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Operator introduction: process guide for opening Internet cafes
Nowadays, in the face of huge employment pressure, many friends think of starting their own businesses. However, a successful entrepreneur must have a sense of risk, a comprehensive pre-planning and investment budget, and a good attitude. Therefore, for many friends who intend to open Internet cafes at present, the opening process of Internet cafes must be mastered.
Ada just graduated from college last year. For professional reasons, she didn't find a good job for some time. During the Spring Festival, Ada visited relatives and friends and found that there were not many Internet cafes in her city (the provincial capital). So I decided to borrow some money from my parents and relatives and plan to open a small and medium-sized (100) Internet cafe in my city.
Where is the business location chosen?
The business location directly affects the business of Internet cafes. In a good location, people are crowded and business is naturally better, but the rent and other expenses are higher.
Lot and rent: near the university, on the second floor of the facade room, the rent is 2000 yuan per month.
Business target: college students and employees of surrounding factories.
The choice of business location should be based on the situation of yourself and your customer base. It is suggested that Internet cafes should be built in places with certain consumption capacity, such as prime locations in cities and near schools. If it is located in a student's family, the business location should be near the school, preferably near the college; If it is aimed at office workers and white-collar workers, the business location can be chosen next to office buildings and hotels.
Note: It should be noted that according to the Regulations on the Administration of Internet Service Business Places, Internet service business places are not allowed to be set up within 200 meters of middle schools and primary schools and in residential buildings (hospitals).
Ada chose a normal university near her city. In addition to this normal university, there are several colleges and factories nearby (figure 1). The main target of internet cafes is college students, and the secondary target is employees in surrounding factories. Internet cafes are built on the second floor of the facade room to save rent. In addition, choose to be near colleges and universities to prevent minors from entering Internet cafes.
Tip: According to the Regulations on the Administration of Internet Service Sites, the business units of Internet Service Sites shall not accept minors into their business sites.
How big is the Internet cafe?
The cost of Internet cafes varies with the scale, and the specific scale depends on your own funds, the estimated number of Internet users and the relevant laws and regulations in your place.
Area: 160m2
Computers: 60
According to the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Internet Service Sites and the provisions of the Ministry of Culture, the approval of Internet cafes to set up business units of Internet service sites shall meet the requirements of the total number and layout of business units of Internet service sites stipulated by the cultural administrative department of the State Council and the cultural administrative departments of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government.
Tip: It is generally stipulated that the total number of computer equipment in each Internet cafe in municipalities directly under the central government, provincial capital cities and cities with separate plans shall not be less than 60; The total number of computer equipment in Internet cafes in municipalities directly under the central government, provincial capital cities and cities under separate state planning shall not be less than 30; Each Internet cafe in the western region, counties and towns can appropriately reduce the total number of computer equipment.
Because Ada is located in the capital city, the size of Internet cafes should not be less than 60 computers. He decided to open an Internet cafe with 60 computers. The rented house covers an area of160m2 (about 20m in length and 8m in width), so besides the space occupied by 2× 60 =120m2 computers and the area occupied by toilets, service desks and aisles (about 30m2), there is still about10m2.
Tip: According to national regulations, the area occupied by each computer in Internet cafes should generally not be less than 2 square meters.
The rented house was originally a civil building structure. In order to save and make rational use of space, Ada decided to open the middle partition wall, designed an aisle with a width of 1 meter, and opened a special fire exit. There are 1 1 rows on the left side of the house, with 4 computers in each row, totaling 44 computers (Figure 2), and there are 9 rows on the right side, with 2 computers in each row, totaling *** 18 computers, totaling 62 computers, including 2 Internet cafe servers.
How much is the investment?
Many people only see the owner of the internet cafe counting the money of netizens. In fact, people are often confused by the superficial scenery, but they don't know that there is bitterness behind the owners of Internet cafes. Only after careful calculation can we determine whether Internet cafes are worth investing.
Initial investment budget: about 250,000 yuan.
Monthly operating cost: about 9000 yuan.
