want to open up an internet cafe not sure where to start

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If you don't listen to the people who are offering you advice then you'd be better off hitting the casino with your £1500 and putting it on a number at roulette and hoping to win at 35/1 and coming back with 54k. Why ? because roulette is 3% chance and you have about that.

Firstly, you do not have enough money. Secondly, you do not have enough money.

However, don't chuck the dummy out of the pram just yet. I admire anyone willing to work so let's see where I can help. For my CV, I've bought, built up and sold a number of businesses, was a banker and am currently screwed up for a load of debt due to a few issues along the way. I'll bounce back. What I'm saying is that I have been where you are and moved forward.

What about an "added value" business ? I started one from scratch where small owner ran businesses bought their beer one or two boxes at a time and from the nearest supplier because they never sold enough to get volume discounts. I didn't have enough capital to start a wholesaler but I saw an opportunity.

I go them to agree to buy from me if I could provide their 1 or 2 cases cheaper than the price they were currently paying. I also offered flexible delivery times. I went to a few wholesalers and thinking that I had about 10 places who said they would buy from me, I asked for discounts for one off volumes of about 10*2*30=600 boxes of beer per month.

I can't remember the exact discounts but let's say 10% plus some freebies (usually about 2 free bottles per case).

Now if a case cost £20, then I was getting them (including the freebies) for £16.62 and making a gross of £3.38 a case. I discounted about 5% on their price so I was getting £19 and making £2.38 a case on 600 cases a month or £1482.

The figures are about right though it was abroad but about that.

I actually didn't do any work at all except speak to the owners where I had the stuff delivered and the wholesaler. I paid someone to do a pick up each day and deliver to the various outlets. It took about an hour a day of my time.

I didn't even have to worry about cashflow because I had a deposit at the wholesaler and the goods were cash on delivery.

Not your business I know but it took brains rather than capital. I only needed enough cash to buy 1 day's stock essentially.

I don't think you'd get those margins in the UK but your risk would be very much lower.

In the internet cafe game, the business model is now at the "it doesn't work" level. Only high throughput of transient people who need the service, such as near a popular tourist rail station or town centre could work and then at a maximum of about £1 an hour. Added value is not just tea or coffee which means you need much more space per customer but you sell prints, mobile phone cards, calling cards, USB sticks (when you can buy for £1 online) and all other ancillary items.

Ask yourself why I would go to your cafe when I have internet at home, limited internet on my phone and free wifi on my laptop or notepad ? There are very few reasons.

You can't even offer Microsoft Office as the real licenses would break you and if you are caught with copies then you are done, big time.

When you want to work for yourself, which is the best thing in the world by the way, you will have 100 ideas. You immediately discount 90, investigate 10 and perhaps invest in 1. It is the funnel effect.

With very limited capital, bringing someone who supplies something to the end user who buys it is often the best way to go because you are using your time and brain power rather than cash. Essentially, you only part with cash when you have a customer.

I did another small business with a florist. I got flowers 33% to 50% off their retail but opened up new markets. Traditionally flower shops just sit back and wait for customers. Those customer do not order frequently enough to justify a discount, nor do they ask for one but you can offer them one because you have access. The shop makes more money because they have the same fixed costs whether they sell any to you or not and you have no costs because you only order when you have a customer. Everybody wins because your customers come from a new untapped customer base and do not cannibalise the florists traditional sales to any meaningful degree.

You have to think outside the box but the internet cafe has had its day and is a dead duck except for exceptional places.

XtraPound

Hi, I want to say a big thank you to every one in this thread, I've spent the last week researching on opening an internet cafe, and because of this tread, it has opened my eyes much wider, and now I've scrapped my plans.

At the moment, I've been job hunting daily, sent off CVs, but it's always the same outcome, "no responce", I've called several of the companies and they all tell me the same thing, "placement has been filled" .

Savvy_Sue

XtraPound wrote: »

Hi, I want to say a big thank you to every one in this thread, I've spent the last week researching on opening an internet cafe, and because of this tread, it has opened my eyes much wider, and now I've scrapped my plans.

At the moment, I've been job hunting daily, sent off CVs, but it's always the same outcome, "no responce", I've called several of the companies and they all tell me the same thing, "placement has been filled" .

I don't usually comment on spelling, but I see you edited your thread to fix a spelling mistake but there's still 2 in your post. I'm just wondering whether your CV and all your applications are checked by someone who is red hot on spelling and grammar, because it would put off some employers if there were spelling mistakes.

I'm only saying this in a 'trying to be helpful' way, not a 'get your spelling fixed' way, btw!