try and get a very good bandwidth manager and try using a very good lan to avoid problems with lan congestio and other network bottlenecks. if you need more technical advise you can contact me on olusolakolebaje@yahoo.com or poppyluv2037@yahoo.com.

In my opinion, Naijacutee and techguru gave you their candid advice which you have to really consider if you want to continue the business or if you are about venturing in.

i will advice you not to go into it if you have not so that you do not run down, but if you have started already, then take these advice-

1, invest in the best configured system, they may be a little expensive now, but by the time you expect to have trouble with the system you will see that you actually made the right purchase decision.
2, Make sure you have power constantly and backup also.
3, make sure you have the right browsing software, (why?) cos your staff will eat "you" finish before you realize it if you do not have a software that sends you autogenerated reports for all sales and activities carried out in the cafe whenever you are not around. if you want suggestion for the software let me know.

besides, there are better businesses to invest in, just buy shares or consult your bankers for businesses that you can invest into and they will explain to u, if want, i can make suggestion here also.

@ aries joe
pls kindly give the name os some of this softwares

well let me hook u up with this, i know what they want and i know how they like it, but the balls is in your court!

first thing first!

Get a warm welcomin attendants to attend to customers,i mean person who can handle s**ty questions from the customers because they do ask questions that doesnt make sence at times!

secondly, if u can handle it, get a US or UK or Canadian IP address because thats what guys like da most, if u kno what i mean,

make sure your systems are in good terms, any system that is acting up,make your u rectify them as soon as u can,

and maybe once in a while, give em some kinda price reduction maybe once in a month, u kno nigerian, they love freebies kinda things ha ha ha, and last, clean it up, i do hate dirty enviroment,

if u can handle it, but i aint gon lie, it aint a bit easy to maintain,

all well said but if i may add, Netcom is certainly not the best ISP in Nigeria as of now, i just don't believe that cos i operate in a network of 8 cafes spread over Lagos and Egba and their service delivery is not what it used to be,

1. downtimes are more now than before. in all fairness, those cafe outlets on KU-Band dishes are worst hit as simple things like rainfall even affect them.

2. Customer service too is not too good, response time too slow especially for outside lagos locations. you call that their number and you get routed on to some autoresponder like that and u end up wasting up to 8 minutes atimes before someone eventually gets to you.

3. the price's competitive though its not the fairest too

4. most times, prior notifications are not issued to subscribers on possibility of the service being truncated or interrupted, you just find yourself down and customers do really get shitty at times like that. one of my supervisors was still reporting nearly being docked by a so-called well connected client yesterday who felt cheated of his money when the service started failing, anyone on netcom in abeokuta, you could confirm that,, though i still want to reiterate that cafes on Ku-band and the old hns7000 modem may hardest hit.

while i'm not trying to knock them, i'd just wanted to say being with netcom's not a bed of roses and in case you plan to be bedfellows with them, its better you take the rose tinted glasses off and get a clear view of the pros and cons of that partnership now.

so, i still wanna pose that question here, who do you think based on an objective appraisal of their performance on all the indices that count in this sector, is the best or at least good isp to roll with.

Cybercafe business is a lucrative business , why ppl fail in the business is lack of knowledge and undertstanding about it, most mistake owner do is thinking is matter of buying equipment and computers and start browsing customer will come ,
Cybercafe is an IT base business , a kind of networking management that envolve a good IT technical and IT managers to implement and run , a good solution for different area /location will still make you make certain degree of profit, all u need is to make a go survey of the need in your area calculate ur likely expenses and income , determine the kind of ISP u can Afford and at what bandwidth rate u can apply for with support to number of computers , most problem cybercafe have is
1. want to make much profit without investing more 
2. initial startup of the cafe with wrong staff and technicals
3.Buying wrong equipment and ISp
4. wrong billing system
5.buying a wrong generator  that takes their profit
6. employing quake engineer that knows nothing other than formating window xp
7.not providing another service that will suport ur cafe like dry cleaning services and other service to support ur diesel cost
7.employing ssce drop out because they want to pay little
8. Informal like type of management

i am a technicial here in lagos  and i mostly manage linux router  4 cafes that can affored it, what i found out is that they dont want to spend on want will improve their service, let explain what i mean, with one cafe in lagos, a cafe that has 40 computers with a bandwidth os 128/512 dedicated service and still can browse very due to to bad network management i recommend a manage switches and good router that will does firewalling and bandwidth management at a little cost , it was reject by the staff because they know they will not be able to work with that kind of equipment and the owner is even  illitrate in the field,