Estimated monthly income: 1.26 million or so.
Judging from the initial investment budget, according to the current market price, the average price of each computer is about 3,000 yuan, so Ada needs 3,000× 62 =1.86 million yuan to buy computers. The investment of network equipment in Internet cafes includes dedicated routers (2,000 yuan), three switches (2,400 yuan) and network cables, totaling 5,000 yuan. The cost of tables and chairs, air conditioners, water dispensers and other equipment in Internet cafes is about 20,000 yuan. The renovation cost of Internet cafes is about 20,000 yuan, including glass doors, renovation construction costs, renovation materials costs and light box advertisements. In addition, the total cost of handling the "Internet Cafe Cultural Business License" and related documents is about 20,000 yuan. In this way, the initial investment amount is about 250,000 yuan.
Tip: If the funds are tight, you can consider joining the Internet cafe alliance, so that you can get some renovation funds.
After the formal operation of the Internet cafe, if the average operating time of each computer is 12 hours, then the monthly operating cost is roughly: 2000 yuan for rent, 4000 yuan for electricity, 65438 yuan for broadband 1500 yuan, and 0,000 yuan for other expenses, so the total operating cost is about 9000 yuan.
If calculated according to the average daily business hours of each computer 12 hours, the monthly gross income = 60 PCs × 1 yuan/hour×12 hours× 30 days = 2 1600 yuan.
After deducting the monthly operating cost, the monthly income is 2 1600-9000 = 12600 yuan. However, compared with the initial investment of 250,000 yuan, it will take about 250,000 yuan//kloc-0.26 million yuan ≈20 months to recover the cost. If the business is good, the cost can be basically recovered in one and a half years.
How to apply for an Internet cafe license?
Opening Internet cafes must be examined by cultural departments, public security organs, fire departments and administrative departments for industry and commerce, otherwise it will be banned by corresponding law enforcement departments.
Expenses: initial fee, management fee, production fee, etc. Please consult the relevant departments and chain Internet cafe operators for specific fees.
Relevant units: industrial and commercial administrative departments, cultural administrative departments, fire departments, public security organs, ISP, chain Internet cafe operating enterprises.
At present, the state implements a licensing system for the business activities of business units in Internet service sites. According to the original regulations of the state, the general process of opening an Internet cafe is as follows:
First of all, you can go to the local administrative department for industry and commerce to register the enterprise name, and get a good name for your Internet cafe and register it.
Then, choose an ISP, sign an agreement on Internet service intention, and pay relevant fees.
Then, the Internet cafe operator should apply to the local cultural administrative department at the county (city, district) level, fill in the Application Form for Project Establishment of Network Cultural Business Activities, and submit relevant materials. The administrative department of culture shall make a decision within 20 working days from the date of accepting the application; Upon examination, if it meets the requirements, an approval document for the preparation shall be issued.
Internet cafe operators shall apply to the county (city, district) level fire departments and public security organs for issuing fire safety inspection opinions and network security management software installation certificates after obtaining the approval documents for the establishment of Internet cafes from the cultural administrative department, and submit relevant materials. The public security organ shall make a decision within 20 working days from the date of accepting the application; After on-the-spot investigation and review, approval documents will be issued.
Internet cafe operators apply to the cultural department for final review with the approval documents of the fire department and the public security organ, and the cultural administrative department shall make a decision within 15 working days from the date of accepting the application. On-site inspection and assessment of qualified, issued a "network culture business license". Finally, Internet cafe operators can apply for registration with the administrative department for industry and commerce with their licenses and obtain business licenses according to law.
However, since 2002, the state has stopped approving the network culture business license for operating Internet cafes, and Internet cafes have been classified as "restricted industries". In 2004, the national cultural department stipulated that only qualified chain Internet cafes were eligible to apply for the Network Culture Business License, and individual Internet cafes were no longer approved.
