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Predicting Demand for a Lan Cafe

A

Andyman53

Member
Hi,

I'm involved in opening up a LAN Cafe around Oceanside, NY . I was wondering what the MAX is you'd pay per hour, If you'd come, The estimated demand and how you feel about this idea + any suggestions. I'm curious, Very Curious, cuz so far i've gotten mixed feedback.
 
Well, most people that goes to I-Cafe wouldn't pay more than $3.00 for an hour, given you have very nice rigs. Try to implement other services (drinks, red bull 😉, snacks, etc..., and a nice comfy little lounge area. Invest in good, comfortable seats.
 
Originally posted by: cr4zymofo
Well, most people that goes to I-Cafe wouldn't pay more than $3.00 for an hour, given you have very nice rigs. Try to implement other services (drinks, red bull 😉, snacks, etc..., and a nice comfy little lounge area. Invest in good, comfortable seats.
Click to expand...

A "ladies night" probably wouldn't hurt either.
 
Wow... 3 bux is nothing... I was thinkin about ten, How's 5? Seeing how there are no lan cafe's in the area this is going to get very important consideration.
 
the one around here (www.netplaycafe.com) is trying to charge 7 dollars per hour. they have been unable to generate business at that price point however and have been trying all sorts of tactics to bring in more customers, none of which have worked.

I'd say 3-4 dollars would be solid
 
you don't want to charge too much or else people won't come and then you can't make money off the snacks and drinks(which is where the money is) get people in the door and then make your money on the snacks. Thats how just about every body does it.

Dogg
 
I've seen places charge $5 - $10/hour here in Mass and are pretty much deserted. Sounds low but $3 is about right.

Windogg
 
Now...Those places that are deserted...Do they have demand to back them up? Are there anything near there? Are there alot of people that would be interested?
 
The Lan Cafe being built here in Gainesville is the only one of its kind within a 150 mile radius and they're charging $8 an hour

Edit: But they'll probably get more business than most places because theres 50,000 students in the region and UF's Icarus system prevents filesharing and gaming of any kind.
 
3hr for just the standard internet cafe stuff.

now thiers a place I know of near me that is more of a Lan Gaming center that charges 25 bucks for four hours. i've been thier a few times when they were busy and its quite fun. But they had really nice machiens, and alot of different games to play
 
Are there alot of people that would be itnerested anywhere? Lets be honest computers are cheap and broadband is cheap. After rent, licensing games, etc its gonna be rough. Are you in a college town by chance?
 
Nope, no college town, but there are 7 elementary schools nearby, A Middle School with 1500 kids and a High school with 2000 kids. Plus the Adults that play these games. Its not a problem to play these games on your own, that is one of the selling points to people who can't but its the environment and playing with other people in tournaments. LOTS OF PEOPLE interested. Half life is cheap, 20 bux a copy, big whoop. Get some Ut2k4 action going, 40 bux a pop. We're looking at 10 computers max to start off. Preliminary Speculation...thats all.
 
Originally posted by: Andyman53
Nope, no college town, but there are 7 elementary schools nearby, A Middle School with 1500 kids and a High school with 2000 kids. Plus the Adults that play these games. Its not a problem to play these games on your own, that is one of the selling points to people who can't but its the environment and playing with other people in tournaments. LOTS OF PEOPLE interested. Half life is cheap, 20 bux a copy, big whoop. Get some Ut2k4 action going, 40 bux a pop. We're looking at 10 computers max to start off. Preliminary Speculation...thats all.
Click to expand...

IMHO you should move the biz to a bigger town. I don't think you'll have a chance there unless those kids are filthy rich.
 
If you charge $3.00 per hour, you'll have to jack up the food prices. If people are willing to pay $5.00 - $7.00 per hour, then you can give more cuts on the food prices.

How much does Starbucks charge for their wireless network access?

 
No way in He-*double hockeysticks* am i gonna do 3 an hour. I'd do 3 a half hour. People would pay 6 an hour DEFINETLY. I've spoken to them personally. There's no low balling of competition, the only competition is Nathan's Arcade down the block and after that Its Jillians in the Mall about 15 miles away and thats still not a Lan cafe, thats a bigger arcade. Snacks, Food, Drinks...thats like another big business, another thing to plan about.
 
Oh wait, my roommate says a 2nd Lan Cafe ($5/hour) is being built only 2 blocks away from the first one is being built. Wow, theres gonna some serious competition here.
 
This topic comes up like once every few months, lets do a cost breakdown, shall we?

Rent - $600/month (CHEAP!)
Computers (10 comps, $1000 each, 24 month payoff) = $416/month
Electricity - $100/month (CHEAP?)
Employees - $6/hr x 8 hr x 30 days = $1440
$2556/month

At $5/hr that'd be 511 hours...127 a week... 18 hours a day
But..you are only open 8 hours a day! Oh nooooeeesss!!!

Thats a simple breakdown, and i know theres other revenue, but there is other costs.
Just trying to help.

 
Originally posted by: Andyman53
No way in He-*double hockeysticks* am i gonna do 3 an hour. I'd do 3 a half hour. People would pay 6 an hour DEFINETLY. I've spoken to them personally. There's no low balling of competition, the only competition is Nathan's Arcade down the block and after that Its Jillians in the Mall about 15 miles away and thats still not a Lan cafe, thats a bigger arcade. Snacks, Food, Drinks...thats like another big business, another thing to plan about.
Click to expand...

Don't take this personally, but you're probably setting yourself up for a failure. Everyone here is telling you people won't pay that much, and you don't want to hear it. You keep saying that you know there is demand, and now you say you've talked to people personally who say they'll pay that much. You can't base your business strategy on what a couple of your friends say.
 
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