I am the owner of an Internet cafe in Shanghai and the department manager of a medium-sized computer company in Shanghai. For various reasons, I can't disclose the name of my Internet cafe and my real name. Take a rest today, write down my feelings about opening Internet cafes in recent years, and exchange experiences with Internet cafe owners all over the country! Generally speaking, the experience of opening internet cafes in recent years can be summarized in one sentence: operating internet cafes is not as good as managing personality.
I haven't been an Internet cafe owner for a long time, about three years. Accurately speaking, I should be a part-time boss of an Internet cafe, because my first job was as a business manager of a computer company in Shanghai, and I only managed Internet cafes in my spare time.
Looking back on my career in Internet cafes for more than three years, I feel a lot. Three years ago, I ran this Internet cafe in partnership with a female classmate. In August of 200 1 year, we started our business with 20 machines. Today, we have 100 machines. Although the business performance is not excellent, it is barely passable. At present, in view of the fact that many owners of Internet cafes think that the future of Internet cafes is not very good, I decided to buy a poorly managed Internet cafe in Shanghai and reopen it. I have submitted my resignation in the computer company, resigned from my present position in the computer company, and devoted myself to the operation and management of Internet cafes.
Many people think that opening an Internet cafe is unprofitable, has no future and is risky. But let's calm down and think about it. Which industry is risk-free? Internet cafes, the whole industry, must have some Internet cafes with good business performance and some Internet cafes with poor business performance. Let's look at other industries, isn't it the same? It is a simple fact that there are many restaurants in this country. Why do some restaurants have a good business performance and continue to expand their scale, while others have closed down? A very simple truth: 72 lines, each line is the best. Today, I only care about the owner of the Internet cafe. Let me talk about my feelings for your reference:
1, the future of Internet cafes
For the future of internet cafes, I personally think that internet cafes will never be banned by the state, but will be standardized and mature step by step. In some articles about the management of Internet cafes, I saw some Internet cafe owners complain that Internet cafes have no future and no profit. We can analyze the future of Internet cafes from the actual operation and current development. According to CNNIC's latest survey, there are 5,965,438+million netizens in China, while the number of computer surfers is only 1, 6 1.3 million. These gaps can only be made up by internet cafes. Despite the increasing number of personal computers in recent years, coupled with the constraints of lack of network resources, high Internet charges and slow per capita income growth in some areas, in recent decades, surfing the Internet in Internet cafes is still the first choice for China netizens.
Another important aspect is that Internet cafes, a new social industry, bring huge profits to our country's telecom industry, online games industry and IT industry every year, which greatly increases our fiscal revenue. An obvious example is that Shanghai's Shanda Network has developed from hundreds of thousands of assets to billions of listed companies today. Internet cafe industry has made such a great contribution to China's economy. Due to the emergence of a large number of internet cafes, it can also solve some employment pressures. To sum up, will the country ban this emerging industry? Please think about this question, what will the end of internet cafes look like.
2, the profitability of Internet cafes.
The profit of Internet cafes is our boss's biggest concern. 1995 Internet cafes are no longer a high-profit industry, and how to maximize the profits of their own Internet cafes is also very knowledgeable. Internet cafes have developed to this day, not without profits, but it is more difficult to obtain profits. /kloc-before 0/998, Internet cafes were basically in a state of no management and there was no competent department, so Internet cafes at that time could be said to be profiteering. After the "Blue Speed" incident in Beijing and SARS, the state issued relevant policies on the management of Internet cafes, which gradually standardized Internet cafes and reduced their profits.
As for the profit of Internet cafes, I think it is closely related to our Internet cafe operators and managers. In order to improve the profits of our Internet cafes, we must first correct our attitude as bosses, management and management. Let's look at the boss's attitude with a question. A topic that many bosses often discuss, many Internet cafe owners curse Shanda, saying that Chen Tianqiao made a fortune by earning money from Internet cafes. I don't think so. First of all, if the Internet cafes in China are not grand and legendary, the Internet cafes in China will not become an industry in just a few years. The development of Internet cafes in China is inseparable from Shanda, just as grand development is inseparable from Internet cafes. What do you think of such a problem? The profit of our internet cafe has decreased. Regardless of social factors, do our Internet cafes have their own shortcomings and deficiencies? Maybe it's a habit I formed in college. When I encounter something, I will first find out if I have any problems, which is what we often say: review myself first. In the same way, the profit of internet cafes is decreasing, and it is impossible for us internet cafes to have no reason.
As a manager of Internet cafes, we should learn to analyze the root causes of problems and then solve them effectively. What is the reason for the decline in profits? If we can't analyze the reasons for the decline in profits, how can we improve profits? At present, many of our internet cafes are losing money only because of the pressure from the competent authorities and society, while ignoring their own gaps and shortcomings in operation. Let's use a few examples to analyze the shortcomings in the operation of our Internet cafes.
Blind price reduction: Due to the increase of competitors, many Internet cafes can't guarantee that their customers will not be lost, so they can only blindly reduce prices with other Internet cafes, thus reducing profits. This is the case this year. Due to the increase of competitors, a nearby school was removed, tourists decreased, and many Internet cafes rushed to reduce prices. I carefully analyzed the reasons for the decrease of tourists, partly because the school moved away, which led to the decrease of tourists; In addition, I found that my internet cafe environment has not been renovated for a year. Without reducing the price, I renovated the store, installed ventilation equipment in the store, and replaced the original small air conditioner with a large air conditioner. All the decoration standards have surpassed those of my competitors, and the machines in Internet cafes have been upgraded as necessary. After several months of hard work, we have regained a number of stable customers on the basis of not reducing prices.
(2) Flexible management: With the large increase of the number of Internet cafes, the price of Internet access has returned from profiteering to rationality, thus greatly reducing the profits of Internet cafes. How to ensure the maximum profit under the condition of reasonable internet price is a problem that our boss must consider. According to our actual situation, we can tap the potential of Internet cafes and conduct diversified operations. We vigorously explore the role of the network. We do website construction and management for some small enterprises, and we can earn a certain income every month, which is equivalent to the salary of a technician.
3, the supervision of the management department of Internet cafes.
After the emergence of the Internet cafe industry, due to the lack of management in the early stage, there have been incidents such as the Beijing Blue Speed Incident and the suicide of students on the tracks in Chongqing, which prompted the government to continuously strengthen the supervision of Internet cafes. Internet cafe owners are most concerned about two regulations, one is that Internet cafes refuse minors to enter, and the other is that the business hours of Internet cafes cannot exceed 12 pm. For these two rules, I do this. Internet cafes are absolutely forbidden for minors to enter. Although my geographical location is between several schools, I don't accept minors. One is to consider the regulations of the competent department of Internet cafes. More importantly, I consider how students can ensure the profits of Internet cafes after the start of school if all major customers are turned into minors. I have always disapproved of working overtime at night. I have calculated that the income from staying open all night every month is equal to the expenditure, so it is easy to lose things. I haven't stayed up all night since the internet cafe opened.
Some national policies are necessary and beneficial to our Internet cafes. Why not implement it? Internet cafes will implement the zero-point business suspension policy and will not change. The KTV industry has now banned minors from entering. For internet cafes, it has just begun. Internet cafes will definitely be places where there are no minors in the future!