In this way, the only way to get the certificate from formal channels is to join a chain of internet cafes or take over the internet cafes with complete transfer licenses. However, the joining fee and management fee of different chain Internet cafes are different, and the general steps are as follows:
The first step is to meet the joining conditions and sign a franchise contract with the chain Internet cafes.
The second step is to pay the related joining fee and management fee.
The third step is to engage in business activities in the name of chain Internet cafes and adopt a unified image design logo.
How to plan the network?
The establishment of Internet cafes is mainly to meet the needs of netizens to browse the web, chat online, play games and watch movies. The pre-planning of the network directly affects the overall performance of the network, the speed of data transmission and the beauty of Internet cafes.
Function: Meet the needs of browsing the web, voice/video chatting, online games, downloading and watching movies.
Network bandwidth: 10Mbps optical fiber.
In Internet cafes, network planning needs to involve network topology, wiring, selection of network equipment and connection of network equipment. However, the first thing Ada should do is to make a master plan.
In wiring, before wiring, you should draw a construction drawing to determine the placement position of each computer, and then indicate the node position on the drawing. It is best to put the network switching equipment in the center, which not only saves the wiring cost, but also improves the overall performance and transmission quality of the network.
The network equipment used in Internet cafes mainly includes routers, switches, network cards and network cables. It is suggested that Internet cafes with 50 ~ 100 people choose a dedicated router for Internet cafes, which can not only provide stable Internet access, save the trouble of setting up a proxy server, but also ensure the smoothness of online games and video on demand. Conditional owners can also choose a dedicated router for Internet cafes with dual WAN ports or even multiple WAN ports. Switches are mainly used to connect each client and router. It is recommended to choose a switch product with 24 ports or more, and the transmission rate is 10/ 100Mbps. At present, you can use 10/ 100Mbps adaptive network card in Internet cafes, and the price is around 20 yuan, so you don't need to pursue the transmission rate excessively (please refer to the special edition of Internet cafes in the 7th and 9th issues for the purchase of routers and switches).
Creating Internet cafes is a complicated matter, and entrepreneurs who want to engage in this industry should be fully prepared. In addition, the current Internet cafes have bid farewell to the era of profiteering, and the competition is fierce. Every investment should be planned in advance, and all kinds of situations should be taken into account. Therefore, everyone must plan and prepare carefully. The hardest part is actually in the beginning Only by taking the first step can we survive in the fierce competition.
Qing Song Kai Wang Ba
Whether an Internet cafe can bring good economic benefits after opening is closely related to the design scheme of the Internet cafe. The design scheme of the Internet cafe is not only reflected in the management strategy, technology and management of the Internet cafe, but also includes some details that our owners do not pay attention to. Let's take the construction of an Internet cafe as an example to build a top-class Internet cafe.
I. Preparations
1, investment budget:
When you plan to open an Internet cafe, the first thing you have to do is to calculate how much you need to invest and how long it will take to recover the cost. These all need accurate calculation, not rough calculation. Investment in Internet cafes probably includes investment in hardware and software. In terms of hardware, it mainly refers to the investment in machine hardware, network equipment, tables and chairs, broadband, air conditioning, decoration and rent. Software mainly refers to the input of business license of Internet cafes, staff salaries, machine hardware loss and so on. When calculating the investment, you should set aside 10% reserve funds according to the size of your own Internet cafe. When forecasting the turnover, it should be accurate to how much each set can receive every day. In addition to the total monthly turnover and normal monthly expenses, an additional expense of 10- 15% is added, because if there are any accidents every month, such as hardware loss and other unexpected expenses. The return period of Internet cafes is generally set at 12- 15 months. If it is more than 15 months, we should consider whether to invest in Internet cafes.
2, Internet cafe location:
I believe everyone knows how important it is for an Internet cafe to make a profit and how important its location is. Look farther when choosing a site. If you choose to be near the school, you'd better choose to be near the university or technical secondary school, because there are regulations in the country that minors are not allowed to enter Internet cafes. The location of Internet cafes directly determines the consumer groups of Internet cafes in the future. It is best to cultivate adult consumer groups and reduce unnecessary troubles for their own business. Therefore, the location of Internet cafes should be cautious.
