Hello all,

I have tried to open a game lounge twice (first in the late '90's and second in 2004) and each time i open up shop, i am either frustrated with irate parents coming around to embarrass me or law enforcement agents who raid the place as if i am selling hard drugs!

The parents usual story is "their kids used their pocket money/school fees to play there and they want it back or else". . . and i wonder if they would do the same if their kids went to pay to ride horse back in lekki beach OR if the kids went to ride electric cars at the amusement park OR if those kids went to Silverbird arcade to play games.I wonder if they would demand to see Ben Bruce! It's really pathetic but i can deal with that.It's the police raid issue that's something else.At some point, they almost carted the game consoles and TV's. . .i had to cough out a considerable amount of money to discourage them. For these two primary reasons, i have been forced to close shop. Gaming has been a passion of mine since i played Mario brothers 20 years ago and it still is. I still intend to open up another lounge in the near future but. . .

Is there anyone here running a decent gaming lounge without police interference? Any pointers you can give me?

Thanks.

Am i the only one?

They don't do that in PHC. . . Why create a register for people who have come to play games, with names. . .
In PHC, they don't allow school uniforms. . . put up a sign there. . .

I operated a similar business from around 2005-2009 and these are 2 issues that plague every owner. It should be easy to deal with the parents. In my case I enforced strict rules. No school uniforms at any time in my shop. No teenagers(13-18) in the shop during normal school hours (except during holidays). e.t.c. Any parent that bothers me I just point out the rules and tell them it is their responsibility to deal with their children. I operate a business, so no refunds and I cant raise your child for you, simple.

As for the police, that will surely be a more complicated matter. During my 4 years we never had a single police raid. I believe it was probably the fact that the shop was connected to my residence that dissuaded them from trying anything. My advice would be to watch your clientele and their conduct. It could be that some of your customers are attracting police attention.

harakiri:

Hello all,

I have tried to open a game lounge twice (first in the late '90's and second in 2004) and each time i open up shop, i am either frustrated with irate parents coming around to embarrass me or law enforcement agents who raid the place as if i am selling hard drugs!

The parents usual story is "their kids used their pocket money/school fees to play there and they want it back or else". . . and i wonder if they would do the same if their kids went to pay to ride horse back in lekki beach OR if the kids went to ride electric cars at the amusement park OR if those kids went to Silverbird arcade to play games.I wonder if they would demand to see Ben Bruce! It's really pathetic but i can deal with that.It's the police raid issue that's something else.At some point, they almost carted the game consoles and TV's. . .i had to cough out a considerable amount of money to discourage them. For these two primary reasons, i have been forced to close shop. Gaming has been a passion of mine since i played Mario brothers 20 years ago and it still is. I still intend to open up another lounge in the near future but. . .

Is there anyone here running a decent gaming lounge without police interference? Any pointers you can give me?

Thanks.

Wow, this actually makes me pretty mad. Parents coming round ask for their money back is bad enough, but RAIDS by the idiotic, filthily corrupt Nigerian Police!?!?! AMAZING!!! I really hope you have better success in future. These are the sort of silly things we have to deal with as Nigerians. Sorry.

I also have passion for video games.
I was running a game center before i went to schools some years back and i intend to open a better one when i have the necessary money.
Its best to be strict with the kids especially during school hours. In my area,Police use to catch students in game centers who suppose to be in school. The solution as mentioned above is to enforce no unifor before,during and after school.
It is the best form of work to do what you like to do best and you are getting paid for doing it as you enjoy doing it.

I also have passion for video games.
I was running a game center before i went to schools some years back and i intend to open a better one when i have the necessary money.
Its best to be strict with the kids especially during school hours. In my area,Police use to catch students in game centers who suppose to be in school. The solution as mentioned above is to enforce no unifor before,during and after school.
It is the best form of work to do what you like to do best and you are getting paid for doing it as you enjoy doing it.

I also have passion for video games.
I was running a game center before i went to schools some years back and i intend to open a better one when i have the necessary money.
Its best to be strict with the kids especially during school hours. In my area,Police use to catch students in game centers who suppose to be in school. The solution as mentioned above is to enforce no unifor before,during and after school.
It is the best form of work to do what you like to do best and you are getting paid for doing it as you enjoy doing it.