A cybercafe can work as automation , no need for staff that will cheat u , get a good billing system and a bandwidth manager , most isp oversea are good all u need is a recommedation that will provide service  for that type of cafe u have to make profit , setup a good server management . not linksys type of servver.
get a good hotspot system for laptop users not manual timing that make customer to argue.
manage bandwdith on each systems
lock ur system software
to reduce engineers formating ur system that will reduce customer requesting attention
formal like organisation , and chain of authority .also duties and responsibilty


Note:i will not accept that most ISPs are bad is the cafe that are bad because they could not manage their bandwdith . bandwidth is not cheap (not local ISP oooo u know how Nigerian thing work and cybercafe is among too)
at least most ur are using starcomms at home , and we see how much we are paying, can any one tell now that starcomms is not using bandwidth manager try ping one the network and open 3 pages u will see total congestion because u are passing ur limit
and ppl are paying 10,000 for it monthly
i believe they will sell more than 4/8 kbps for each customer and and isp in isreal will give 64/128 for 750 dollars dedicated satelite services
all will need is browsers to reduce how they open pages and using available bandwidth

thimbook and bdek i like your posting can both of you get  to me on xenal99@yahoo.co.uk
we have have better deal to talk about


more also on bandwith manager and hotsport for laptop user

wale

If your cafe is well located, I mean in a good market, then all the good advise you have heard on this thread can apply.
But please, dont let anyone scare you out of this business if you love it with passion.

Cafe business is not an easy one though

Im opening a new branch in another part of the town after being in the one I am for just three months.

Hi everyone, i run a cubercafe (with over 50 stations) and I believe that I have a receipe for all cybercafe operators in Nigeria. You can come and learn first -hand how we manage our cybercafe. Beside runing a cafe, my company also build internet cafe billing and Management solution (see www.3wgate.com) the business-like approach to building the softawre has helped cafes using the solution to reduce expenditure, and pilfrage.

The solftware solution is available for download at http://www.3wgate.com/3wgatenew/downloads/3wgate%20client.zip and http://www.3wgate.com/3wgatenew/downloads/3wgate_server.zip

We are open to discussions on how you can streamline your business processes and improve your bottomline.

We have other ideas we can share with you that can make you more money (better still visit our office to see for your self)

Diversification is key. You need to create and target niche audiences that can patronize your business on a regular basis.
I would say setting up an international call centre as well as a video gaming arcade on the premises would be ideal.

Also the use of a snack bar would be advantageous, just whatever you do make sure it is immaculate and can not be easily duplicated.

Your post is quite an interesting one.I run two cybercafe business and a small wireless service for clients in my area.
What prompted me to this biz was as a result of where I did my youth service (NYSC).
I was exposed to 6 hours of internet browsing every day (year 2003).
As a result of the addiction to the internet , on finishing my service year I was retained where I serve (The Guardian Newspapers Limited) though I rejected it .
I convinced my parents to invest in cyber café business as that time there was only two café available in the state capital where I reside Lokoja.
My parents having gone through the business plan carefully they invested 1.75Million in the business as at 2003(mind you my parents savings of retirement was the money for investment).
My first baptism of fire was the Internet service provider cleverly sold used equipment to us as new ones.
To cut the whole story short , the link was down for 7 months, I develop all kinds of problems but God realy gave me the gut to overcome it, Had to raise another N750,000
To start from scratch with the remaining scrap of equipment from the first company,
I forge ahead and I was ready to turn the business around so that my parents retirement benefit will not go down the drain.
Today I still run the café business from 2 locations and ISP service ,With assistance of God am currently putting up 4 units of 2 bedroom flats up in town.
I still net about N180k every month after payment of all expenses.
MY ADVICE FOR YOU:
YOUR LOCATION MATTERS IN RUNNING INTERNET SERVICE AND GOOD ISP WITH GOOD BROWSING SPEED.
If you need Help am available

I think whatalife's posting is quite instructive. All the rest are either not people who solve problems or they are just the regular network engineers with no real cybercafe experience. I run 4 cafes myself and still opening more. Whatalife is right. If you can arrest the problems of the cybercafe It is not only good business it is a business that has the potentials to grow to a big one.

