Doing my Research to open a LAN Gaming Center

[Little_Big_Man]

I'm located in Birmingham, AL, USA which is not known for being technically inclined. Anyways I thought that since a lot of people do LAN parties and such it would be great to open one up here. There is no place like this in Alabama or at least near Birmingham which is where I plan to open the place. I plan on having the place open in a suburb where the area is nice but still within reach for the inner city. I saw a similar place in New Orleans, LA, USA which is pretty nice even though New Orleans isn't in any way further ahead of Birmingham as far as the economy and technology goes. I figure if they can make it work there I shouldn't have a problem here. There are about 3 colleges in the area so a key demographic is already within reach.
Right now I am still doing my research as far as an exact location and all of the legal issues involved with licensing among other things. This is a basic synopsis of what I plan on having.
A break room with vending machines (which I would own) and TV's for watching TV and stuff. A gaming arena with 30 high end PC's run on a Gigabit network and a 4MBx2MB pipe supplied by the local cable company for internet access. Also an area setup for people to BYOC (Bring Your Own Computer). I also plan on having around 5 Internet PC's.
As far as consoles go I plan on having a Nintendo64, 2 PS2's and 2 XBox's each hooked to 32" TV's. Also one PS2 and one XBox hooked to big screen HDTV's for stuff like Madden tournaments.
Besides this I could also offer computer upgrades and repair services since I am A+ certified already anyways, web design & hosting and computer classes for beginners, intermediate and experts. I also plan on serving stuff like sandwiches and coffee and things like that to help generate revenue. Its just an idea but I plan on having a marketing analysis done to see if there is a market here for this sort of thing. If there are people willing to pay for the service then it is just a matter of careful planning and a top rate business model which I plan on developing soon anyways. Just wanted to know your insight on this idea. Thanks

[Donatello]

wow that sounds awesome, and you sound rich.

i'm having serious monetary issues, can you spot me like 50 bucks?

[Ruff Ryder]

Sounds like a good Idea, but do you have the money?

[#12]

good luck man, i hope your sucessful

[Little_Big_Man]

Money isn't the issue, whether I have it or not. The big thing is location, location, location. Also whether or not people here would be willing to pay for the service. Once I complete my bulletproof business plan and marketing strategy I don't see any reason why I couldn't attract investors. I already have a rough draft of my business proposal but I'm still working on it. I haven't really found a way for my business model to fail other than a bad location or people not wanting to pay. If I get a great location and customers and be sure that I am not setting myself up for any legal issues then I don't see how this can fail. Just trying to get some negative feedback so that I can determine what I should be aware of and what can cause this to fail so that I know what to plan for. I already know that at least 6-8 months of set aside money to operate in case of an extremely slow start is essential in any small business. Tons of businesses have failed due to lack of startup money to keep the business afloat during the slow times.

[J@3]

Money isn't the issue, whether I have it or not.

Um...

[Jowe]

hehe Yeh...because the world is lacking in these kind's of cafes.
I hope you have a backup plan.


If i had a suggestion,I'd make the gaming rates, low to start with. Then gradually increase the price without telling anyone.

[Donatello]

hehe Yeh...because the world is lacking in these kind's of cafes.
I hope you have a backup plan.


If i had a suggestion,I'd make the gaming rates, low to start with. Then gradually increase the price without telling anyone.

maybe australia isn't lacking, but suburban america is. i live in kansas city, missouri, one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the country, and we have no such cafe. there a a couple of internet coffee houses where you pay like 5 bucks an hour to sip coffee while browsing one of 5 computers......and the truck stops have wifi hotspot stuff....that's about it.

[idiot]

lan gaming places? we have alot here.... but they are also places where rich druggies and smoketards hang out.....

i think you'd need to have your security systems planned out...

[Little_Big_Man]

Of course security would be something that needed to be mapped out before hand cause like you said druggies and drunks and things like that can happen and I don't want to tarnish the image of a place that is meant for young people as well as the old heads. I will have onstaff security to be sure the competition doesn't get out of hand.

I have yet too see one in my area even in the suburbs, which make you think you are no longer in Alabama lol. I think I know of 1 internet cafe in town that has like 5 PC kiosks for internet browsing.

What I meant by saying money isn't an issue is that I have already been preapproved for a business loan from another business I was going to start. I backed out of the last idea I had because after more extensive number crunching it didn't add up in my favor. I also know of some investors now too who would be willing if the right idea came along. I don't personally have that kind of money, but I'm not a broke loser either lol. Anywyas I really appreciate your feedback, keep it coming.