Lovers of Game Lounge business i am interested send details to oobidike@gmail.com

[font=Lucida Sans Unicode]They don't do that in PHC. . . Why create a register for people who have come to play games, with names. . .
In PHC, they don't allow school uniforms. . . put up a sign there. . .



Seconded

I have operated a game lounge before and it was always very peaceful.

Never had the parents or police come interfere with our business.

I operated a no uniform setting.

It is a very rewarding business and I suggest you register your company and ensure you have your rules boldl written around the lounge.

I stopped mine when I got a job and found out people were stealing money from me. I lost the passion but will hope to revive it again soon.

I wish you success.

Before I went to school I operated a video game business. It was my elder brother that provided the capital for me. In less than two months I paid him back. As money increased I bought Snooker board, bicycle with table tennis. Police men will come raid, anyone found within is taken to station while I have to come and bail my balls, sticks and bicycles. Most guys will flee for their dear lives. Unknown to me it was one useless police inspector that lived on my street that was staging all this.

When the frustration was too much to bear, I had to lock up and face my studies. The business was so lucrative, I made some connections with boys that come around and I even learned lots of things as a little kid.

It was fun way back then. You meet all kinds of boys in the hood. The good, the bad and the ugly. That was the sweetest part of my growing days. I wish I could,

Interesting. Though I have no direct experience, I can think of a few ways to circumvent these situations.

There are very sharp ways of dealing with these things my guy. As to the silly parents, someone already pointed out how to deal with them.

As for the stoopid police guys, man. As I see it they can't just come in and start foolishly confiscating business property that has NO relation to any sort of investigation. Abi wetin dem wan use game console take investigate?

First off, be sure that you're not doing anything illegal. Maybe some sort of business license would deter them or something.(If there are no such things as business licenses in naija then scratch that)
Secondly, I'm a firm believer in always taking around some sort of recording device to record conversations with various people whom I know to be stooooopid so they can't start changing the story. While recording be sure to make them talk about how stupid they are and paint themselves in a bad light  

Then after they are through with the foolishness, you make a copy of the recording and go directly to their superiors.
And if those are also stupid, go to THEIR superiors as well.

As they say experience is the best teacher. Here are some tips: do not admit school children during school hours, do not admit customers in school uniforms, only accept minors when they're accompanied by an adult. As for the police problem; it might be related to your location, the type of customers you have, or the way you setup your center. Make your place very decent and I doubt the police or even parents will harass you. Better luck next time, I guess.

As they say experience is the best teacher. Here are some tips: do not admit school children during school hours, do not admit customers in school uniforms, only accept minors when they're accompanied by an adult. As for the police problem; it might be related to your location, the type of customers you have, or the way you setup your center. Make your place very decent and I doubt the police or even parents will harass you. Better luck next time, I guess.

I can say that the video game business is one of the business someone can start in Nigeria without fear of liquidation,it is a very reliable business,u must make money out of it,i did it years ago and i make good amount of money,i stopped it when i was leaving the country.

About the police and parents,it is true u face parents trouble but with a good clear rules and regulation i believe it can be minimise and for the police if ur rules are straight and clear i see no police in the picture.

All the best

plenty tips here: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-486634.0.html but more tips/feasibility studies anyone? How much capital needed and equipment etc?

I have experience a situation where A woman came in with Police to raid the Gaming lounge in my street, in fact all the young boys in the lounge were taken to the police station demanding the attention of their parents, but at the end of the day,they were set free and the Owner is still operating it till Date. Its all about you SETTING RULES and REGULATIONS that most be STRICTLY adhered to.

Very interesting replies.

so can someone explain what these lounges look like?
do you have coin operated machines or you have systems hooked up to tv's and people pay to play?
how many systems do you have?
how often do the systems break down?

do this and every thing will be fine
1. open up in a more sophisticated location
2. no school uniforms allowed
3. if parent complain turn deaf ear u are not serving them or tell them to talk to children
and lastly
4. if police come and u know u are not doing anything wrong dont bribe them tell them u are running a legitimate biz and u will not giving them any money if they want to shut u down follow them to their station and walk away now u know their station report to soldiers that u are been maltreated by police men they will stop the nonsense dont laugh with them dont beg just report

mehn, game biznes, is notin ilegal 2 me cos me as a prson i could game frm now til 2moro, so i feel it's ilegal,

I started and operated my own Gaming Center between 2008 and 2010.