Most advise given dont deal with the real problem with a cafe. It is the lack of technical and managerial problem-solving skill that makes failure inevitable in the business.

As a previous poster has already stated "Diversification is key. You need to create and target niche audiences". If you want to make a lasting profit in the cafe business you must avoid it becoming an e-mail cafe. Target customer segments and give them the service they require. Also you must go the extra mile to stop your staff from stealing time from the system.

The ideal thing for any cafe this era is to include wireless hotspots, and if possible WiMax. You'll not be limited to give service in your area only but other areas.

Most importantly, make sure you have the right ISP that'll provide uninterrupted service for a full 30day period. This will help boost your credibility before your customers. They don't know your ISP, they know you. So if anything goes wrong, you'll take the heat.

One other thing, being technically sound is very ideal or you get a trusted person who is. This is because most problems are internal but we cafe owners have gotten used to blaming ISPs once there's a small glitch without checking our own end thoroughly. This is where bandwidth managers/monitors come in handy.

Please note: I, personally, don't trust any Nigerian ISP for now because I've dealt with some and was SERIOUSLY disappointed. The speed could be very ok but the downtimes are just too much.

I remember one bitter experience (4years ago) where our cafe went down in the early hours of the morning (b/w 8am & 10am). I called my 9ja ISP then to inquire about the problem and to my utter shock someone told me they were trying to rearrange the office and had to shut the equipment down. Can you imagine, I had customers waiting in line while my ISP was busy managing its customers from and office where they can be switched off and on at will like NEPA (PHCN).

Most foreign ISPs are great. They give you what you want, when you want but they want their payments on time too.

t_hanz:

The ideal thing for any cafe this era is to include wireless hotspots, and if possible WiMax. You'll not be limited to give service in your area only but other areas.[color=#990000]

Most importantly, make sure you have the right ISP that'll provide uninterrupted service for a full 30day period. This will help boost your credibility before your customers. They don't know your ISP, they know you. So if anything goes wrong, you'll take the heat.

One other thing,  being technically sound is very ideal or you get a trusted person who is. This is because most problems are internal but we cafe owners have gotten used to blaming ISPs once there's a small glitch without checking our own end thoroughly. This is where bandwidth managers/monitors come in handy.

Please note: I, personally, don't trust any Nigerian ISP for now because I've dealt with some and was SERIOUSLY disappointed. The speed could be very ok but the downtimes are just too much.

I remember one bitter experience (4years ago) where our cafe went down in the early hours of the morning (b/w 8am & 10am). I called my 9ja ISP then to inquire about the problem and to my utter shock someone told me they were trying to rearrange the office and had to shut the equipment down. Can you imagine,  I had customers waiting in line while my ISP was busy managing its customers from and office where they can be switched off and on at will like NEPA (PHCN).

Most foreign ISPs are great. They give you what you want, when you want but they want their payments on time too.

t_hanz, how can one facilitate the point you raised here which i highlighted in red?

Hi VIPICO,

Inorder to deploy a wireless hotspot, you'll need a wireless router and a hotspot timer. Also someone technically savvy should deploy this for you if you don't know what to do. It'll be worth the amount especially if you don't know what to do.

However you can use the Mikrotik Router OS which has a built-in Hotspot timer. Mikrotik is rugged, stable and easy to deploy. It works on a Linux platform. You can read more about Mikrotik at www.mikrotik.com I've been using and deploying Mikrotik for people and haven't had complaints that aren't easily solved.

In terms of WiFi hotspot and WiMax; A WiFi hotspot has a lower coverage area (i.e. your office building and a few offices/houses near you) than a WiMax which has a larger range and would extend to cover long distances (deployed strategically, WiMax can cover a particular city). It is just a matter of funds to buy the WiMax equipment, deploy and have a timer to use for your clients.

I hope this helps.

t_hanz:

Hi VIPICO,

Inorder to deploy a wireless hotspot, you'll need a wireless router and a hotspot timer. Also someone technically savvy should deploy this for you if you don't know what to do. It'll be worth the amount especially if you don't know what to do.