3, Internet cafe decoration:
Internet cafes should be decorated with simplicity, highlighting their own characteristics and not requiring excessive luxury, so that customers can have a unique feeling after entering the Internet cafe. Internet cafe decoration is easier said than done. When decorating, we should pay attention to the layout of network cables and power cables and coordinate the placement of machines, which needs the reference of technicians. Internet cafe decoration wiring should pay attention to the following points:
A. power cord: the power cord should be 60- 150% rich after calculating the computer power. When wiring, because it is a dark wire, you must prepare a spare power cord. After the power cord is laid, each wire should be marked, and the mark should not be easily damaged. In addition, drawings should be made and kept in electronic documents for future maintenance.
B network wiring: according to the layout of the machine, it is best to put the network switching equipment in the central position during network wiring. This is not to save the cost of integrated wiring, but to improve the overall performance of the network and improve the network transmission quality. Because the transmission distance of twisted pair is 100 meters, the best network transmission quality can be obtained at 95 meters. When doing network wiring, it is best to design a computer room to place network equipment. When wiring the network, each row of machines should have 2-3 spare lines, and each line should be marked and written.
C, ventilation design: Many Internet cafes do not consider the problem, the placement of air conditioners, how to design ventilation, and it is best to find a professional to do it. In order to have a good online environment, the air must be kept fresh, especially in Internet cafes where smoking is not prohibited. The design of ventilation and exhaust is more important. In summer, it is more important to keep the indoor temperature because the machine is hot.
Second, the technical design of Internet cafes:
After the preliminary work is done, position the technology of Internet cafes according to your local actual situation. What kind of configuration the machine chooses, what kind of network access mode it uses and what kind of operating system it uses are all the design of Internet cafe technology. We take an Internet cafe with 500 machines as a typical example, and briefly talk about the design of Internet cafe technology:
1, network hierarchy design:
More than 500 Internet cafes can be designed into three levels: access layer, convergence layer layer and exchange layer. Access Layer For 500 machines, choosing a reasonable access device is the most critical. We should choose the appropriate bandwidth according to the access device. We can simply calculate the network bandwidth to determine the total bandwidth of network access devices. The maximum network traffic of each machine is 7-8KB bytes, and the maximum network traffic of 500 machines is about 4000KB bytes. Adding 30% network loss, the total network bandwidth should be 5200KB, and our optical fiber can be initially selected as 50MB access. Of course, for the sake of network speed, you can also choose 100 megabit access point. In this way, our network access layer can choose 100 megabit devices.
We must pay attention to two concepts when calculating the network access bandwidth. The unit of1000 Mb broadband provided by our network access provider is Mb, not MB. Because when we calculate the network traffic of a machine, 7-8KB is k bytes, not K/ bit. This detail is also what our technicians need to pay attention to when choosing the network access bandwidth.
When calculating the access bandwidth, we will choose the network access device, whether to use a hardware router or a soft route. For internet cafes, due to the sudden online game traffic, the routing produced by domestic general manufacturers can not meet the needs of internet cafes, so it is recommended to use soft routing. Soft routing can be done with a slightly higher configuration machine and professional routing software Ipcop, Linux, Smoothwall or FreeBSD. If you choose hard route, you can choose some famous foreign hard routes, such as Cisco and D-link.
2. convergence layer Design:
Convergence layer is the core of the whole LAN. Because of the huge amount of data exchange in Internet cafes, when choosing convergence layer equipment, we must choose the appropriate convergence layer network equipment. 500-machine Internet cafes can choose Gigabit three-layer switching equipment and support VLAN function. If the wiring of Internet cafes is standard, there is generally no need to divide VLAN. If our network design can't meet our requirements, splitting VLAN is our only way. Therefore, it is necessary to purchase a three-layer switch supporting VLAN function to avoid secondary investment. Backplane bandwidth of three-layer switching is not less than 16G, which supports MAC address learning function, and the MAC address table is not less than 32KB；; Convergence layer network equipment had better support network management function to facilitate our management and maintenance; The port number of convergence layer network equipment is better than that of our equipment, which is convenient for our future network upgrade.