I've always had a passion for gaming and decided to start the business in my home town of Ado-Ekiti.

Traveled to Nigeria in all of those years and set it up.

My mission was to set up a classy environment for gamers to experience the latest in Console and LAN Gaming.

We had in operation - 3 playstation 2 gaming consoles, 2 playstation 3 gaming consoles, 5 Gaming PCs. (We were limited in space)

Well,  it is a long story. I do thank God for the experience. I've grown since then and know much more about business and some of the mistakes I made.

I'll just write out a timeline of events.

Sept 2008 - Platinum Games opened with 3 playstation 2 consoles, 1 playstation 3 console, and 4 Gaming PCs.

Sept 2008 - Got harassed by the Nigerian Police force for the first time. One officer came and since I wouldn't bribe him, he sent a radio message to the others. In about 15 minutes, we were swarmed by about 15 police men. One of them was drunk, cocked his AK 47 pointed it at me and tried to threatened to shoot me. I got tossed into the back seat of their pickup truck. Took a call from the landlord to the Police commissioner to get him to send another team to disperse this group.


Dec 2008 - During a brief power outage, one playstation 2 was stolen.( We replaced it with one in reserve)

Feb 2009 - Road Construction in Ado-Ekiti resulted in demolition of the store.

Aug 2009 - I again went to Nigeria to begin reconstruction of the store.

Dec 2009 - Renovated and Redesigned store opened.

March 2010 - Platinum Games was burglarized and lost one playstation 2 gaming console (N45,000 worth of equipment lost) - Additional security measures were put in place and business continued

April 2010 - Another major burglary occured in which we lost 2 playstation 3 gaming consoles, 7 playstation 3 controllers, various computer equipment (N400,000) worth of equipment lost. Business went into Limbo.

May 2010 - Most equipment including both playstation 3 gaming consoles had been replaced. At this point, I left my staff at work and left the country. My gap year was over.

June to Sep 2010 - Incessant police raids, major power disturbances, and staff-related fraud resulted in the temporary shutdown of Platinum Games.

The Future of Platinum Games in Ado-Ekiti as of right now is still not certain.

All in all, it was a great and enlightening experience. I enjoyed it. The entire project cost me (over two years) about N5 million. It wasn't a resounding success. There was no business plan, and no market research. The conditions in Nigeria, especially Ekiti State were highly unfavorable for business.

All in all, we tried our best. Memories such as those of me eliminating all 4 members of the opposing team and 5 bots in Counter Strike Source followed by their wailing and screaming in the store sure made it worthwhile. I HAD A BLAST and I know most of our clients did too.

Click below for photos of the store.


After renovation and redesigning in December 2009

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150181397250585.409073.577505584&l=72de1fc556&type=1


Feel free to post here if you have any questions or comments.

Nice job @ Jensinmi

I've also thought of this incorporated with a barbing salon or unisex salon next door, but proxy business dont work in nigeria except the other party is investing his/her own money too!!

What exactly do the police say when they come raiding the place, are they asking for license, suspicious activities or just drunk as usual?

Two game centers have closed down because of this same issues in my area, at a time i was gaming when police stormed in, guys where taking window and ceiling just to avoid been caught by the naughty policemen. Those catch outside the loudge 3000 while those catch inside pay 5000 for their bail. After the incident i bought ps2 just to avoid being embarass again.

The business is not illegal but please and please kindly go and register with the NATIONAL LOTTEERY COMMISION ,

If not you stand the risk of being closed down .Is a new commsion in charge of all gaming ,gambling and lottery related businesses.

samstels:

The business is not illegal but please and please kindly go and register with the NATIONAL LOTTEERY COMMISION ,

If not you stand the risk of being closed down .Is a new commsion in charge of all gaming ,gambling and lottery related businesses.

So will that stop police from busting in?