However you can use the Mikrotik Router OS which has a built-in Hotspot timer. Mikrotik is rugged, stable and easy to deploy. It works on a Linux platform. You can read more about Mikrotik at www.mikrotik.com I've been using and deploying Mikrotik for people and haven't had complaints that aren't easily solved.

In terms of WiFi hotspot and WiMax; A WiFi hotspot has a lower coverage area (i.e. your office building and a few offices/houses near you) than a WiMax which has a larger range and would extend to cover long distances (deployed strategically, WiMax can cover a particular city). It is just a matter of funds to buy the WiMax equipment, deploy and have a timer to use for your clients.

I hope this helps.

wow! t_hanz,
You're the man. Can u further fill me in on the estimated cost of these equipments. I have a friend in Canada who has been trying to get me this hotspot equipments. But am a bit hesitant since i do not have much know-how about the whole thing. thanx , man

Hi VIPICO,

I'm glad I could offer some form of help. To deploy hotspot you'll need either a wireless G router (http://www.buyright.biz/productdetails.php?categoryid=c06&subcategoryid=c98&productid=p0832) or wireless N router (http://www.buyright.biz/productdetails.php?categoryid=c06&subcategoryid=c98&productid=p1033). The links are from a site here in Nigeria that sells these products.

To deploy wireless, note that you'll also need wireless LAN cards on your desktops, as for laptops, most of them already have wireless cards installed (i.e. for the more recent laptops). However, if you already have a wired network (structured cabling), you can still integrate it with the wireless network which means you don't have to remove all your cables and go buying wireless LAN cards for all your systems as this might be expensive unless you have the funds available. Most wireless routers have a provision for both wired and wireless connections. You can check some wireless LAN cards here (http://www.buyright.biz/categorylanding/C06/C18).

Please note: As I said earlier, if you are not familiar with any of these, contact a responsible network engineer who has had experience with these to help you out. Also I'm not recommending the site above. I just found it online and saw that it'll help you with product specifications and an idea of the price. If you want to buy from them please do your due diligence first. I'm not saying they're not ok, I've not just had any experience with them that is all.

If you stay in Lagos, then you can go to the computer village in Ikeja and do some window shopping but do it with someone who knows and has had previous experience with the equipment(s) you wish to deploy.

I hope this helps, one more thing, for a hotspot timer, you can check this out (http://www.antamedia.net/).

I wish you the very best.

whatalife:

Your post is quite an interesting one.I run two cybercafe business and a small wireless service for clients in my area.
What prompted me to this biz was as a result of where I did my youth service (NYSC).
I was exposed to 6 hours of internet browsing every day (year 2003).
As a result of the addiction to the internet , on finishing my service year I was retained where I serve (The Guardian Newspapers Limited) though I rejected it .
I convinced my parents to invest in cyber café business as that time there was only two café available in the state capital where I reside Lokoja.
My parents having gone through the business plan carefully they invested 1.75Million in the business as at 2003(mind you my parents savings of retirement was the money for investment).
My first baptism of fire was the Internet service provider cleverly sold used equipment to us as new ones.
To cut the whole story short , the link was down for 7 months, I develop all kinds of problems but God realy gave me the gut to overcome it, Had to raise another N750,000
To start from scratch with the remaining scrap of equipment from the first company,
I forge ahead and I was ready to turn the business around so that my parents retirement benefit will not go down the drain.
Today I still run the café business from 2 locations and ISP service ,With assistance of God am currently putting up 4 units of 2 bedroom flats up in town.
I still net about N180k every month after payment of all expenses.
MY ADVICE FOR YOU:
YOUR LOCATION MATTERS IN RUNNING INTERNET SERVICE AND GOOD ISP WITH GOOD BROWSING SPEED.
If you need Help am available

What alife, am about starting a cafe in a place close to ur locality, I need ur assistance/advice, u can reach me via mathinips@yahoo.com 08037800116

I have managed a cybercafe in Ogba before. Write or call me with the problems you are facing and I will come up with the right solutions. At least, I have handled, almost problem anybody can think of in cybercafe business with three years experience.

0805 043 2278
realbrowny@yahoo.com

Can someone please advice or recommend the most reliable and fast ISP to use for a Cybercafe in Lagos (Mainland)?

