20:00	Irrespective of plans, gaming software, drink machines, street position, OS versions, business structure, ISP plans, LAN set-up and all that other good stuff, the business will succeed or fail based on 2 things : sales and cash flow. The cash flow aspect has been pretty much covered in this thread but IMO a business is nothing without sales. I'm not talking about your typical fast-talking greasy-haired used car or vacuum cleaner salesman, I'm talking about being a sales creater (i.e. you actively pursue sales) instead of a sales taker (waiting for foot traffic). Also, if you think sales = marketing then I suggest you stop right where you are and go and buy the book "How to master the art of selling" by Tom Hopkins. It is my sales bible. Then you need to go and buy the book "The 22 immutable laws of Marketing" by Al Ries and Jack Trout. Andrew Anychance you would be willing to elaborate on sales creation and "if you think sales=marketeing,stop right there"? Meanwhile I am going to track down the 2 books mentioned....	Metla (12)
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