[Nemerov]

Well i changed my plan a little in my revised design, several posts back. And what it incorperated was 16 computers for use for those who do not want to bring theirs in, or do not have one. And the other 16 slots for BYOC.

The reason for BYOC is indeed the startup cost, esch computer is probably gonna run about $1000 (not including the monitors) So thats already $16000 out of pocket, or loan.

The marketing side of it i think will be pretty well in hand by the time it would open. I already have a following of people (8-10) usually 4-5 at a time that come to my house and we play BF1942 or CS:S and things like that whenever i get a weekend away from the GF. So i know i would have 10 loyal customers in the bag, and thats just in a little hick town that i live in.

i KNOW that there are many many people that would love something like this around here. But the problem is, is it a service they are going to be willing to pay $5 an hour for, or what would they be willing to pay?

What may end up happening is we make it BYOC mostly, but have 4-6 computers, and if those are always full and i have to turn people away then we will add more floor pc's then, and if they are still full... add more... and keep going from there.

[nikolapegayyyaasss]

I think you're probably at least about 10 years too late to the party. PC Lan sessions can be done by anyone these days for next to nothing in initial outlay. Cheap network switch and some patch cables. On top of that, broadband speeds are getting quicker and quicker so people don't need to leave the comfort of their own home for low latencies unlike the 90's.

I have been to dozens of lan parties over the years, but it's way past me now. If you could incorporate hot women and alcohol somehow, you might be onto something, otherwise in my honest opinion I think you're setting yourself up for the fall.

I think you and your friend(s) are confusing a good business plan with a personal hobby/idea of enjoyment.

[Wckcvhsg]

If you're going to be setting up 16pcs, there's also this thing called upgrades..new games =new hardware. New gpu x16 = ouch.

TBH i don't think it can work.. apart from the costs being way too high, the market just isn't there anymore.
Look at hamachi for example, it allows you to set up your own LAN via the internet from your comfortable seat at home, for free.
What are you offering that hamachi doesn't offer?

[Nemerov]

If you're going to be setting up 16pcs, there's also this thing called upgrades..new games =new hardware. New gpu x16 = ouch.

TBH i don't think it can work.. apart from the costs being way too high, the market just isn't there anymore.
Look at hamachi for example, it allows you to set up your own LAN via the internet from your comfortable seat at home, for free.
What are you offering that hamachi doesn't offer?

a place to go and hang out with new people and friends... see people face to face.
But that is not much of an advantage in itself considering many people in the market... are social hermits.

But checkout this site http://www.netfragz.com/

or just google gaming centers, or lan centers.

[Todilrdc]

I dont know but letting people bring their own PCs just sounds like a security disaster. What if they end up spreading a virus over the network to all other PCs?

[Nemerov]

I dont know but letting people bring their own PCs just sounds like a security disaster. What if they end up spreading a virus over the network to all other PCs?

Well the DEEPFREEZE idea is what would happen. We had that at our highschool and we would all download the halo demo and play 16 people and when the computers restart it was no more, back to just the way they were that morning... as for the people that bring their own computers in... they are on their own for security.


any and all suggestions/ criticism is good because it will help pick out flaws and lead to solutions or a decision on weather it is a reasonable idea.

[Johnny]

I've considered this several times through the years, but it always comes down to the same thing, Internet/Gaming Centres barely make enough money to keep themselves afloat, like has been mentioned you need another area to focus on that will bring in a more sustainable profit, like the obvious Drinks and Snacks, which are still fairly low profit though.

The best thing i could come up with is this, the numbers are random btw:

10 connections for BYOC.
16 fully specced Gaming rigs, with high speed connections and LAN capability.
6 Machines solely for browsing.

Facilities for making drinks and hot and colds snacks + vending machines.

Integrated Repair/Upgrade Centre, so people can bring in their PCs/Laptops for repair and use the facilities whilst they wait, check their emails, get their CSS fix ect..

