In the beginning.

If you are a Nigerian you must be aware that starting any business is like going on an unknown adventure journey. And if you are starting an internet cafe business, the odds that you will succeed is very very low indeed. The rate at which internet cafes businesses close up is very high. And there are many reasons for this.
But I'm going to show, through my postings on this blog, how to start, run and build a very successful internet business in Nigeria. These simple tips and tricks can be used to build a successful internet cafe anywhere in the world.
If you are thinking that you must be an expert in computer usage or computer networking to succeed, you better think again. I'm no computer guru let alone computer network guru, yet I succeeded big time in my cafe business.
If you are thinking that you must be a management expert, no way. Simple common sense approach to managing your internet cafe business will carry you through. I will show what and what you require to do on a daily basis to be on top of everything.
If you are thinking that you need to be financial expert or a top notch accountant to keep up with your Income, and Expenses. No, you need not be, to succeed big time with your internet cafe business.
In fact, anybody can do this if you can keep to some simple straight forward rules.
 I'm going to reveal to you the innermost secrets of internet cafe business in Nigeria. how to have anybody that works into your cafe to keep coming back for more. And be your customer for life.
so while I'm posting these cafe business tips and tricks, you can ask questions or contribute your own experiences as cafe owner or worker, so that readers can benefit.

First things first.

In order to succeed in building a successful internet café in Nigeria, there are some basic things that must be established. These things must be kept in mind as you run your café business. These are the requirements for success.

1.      First and foremost there must be a plan for your café business. The plan should include an initial survey of location, price of equipment, what kind of staff, what kind of technology to use (whether Satellite, Wimax or USB Modem).

2.      How you want to enter the internet café business in the area you have located to establish your business. There are many cafes in Nigeria and you can find about 3 or 4 internet cafes in every 3 square miles. So you will be competing with one or two located close to you. So how you want enter the market is very important. In my own case, I chose just one strategy and it allowed to surpass those who had been there for the past three years before me.

3.      One of the most important aspect of your new business is power supply. Power supply will probably determine if the business will succeed. Amount of money spent on providing power and backup ( in the form of generator, solar, inverter, battery etc) is very significant indeed. So how this is managed is crucial. This may not be a problem in some other parts of the world. In Nigeria, unfortunately , we are yet to overcome our public power supply problem.

4.      You may want to decide on what type of computer equipment you want to use. That is, whether to use fairly used computers, branded computers or cloned computers.

5.      Do you want to offer only browsing or you want to combine your café business with business center services (that is, photocopying, laminating, binding, passports making,etc). you may even want to offer computer repair services.

6.      You may want to think about which kind of customers you want to cater to. This may depend on your location.

My next post will really expand on the above points. Please if you have any questions or comments don't hesitate to put them down in the comments section.