Well,many cafe in Nigeria need to be seriously improved in many areas.This include the security and the speed.That is just it.

What more can l add to this thread,l dire say all have been said.But let me add that for you to be successful in a cyber cafe biz you must be prepared to go extra mile.Advertise on a regular basis.Maintain close contact with your customers,thru phone and e-mail.Be ready to add new things to the service you provide for your customers and by all means blow your own trumpet.On a final note if you can get your hands on one report l read some years back titled [b]"How to print your own money using your cyber cafe"[/b],it will surey help,because there are some useful ideas in the report which l am sure will help you a great deal. All the best.

Amitage Partners-SME consultants
Amitage Partners is a small & medium businesses consulting firm specializing in helping owners grow their businesses and their bottom line, by responding to entrepreneurs' need for practical business and marketing services to turn their innovative ideas into successful business ventures.
Contact : info@amitagepartners.com
Lekan 017492114

The need for a ‘fast’ internet service provider cannot be argued. But the down time associated with service providers is always over looked, downtimes are an unavoidable issue considering the numerous issues associated with running a business in Nigeria et al power, man power, , vandalisation etc.
With all this issues considered, I would like to introduce the BNA, this is a bandwidth aggregator. This hard ware is a one-sided Internet bonding appliance that provides aggregated Internet connectivity to cyber cafes, small and medium size businesses , enterprises, apartments, hotels, hospitals and other multi-tenant buildings via aggregating multiple Internet access lines for increased performance and reliability. With the BNA, multiple DSL, cable modem or T1 services can be combined to provide higher speed and more reliable Internet access.
The BNA combines multiple Internet access lines, each on a 10/100baseT Ethernet interface, into a single aggregated Internet access line, again on a 10/100baseT Ethernet interface. The aggregation over the Internet access lines is done even for a single session, providing the full aggregate speed. T[b]he BNA supports aggregation of up to 6 Internet access lines and additional cellular data cards[/b][/size][size=8pt]. Each Internet access line may be through a DSL modem, cable modem, T1, satellite modem, fractional DS3, DS3, fiber, cellular or any other broadband connection. In simpler terms the aggregation converges the bandwidth from 6 different service providers into a funnel and out into your network as one source.

for more details on specification and functionality:
send a mail to: klisboneconsult@yahoo.com
or call 07025053633

@sholyins and other cybercafe operators


I am here to inform you of an ISP in Victoria Island that can solve your cybercafe issues though with some conditions attach to it before you are hooked to the network

1. The cafe MUST be conducive-airconditioners and clean environment
2. Aleast some years of experience in cafe bsuiness
3. Minimum of 15 pcs
4. Provision of a mast

You would then be hook to a new product currently being used by operators of cafe, Silverbird and tetrazinni outlets called hotspot. For the avoidance of doubt, you could go to:
Silverbird galleria or tetrazinni outlets,
Ozone cafe at Ilupeju,
Imperial Logistics in Eleganza complex in Apapa,
Cybermovers in Awolowo Rd Ikeja,
Rechel Cafe opp Oja jakande Estate Isolo,
Chilten Cafe In Alara Street Onike
Royal Cafe in F block Moeremi Hostel and madam Tinubu Hall in Unilag and De Cafe-Shop B Unilag Shopping Complex to see for your self the truth test of speed. This hotspot would allow your customers to use their wireless laptops or wireless PDA to browse conveniently

The said company is Swift Networks Limited, you could send a mail to me for forward explanation- tufot@swiftng.com

Thank you,

You can get a good timer @ Avosoft http://www.avo-soft.com/

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you ve all posted a very nice post here, good one in deed, the major problem has been highlighted there is no much for me to post again, @poster, you need to be IT knowledgeable, get a good IT Technician or a cybercafe consultant, you can reach me on phone 08088155963 or engrdammy2001@yahoo.co.uk

Hello,

I need a partner to run a Cybercafe cafe due to expansion on Systems,Gen etc, it was running before it went down due to numbers of systems, or expenses more than income, i would like to make it work again but short of fund or if i can secure a loan direct i wouldn't mind, thanks, call me, on 07031263050,08059427366

t_hanz,

Pls post your contact details.