Although our access layer chooses 100M network equipment, because a considerable part of the data traffic in our Internet cafes does not necessarily go through the access layer, we do not need to synchronize with the network equipment in convergence layer when selecting the network equipment in the access layer. This is also why when designing the network, the owners of our Internet cafes should not trust the suggestions of some companies, and all use Gigabit equipment, which increases their own investment, which is unnecessary.
3, exchange layer:
The switching layer is the middle layer in the whole network, connecting convergence layer and network nodes, and it is a very important link that determines the transmission quality of our whole network. With the popularization of 100M network equipment, 100M is definitely the first choice for our switching layer network equipment. When selecting switching layer devices, the following requirements need to be met: support 100 MB transmission bandwidth, backplane transmission not less than 6G, support MAC address learning function, and MAC address table not less than 8KB.
4.IP address selection:
Because the class C ip address determines that a network segment can only accommodate 253 machines, how to design the network structure of more than 253 machines has a lot to do with which type of IP address is used. For Internet cafes with 500 machines, it is suggested to use Class B IP addresses instead of Class C IP addresses as multiple gateways to realize network interconnection. Although our network convergence layer equipment has VLAN function, because of the large network volume and traffic, if we use multiple gateways and divide VLANs to realize network interconnection, it will increase the burden of convergence layer network equipment and affect the data transmission of the whole network. For a detailed tutorial on IP address and subnet mask, please refer to the explanation in the article "IP address and subnet mask".
5. Selection of network node equipment:
Network card and crystal head belong to network node equipment in the network. When choosing a network card, 100 megabit network card is our lowest choice. When choosing a network card, you must choose a network card with good quality, so as to match your own network layout. When we design the network, the crystal head is often ignored. Poor quality of the crystal head often leads to poor contact between the network cable and the crystal head, which greatly reduces our network transmission speed.
6, Internet cafe machine configuration:
The machine configuration of Internet cafes should be adapted to local conditions and choose a reasonable configuration. Don't use high-end configuration in pursuit of fashion, which will waste the resources of big horse-drawn carts. The configuration of the machine is not based on the principle of speed, but on the principle of stability and durability and failure rate. Although the country emphasizes 3C certification, most Internet cafes still use compatible computers. When selecting the machine, the main board, memory, hard disk, monitor, CPU and other important components must choose the products of well-known brand manufacturers. Although the price is a little expensive, the quality is guaranteed and you can enjoy a three-year warranty. Don't affect the stability of the machine and the normal business in the future in order to spend less money. Spend more money, depending on where the flowers are, and don't lose more with small, which is also a problem that our owners need to focus on.
7, the choice of Internet cafe operating system:
The operating system of Internet cafes should not be fast, but should aim at stable operation. Because Windows 98 is not compatible with some new games and hardware at present, Windows XP and Windows 2000 Professional are the development trends of Internet cafe operating systems. In terms of running speed, Windows XP is famous for its fast startup speed and stable operation. But for the support of some games, we need a clever technical support to achieve the best solution. Although Windows 2000 Preferred starts slowly, it is easier to maintain than Windows 98. So when choosing which operating system to use, you must choose according to your actual situation. Operating system is the second impression that Internet cafes give customers, so you should choose carefully, not to pursue new trends and prevent others from choosing. A new Internet cafe has just opened, and the stability of the machine system determines the competitiveness of the Internet cafe. At the best time of opening, the new Internet cafe must tap its own fixed customer base and gradually expand its customers on the basis of the fixed customer base.
Third, the management of Internet cafes:
Now I hear many owners of Internet cafes shouting that Internet cafes are unprofitable. Under the same competitive conditions, good management is a good way to improve the profit of Internet cafes. Internet cafe owners have formulated their own management system according to the specific conditions of their own Internet cafes. In management, they should also pay attention to the following small details.