[Donatello]

i hate to say this, because i'm not a very religious person (not at all), and i usually shy away from such subjects, but you could probably get alot of help/business if you marketed it as a christian place. not a church or a prayer house, but just like a 'safe place'...parents would feel better about it, the community would see it as more of a positive addition to the neighborhood, and there's probably a good population of christian kids down in that area---all this, and i haven't even mentioned the support you could get from a local church (churches?)....they could probably work out a volunteer situation, and you might end up not having to pay very many workers.

something to look into, at least.

[Little_Big_Man]

Not to shoot down your idea persay, but if I want to make money with the games I have to supply the GTA and HALO and Half-Life and DOOM which I hardly think churches would want to support. I could still promote it as a safe place to hangout and keep kids out of the streets. Gaming draws people together and as long as the atmosphere stays positive it should get the approval of the surrounding neighborhoods. As far as workers go I already have an idea of what I'm looking for.

[Alcoholic]

You could try Counter Strike: Source but that may not go well with the news media.

[Little_Big_Man]

Just an update. I think that I will go ahead and make a proposal for this place. The only thing now is to get the funding and sponsorships needed to get this thing off the ground. I have found all of the nice little toys and things to keep the people happy its just a matter of coming up with a solid business model to build things around. I think that with the range of services I intend to offer I could easily make this place float at least for the first year for me to be able to break even. With internet browsing, LAN and console gaming, tournaments, computer repair services, PC & Console game sells, web hosting and design services, advertising, case modding contests, computer training for computer use and A+ stuff, and renting the place out to the local LAN gaming community I should be able to keep the place operational from a monetary standpoint. This is not counting the $70-80,000 I want to set aside in case the place isn't making money initially to keep the place open.

Most startups don't think about COH (Cash On Hand) which makes or breaks most businesses within the first 6 months. With my ROI (Return On Investment) calculated to be pretty good I think this should work. My only monthly costs would be: the building lease, power, phone, internet, water, gas, trash service, and a small inventory. I also intend to do community events and charity and also utilize the abundance of ways to undercut the IRS in taxes with write-offs.

Thanks for all of your feedback guys, can you think of any other reasons why this wouldn't work? I've been trying to find ways for this to fail. Can you think of anything?? I'm hoping to find just about every way this thing could blow up in my face so that I make the right decision.

[Null17]

lan gaming places? we have alot here.... but they are also places where rich druggies and smoketards hang out.....

i think you'd need to have your security systems planned out...

same here...except a bunch of kids are there instead of druggies...a lot play counter-strike and warcraft i guess but i rarely go to these places nowadays...

[Stevan]

wow, sounds serious...

I'd be looking to set up in a or next to a mall/shopping centre if I had the money and a somewhat bullet-proof plan. You are going to be renting a space right? That will chew the funds, particularly in a place such as above. You'll need to constantly keep your computers up to date, you might employ people ($$$$$$) and then there's all the other stuff which you've obviously thought of that you know will cost like a mofo. Your 'demographic' is people in their teens right? How much money can you suck out of them? Remember that old theory, young people are often encouraged to leave public spaces such as malls because they only 'loiter' and don't spend any money.

It's a cool idea, but if you're going to break even and only survive for a year, you're wasting time and money and making a bad name for yourself.

I've seen a couple of these places around here (Melbourne Australia). I don't know how successful they are but they exist. They usually look seedy though, small shops, dark looking, shady characters hanging around. Always some guy like the comic gook guy from the simpsons! It'd be cool if it was a nice big open space, clean, well lit, good atmosphere. But then would the geeks come in? Maybe starting out really small to gauge the actual demand for your services and then expanding would be a good idea?

Just some thoughts.

Oh... hot girls, naked girls, sex sells. Employ only sexy girls, and perhaps get a liqour license?? Or you could come up with a totally new concept... "STRIPLAN"...You could market it along these lines: "Come in and play Halo, and get some titties rubbed in your face".... "Bring in 5 or more friends for a LAN game and get a free lapdance". Hell yes!!

EDIT: Nba Live tournaments!!!

[J@3]

Oh... hot girls, naked girls, sex sells.

Especially when your main clients are largely overweight and have absolutely no female interractment whatsoever. Apart from the internet, if they can pull themselves away from Counter Strike long enough to talk to girls that is.

I'm not really sure about these places, I went to one with a friend of mine... it was pretty much pitch black in the room, even though outside it was only like 2pm... the air con was cranked right up even though outside it was only like 20 degree's... the guys playing the games were on average about 30 kilo's overweight even though outside people are only like 10 kilo's overweight, and it smelt funny.

If you can make it work though, in a respectable "Only geeks hang out there" kind of way then good stuff

[Ataraxia]

hmmm u get a places that r good too....well at least u get one here...its in this arcade/carnival center....so its pretty clean and fun and u mostly get either Rock/Punks (nice and friendly) or just well normal ppl really....not fat blobs or perverts. Maybe cause the culture and society is more down to earth here....