Hiring would be done per Morning, Afternoon or Evening for the gaming rigs and by the hour for the browsing machines, regular visitors who use the facilities would get a discount if they ever need a repair or upgrade, bookings could be taken in advance for people who want to use some rigs, for example, every Saturday Morning, make it a regular thing with discounts for extended bookings.

Have a small area for Accessories, Mouse Mats, Mice, Keyboards, USB pens and the like, larger components are not kept in stock, they are ordered as and when needed.


Finally, if all else fails get a couple of stunning women out the back and charge £200 an hour.

[vulikox]

I'll say it again. It's not the LAN side of things that will drive the business, not one gives a crap.

If almost has to be a big hangout place where you can reap cash from alcohol and food.

No way in hell I'd pay $5 an hour just to lug my PC in.

Honestly though I think the place will bomb. I think every young nerd has thought about this idea. Don't confuse fun hobbies with business, they do not always work. I've seen some damn fine internet cafe's but they don't exactly bring in tonnes of cash.

You're better off just starting a bar of cafe' with free wifi. eg Starbucks.

[steansathtpos]

I'll say it again. It's not the LAN side of things that will drive the business, not one gives a crap.

If almost has to be a big hangout place where you can reap cash from alcohol and food.

No way in hell I'd pay $5 an hour just to lug my PC in.

Honestly though I think the place will bomb. I think every young nerd has thought about this idea. Don't confuse fun hobbies with business, they do not always work. I've seen some damn fine internet cafe's but they don't exactly bring in tonnes of cash.

You're better off just starting a bar of cafe' with free wifi. eg Starbucks.

Starbucks WiFi is NOT free, at least where I live. [thumbdown]

Not to mention their coffee blows ass anyways.

[Nemerov]

THIS

is what we have to live with now... lol

[Sierabiera]

THIS

is what we have to live with now... lol

If this is mostly just for your friends for gaming, honestly check to see if you can borrow or rent for cheap at a local church. This is what we've been using for the past year or two:
Lan Gallery

[Johnny]

THIS

is what we have to live with now... lol

You lot never heard of Dusters?

[Qxkmsxsx]

Go to places around your town that are like this. Take some of their ideas, and improve on them.

I like the idea of selling games, and letting people bring in their computers and what not. They need to be cheap though. Around here, they charge $5/hr and are very limited in their kinds of deals. I think that if you offer plenty of deals, it will work out best for you and the customers.

Also, don't forget about the gaming rooms. You know, have system linked xbox's and what not.


There used to be three around here. They were all pretty decent, and were around for a long time, but this is what happened.
1.) Closed because of family owned and there was a death
2.) Every time I went a sign was posted saying that they got robbed
3.) Was bought out to make way for big money store


Other then that, they were all successful.


One had pizza delivery all the time, and sold drinks and snakes. One downtown actually got a lot of sponsors. They hosted like national lan tournies, and had nVidia posted all over their store who was one of the sponsors. Sponsers should really help you out a lot.


Then you might wanna build rather then buy. What it allows you to do is get cheaper computers, and also let your order energy efficient parts. You might pay a little more but will add up FAST on the energy bill. Energy Star PSU's, monitors, 65watt CPU's, and not getting nessicarly the best gfx cards. Then to get motherboards that can clock back the CPU so when they are idle, they aren't burning up as much juice.
Actually, our gaming cafe's, had sweet processors, plenty of ram, but weak gfx cards and they still pushed through just fine. When one opened, they were running GF4 MX and GF5200's back in the 6-series days.

Also, depending on what building you occupy, you can always go solar to help cut costs. Get government refunds on it, might be able to get some sponsors for it, but you will quickly get your money back from the costs of the solar panels to the savings that you will get.
For our house, the system that we wanna get, would take 8 years to actually start saving money. But with a gaming cafe that you would wanna do, that time would be drastically less with how much energy you would be using.

You can do it, just need to be smarter then everyone else about it.