Hello all!
This is probably one of the most life-changing and hardest questions i'll ever ask at Experts-Exchange. Please read the whole thing if you're going to answer, I'm assigning a high point value as i want some detailed advice / answers.
I'm a Freshmen in College in Chicago with a home in Michigan. I currently own a fairly well known (back home) website design and network consultation business. I know my fair share about the IT world, the intricate workings of networks, the internet, etc. I feel strongly that college isn't for me, that i'm wasting time and money, my time, and my / my family's money. I have a Michigan Education Trust fund that still has about $20,000 in it if i were to cash it out. I've been heavily researching the internet cafe business. (not so much the generic internet cafe but rather a high end gaming cafe including consols, etc. More explained later). I know i've got what it takes to start one up, and i've dreamed about it for years.
I've looked a little bit into the funding it takes and the time and with that $20,000 from my trust fund plus a little from myself i can start my dream with running cash for a few months. What my ideal business is: In the day time I'd offer a small coffee bar, tables and wireless internet. I'd also offer short (1 - 2 week) scheduled classes on using computer applications. (There is a large population of retired adults that are not quite familar with computers and always tell me they wish someone would just show them a little bit. Later in the afternoon I'd switch forms into more of a gaming cafe with good computers and a normal load of 5 - 7 games installed. What i think would actually make the most profit is about 6 TVs with the differnet consols hooked up. Just as there's lots of retired folk in my town, theres also a great deal of appropriatly aged young people that absolutely love videos games and would pull money out of there parent's pockets to continue playing video games in a social environment. At night I'd offer pre packaged goods such as soda.
I've already signed up at igames.org for a sponsor account that allows me to retrieve sponsor packages for all the new games and plan on regularly scheduling tournements which would attract a large amount of people from nearby towns as well as there is nothing like this in the 4 closest towns. (the closest is about an hour and a half away). I plan on having a street crew out and about in the local high school and around town passing out flyers with coupons for free time to advertise the cafe. I believe word of something like this opening in my town would spread very fast.
My current plan right now is to finish up my last trimester and start this in the summer ready to be opened with school starting. Here's my theory on why i think that would work well. My town is a beach town with quite a bit to do in the summer (lots of tourist traffic) so this would be a slow season for me. I'd take about 2.5 months getting this started then open it a little bit before school is planned to start back up. During the school season, my town's tourist population dies, however the people living there find themselves with not much to do. I think that opening the cafe around 10am, doing some classes, then being ready for an "after school rush" would having me doing quite well. I don't think that it would take me more that 2 months to get the building and everything set up. I've already got a large portion on my business plan done, as well as the other nessesities.
I would take a year off of school to have this started up, and then take it from there and see what happens. I haven't yet talked to many people besides a few of my good friends to get their opinions on this, but i'm fairly sure that my family would support me in my decision. If the business was still successful after the first year, i would hire 2 of my trusted friends that attend school at home to run the place while i attend college, and returning every other weekend or so.
I know that I'm leaving a GREAT deal of information out but i figure i'll comment with more as this goes on.
Please give me any advice that you can on anything, financing, start up, ramifications of stoping school, talking to parents about it, anything about the business of internet and gaming cafes, etc.
Please be critical and blunt. I need to make a decision and this will frankly help a lot coming from professionals and people that may have even done this.
Thanks very, very much.
Start Free Trial