Presently am operating a Games Business in Port Harcourt. Its a vry lucrative business but u need 2 apply strict rules n my rules are:
1) No kids during school hours Mon - Fri 8am - 2pm
2) No school uniforms
3) No night games (i close between the hours of 6pm - 6:30) don't want disgruntled parents looking for their kids.
4) The most important, NO GAMBLING. (This has resulted in lots of fight in my game hall so i don't joke about it)

I have police contact so i even invite the police wen i c gamblers in my game hall n d police arrest dem cos they are d real trouble makers and touts.

About Police interference, its d way u work with dem. Wat i did was 2 make d police aware of d place and since am frnds with sum of dem, i arrange dem mobilization once in a while 2 keep dem off my back. With such arrangements, once i call d police dat i av trouble makers in my game hall, they arrive faster than wen u call dem dat an robbery operations is going on. They hardly visit my game hall except by my fone call cos d place is always calm due to my control.

As for the parents, my rules av taken care of lots of their complains so its jus few stubborn once who are looking for sum1 to vent their anger, annoyance and jealousy on dat comes around 2 make trouble but generally i hardly c dem.

And finally, make a disclaimer n paste it boldly 4 evry1 to c and don't hesitate 2 implement d rules wen d need arises cos if u implement dem, their is no need 4 d police cos u won't get anybodies attention (police or parents)

Gudluck

Darn this Nairaland spambot. It is so annoying.

To all readers, I apologize for the repeated posts.

so essentially, the major hurdles are the same as seen with a lot of businesses in Nigeria


- Power
- Security
- Infrastructure.

Viciyke:

Presently am operating a Games Business in Port Harcourt. Its a vry lucrative business but u need 2 apply strict rules n my rules are:
1) No kids during school hours Mon - Fri 8am - 2pm
2) No school uniforms
3) No night games (i close between the hours of 6pm - 6:30) don't want disgruntled parents looking for their kids.
4) The most important, NO GAMBLING. (This has resulted in lots of fight in my game hall so i don't joke about it)

I have police contact so i even invite the police wen i c gamblers in my game hall n d police arrest dem cos they are d real trouble makers and touts.

About Police interference, its d way u work with dem. Wat i did was 2 make d police aware of d place and since am frnds with sum of dem, i arrange dem mobilization once in a while 2 keep dem off my back. With such arrangements, once i call d police dat i av trouble makers in my game hall, they arrive faster than wen u call dem dat an robbery operations is going on. They hardly visit my game hall except by my fone call cos d place is always calm due to my control.

As for the parents, my rules av taken care of lots of their complains so its jus few stubborn once who are looking for sum1 to vent their anger, annoyance and jealousy on dat comes around 2 make trouble but generally i hardly c dem.

And finally, make a disclaimer n paste it boldly 4 evry1 to c and don't hesitate 2 implement d rules wen d need arises cos if u implement dem, their is no need 4 d police cos u won't get anybodies attention (police or parents)

Gudluck

So you had to pay "protection money" to the Police like you do to the Mafia?

I had 2 game lounges in the early years of this decade. It was very lucrative and I broke even after 3 months. I had 10 PS2, 2 PS1,Generators, Split A/C's, games accessories etc and a refreshments Fridge. It was a fairly large operation, then the trouble started.

1. Neighbours refused to contribute to the NEPA bill because they claimed they did not need it any more just to blackmail me to foot the whole bill for the complex.
2. Police raids weekly
3. Burglary
4. Parents demanding a refund for the pocket money given to their kids.
5. My staff short changing me.

I adopted all necessary measures highlighted by other posters and even registered the business with CAC. Then one day the Police came and arrested two youngsters whose guardians were out of town just for playing games. I took pity on them the next day as their friends came to plead with me to rescue them. I went to the Police station to bail them and the Police said that they needed to see the CAC registration because the business was not registered. One of them insisted to follow me home to get it. When I handed it over, he looked at it and said there was a minor typographical error and so I was under arrest too.

I gave him hell! The worst verbal abuse I am sure he would ever receive in his life. We got to the station and he invited his colleagues who told me to write a statement. Then one inspector intervened and was shocked when I told him what happened. He released the 2 boys and apologised to me for the embarrassment claiming some of them are illiterates. There are still good Policemen out there.

That was it. I closed shop.

i currently run one but the prob i have is that of electricity and my staff cutting and slittering my throat.,