We are in an age where using computers and gaining access to the internet is paramount.
Studies show that over one billion people are signed up on Facebook globally and over one million messages are sent on the same platform in a minute all over the world.
At least five hundred hours of videos are uploaded and watched over the YouTube platform in a minute and one million messages are sent over the whatsApp platform on per minute basis.
These statistics show that internet is the new oil.
Statistics, the internet is used for several other purposes as it makes learning, sending and receiving messages, carrying out business transactions, etc. easier.
Business acumen thus spells out that being engaged in this venture will mean great profit as several people cannot do without using the internet daily.
Owning a cyber café or otherwise known as internet cafe with the necessary auxiliaries will go long way to solve several problems in a community where it is situated and thus furnish the owner with daily profit.
In Nigeria alone, statistics show that over forty five million people have access to the internet and they do this by three major means, personal computers, mobile devices and cyber cafes.
I can guess that you are beginning to develop some interest in running a cyber cafe business in Nigeria, if you are, then reading this article is just the right choice.
I will help break down the several things needed to start up and how to go about running the business.
What is a cyber café?
Before we go further, I will like to define the term cyber café.
A cyber cafe or internet café is a place where internet services are offered on a public scale, usually at a fee.
Prior to this time, owning a cyber café has been a highly capital intensive business venture to engage in. You will have been required to get heavy broadband, install v-sat and other infrastructure, do computer networking and a lot of other things.
At the end of the day, you will probably still be running on epileptic services and running the business at very little profit or even at a loss.
Run a Feasibility Study and Write a Business Plan
Before you start any business, it is important to carry out a detailed feasibility study to ensure that you understand the turf, how best to run the business as well as how not to run the business.
It will also help you understand what others that have gone ahead of you have done, how they run their business, what you need to do to be different and better their services.
The feasibility study also helps you know an overall total of how much capital you will need to raise, the best place to site your business and the mechanisms to set in place to ensure maximum service provision as well as maximal profit.
Your feasibility study helps you write your business plan which helps you as a guide to running your business.
The business plan also serves as a statement of your business to anyone who seeks to invest in your business.
Rent a Shop
The next step is getting a shop that will house your café. It is best to site the shop in a business oriented area as cyber cafés are most needed in business concentrated areas. That does not mean you may not site it in a residential area.
Presently, a shop goes for between #2,000 and #4,000 on the average throughout the country; this price could be more depending on the standard of living of the area you pick to site your cyber café.
Furnish Your Shop
After acquiring the shop, the next step is making the shop customer friendly by putting in the necessary furnishings. Some of the items you can get include:
Tables and chairs. You can get plastic products which are quite cheaper or for the sake of class and comfortability, go for more classic furniture.
Air conditioning units. You might not get new ones if you do not have the capacity to.
You can settle for a fairly used unit but make sure the number of units purchased are enough to keep the environment cool enough both for your customers and also your systems.
Generating set. Due to epileptic nature of our power supply at times, it is wise to get a generating set that can comfortably carry all the equipment in your shop that will serve as a substitute source of power in the event of an outage.
Source for Client Personal Computers
The client personal computers are the computers your clients will use in gaining access to the internet.
For optimal performance, it is best the computers meet up the following requirements:
Processors that are either Celeron (this is the least you can use), dual core, quad core, core i3, core i5 or core i7.
Hard drives of at least 320 GB.
RAM of at least 2 GB. This is important for the speed of the systems. It can be really frustrating to use a computer system that is very slow or that takes seconds to carry out action that is inputted.
Working USB drives.
A network card of 100Mbps minimum.
A monitor of at least 15”. It is best to use flat screen monitors.
Standard English keyboard (for user friendliness).
For your café to be standard and offer satisfactory services, it is best you add the following hardware:
Webcams
Multimedia speakers/headphones
UPS units.
USB cables.
Source For a Server Computer System
Your server computer system should be equipped with the same or even more hardware than the client computers. It should however be equipped with the following software:
Basic operating system, windows 7, 8, 8.1 or 10.
Microsoft office packages.
Antivirus
Antimalware
Pdf reader
Internet café management software
Browsers such as Mozilla, chrome, uc, etc.
Winzip
Quicktime, etc.
Please note that the client computers should also be loaded with these software as they will make internet browsing blissful for the client.
After all, you want your customer to be satisfied and always return.
Get your Internet Service Package
After getting all the above, it is time to get an internet service provider.
Presently, there are several mobile services that can be used and the prices are very competitive. From your feasibility study, you should know which provider works best in your area and will satisfy your needs efficiently.
Get the Necessary Auxiliaries – To get more profit as well as provide perfect services for your customers, it is expedient to also have in your café several auxiliaries such as printers, scanners, photocopiers, etc.
In fact just run a mini business center on the side. Every system should be connected to the printer for ease of printing documents.
A Few Guidelines in Running your Cyber Cafe business in Nigeria
Proper Maintenance Measures
The consequence of having poor maintenance is having several systems not working in the café.
It is important to have backup systems that can be installed if one of the previously installed systems get faulty.
The systems should also get enough circulation of air and they should be properly covered when not in use.
At least once every three months, the systems should be blown to remove dust settlement. Constant virus checks should be carried out on the systems.
Rules And Regulations
To ensure continual existence of your café and constant patronage, it is imperative to set up regulations for your operations to be met by both employees and customers alike. Some regulations include:
No smoking.
No loud music.
No porn.
Tampering with system settings is not allowed.
Conversations should be in low tone.
Shutting down of systems without permission should be prohibited.
Criminal business should be banned.
These are just a few, you can add more depending on your immediate environment.
Proper Record Keeping
This is essential for any business to thrive. It is important to keep record of how many customers come in, how much time is paid for by each customer, other transactions carried out, etc.
It is also important have records of handymen at ones fingertips in the event of malfunctioning of systems.
Employees
Depending on the size of your cyber café and how much time you are willing to commit to the business, you might need to employ one of two hands to help out on the business.
Profitability of the Cyber Cafe Business in Nigeria
The business is highly profitable as several people flock into cyber cafés daily to carry out several transactions.
If you have five systems for example and you charge #100 per hour, you can make about #6,000 a day if you run for twelve hours. If you multiply that by the number of cyber café working days in a month, you should be making about #100,000 after removing service and maintenance charges.