1. Respect employees: Every employee has self-esteem. Although some network managers are not well educated now, they should treat their employees like their own children. You can criticize mistakes in your work, but you can't hurt your self-esteem. Employees serve customers directly. How much benefit can employees bring to Internet cafes with a little effort? If employees' self-esteem is hurt, can employees still work hard for Internet cafes?
2. Implementation of management system: Every Internet cafe has its own management system, but when implementing these systems, we should also grasp the discretion. Although we advocate strict implementation of the management system, the system is formulated by people. When dealing with some things, we should handle them properly according to the daily performance of employees and their understanding of mistakes.
3. Employment of senior managers: Many Internet cafe owners feel that they have their own management in Internet cafes, and there is no need to pay a high salary to hire managers. This is a misunderstanding. Many owners of Internet cafes are unable to communicate with employees because of their high positions, which leads to incorrect management positioning. A store manager, instead of the boss to manage things, can hear the real thoughts of the employees under the store manager and communicate with the boss above. In business, only a cooperative relationship can make a profit. On the surface, although an investment is made to hire a manager, in fact, the profit created by an excellent manager is far higher than his salary.
Four, the operation of Internet cafes:
In the management of Internet cafes, a person with certain business strategy is needed to manage Internet cafes. If the boss feels that he doesn't have too many business strategies to promote the development of Internet cafes, he must be knowledgeable and find an excellent operator. In addition to the normal business strategy, we should pay attention to some small details.
1. "Fake" in business: In business, we also need to create some "fake". China people have a habit of going wherever there are many people. In order to improve your popularity, you can let your friends surf the Internet in the Internet cafe for free when your Internet cafe is not popular, so as to attract more people. This is just one aspect of our deliberate manufacture of "fake goods". In addition, the owners of Internet cafes can make some flexible adjustments according to their actual situation and create some "fake goods" to improve the attendance rate.
2, the magic formula of pulling people: How to establish a fixed large customer base for your own Internet cafe depends on your business vision. For customers who come to the Internet, if you study it, there must be groups. How to turn this group of people into your regular customers, you must first find the leader of this group, and then do the work of this leader, and you will succeed. When people get along with each other, they all like to hear compliments. How to impress this leader is not necessarily to give him a certain discount, but you can also achieve your goal by giving him a certain compliment. Studying people's psychology is also the ability that an operator should have. There are many ways to attract customers, but only if you have enough reasons to let these customers come to your Internet cafe. Among several competing Internet cafes, if you are the worst in hardware, environment and service, you will lose the most basic conditions for competing with other Internet cafes.
3. Comprehensive services: In addition to basic services such as surfing the Internet, games and chatting, Internet cafes should also provide some other services that netizens need, and try their best to serve these gods and attract more and more people. Don't be afraid of customers asking what services they need. The more customers ask, the more they depend on your Internet cafe. If these customers don't have any demand, it proves that your Internet cafe service is not in place. Comprehensive Internet cafes provide these services: text printing, digital imaging, digital printing, card ordering, take-away, online games, IP telephone, intermediary services and other services.
4. Online game competition: Most Internet cafe owners think that there is no profit in online game competition. Let's take a CS competition as an example to analyze the profit points that our Internet cafe owners don't pay attention to. Generally speaking, for large-scale CS competitions, everyone needs to pay the registration fee of around 20 yuan. As the competition is held in a leading Internet cafe, the team will definitely choose to practice in the Internet cafe of the competition venue, which will correspondingly increase the income of their own Internet cafes. If the competition is led by an internet cafe, it can be combined with the nearby internet cafes as the registration point, and a part of the profits will be given to the internet cafes responsible for registration from the registration fee paid. When doing things, don't just consider your own profits, you should have the spirit of cooperation, but at the same time, you should put the biggest profit point on yourself. As for some large-scale online games, there can be higher profit points. Here, in order to give Internet cafe owners a certain profit space, I won't elaborate on where the profit point is.