I dunno about your location, but yeh I think it should be a clean enviroment.....ask ppl who live in like Malaysia or smth...cause I got a friend of mine there and its supposed to be phat gaming centers all around.

Good luck with this, id hire a couple of gaming experts(friends even, girls and guys) to help u out....u know like getting games, cleaning the place, food, shelter , condoms

nah but just get some palz to help u out....both sexes would be good cause that'll encourage both sexes to come...like guys will come to see the girlz and the girlz would come to see the guyz...I just hope it doesnt become visa versa

anyway best of luck, but yeh its not gonna be easy getting started on one of these places. The community has to accounted for too....if it aint into gaming theres no point

[Null17]

maybe put some terminals where you can surf the web or use instant messengers to get girls at least that's what girls do in internet cafe's here

[shadowgrin]

The ambience of the place really counts! The ambience is a part of how you advertise your place and also a determining factor of what your demographic will be.

If i had a suggestion,I'd make the gaming rates, low to start with. Then gradually increase the price without telling anyone.

It's much better to start with a higher rate and just lower the rates if customers find it a bit high so they'll come back. It's been proven that people are suckers for 'discounts' or anything that they think just got cheaper!

Jae, you're mean.

the guys playing the games were on average about 30 kilo's overweight even though outside people are only like 10 kilo's overweight

i think you'd need to have your security systems planned out...

How about a weighing scale to go along with the metal detectors?

hot girls, naked girls, sex sells. Employ only sexy girls

maybe put some terminals where you can surf the web or use instant messengers

Stevan is right, SEX SELLS!
Null17's idea is good. Try having some webcams along with the PC's for surfing so 'ze ladies' can chat or do live internet 'entertainment' shows. I'm really serious, they do it here!

[Little_Big_Man]

Just an update on some other things that I realize can make revenue flow and keep people coming.

Offer Handheld gaming stations. - Basically a Triangular or Square sit-down kiosk with PSP's and Nintendo DS units that are tethered to the station like how at Best Buy or Circuit City does so that you can play around with the digital cameras and such. This will also be play by the hour. I think this is unique and will keep people coming back.

DDR (Dance Dance Revolution). - I've noticed that this is extremely popular among the ladies and some guys too. I've read that this is a must to bring in the ladies to want to game.

FREE Wireless Connectivity. - Offer free Wireless connectivity for those who purchase a coffee or something and just want to do some work onsite. For those who don't have wireless cards I can rent them out for like $2/hr as long as they use their own laptop.

Computer/Certification Training. - I plan to offer Microsoft Bootcamps as well as basic to intermediate computer/internet training with prices varying respectively using the systems already in place. I will also have a separate area for VUE or Prometric Testing to take the certification exams.

I've come up with some great business and marketing strategies too as well as some local and major company sponsors. Things are looking pretty good right now. I hope to secure all of the funding and the location within the next 30-60 days.

[Ruff Ryder]

Sounds good to me. I think you should sell stuff there if possible, like videogames or software or stuff like that.

[Little_Big_Man]

Also according to a lot of business owners I've been in contact with as well as research done online my core demographic will be 18-40yr olds. Normally this demo is either in college or working or both. They are more prone to spend money than the younger "loiters" mentioned before. As far as PC gamers go the average is well over 30 whereas console gamers tend to be the younger audience. As stated earlier ambiance is key. I don't plan on having the really dark place with blacklighting and stuff. I've seen that this only weeds out the newbies and people who could potentially be turned onto a place like this. Fairly soft lighting was recommended so that its not too bright and not too dark. Gaming mags and posters would litter the place. Also there is either a station or DVD that I can get as a LAN Gaming Center that previews and reviews the hottest games like how BlockBuster has movie previews showing all the time on their monitors. Also alcohol is also key to spending and having fun so I think I will get a liquor license and serve only beer no liquor. It takes more beer to get you drunk and acting crazy than liquor. Besides I will have a 3 beer limit to help curb drunkeness. I will have like wristbands for those over 21 and I will punch holes in the wristbands for each drink purchased. Once you get three holes no more beer. I have also thought about selling gaming stuff like joysticks, controllers, cases and video game's as well as company and sponsor merchandise. Just more ideas that I figured I could clue you in on.

[J@3]

I hope this works out for you because it sounds like you've got alot of good idea's. Also, I get the impression it won't be the dark little room full of sweaty overweight nerds type of thing. Good luck with it

[Little_Big_Man]

No this won't be the dark little hole in the wall with the sweaty overweight nerds everywhere, not saying they won't show up though . I plan on having an open atmosphere where everyone can come and have fun. I've been getting great feedback from a lot of different outlets including some community members in the area I am focusing on for location. I'm not looking to get super rich or anything just want to create a cool place where people can come and have fun and enjoy the latest technology.