Cafe Digital!

THE Internet is rightfully being claimed as the best thing to have ever been invented for mankind after sliced bread and instant noodles! With fluctuating machine costs and even more questionable quality standards the PC is still out of reach of many a common man in our country. In such a situation cyber cafes, which are mushrooming at every street corner, have recognised the need for connectivity and are offering various packages at affordable prices.

Target audience

It is important that the entrepreneur first recognises his target audience and becomes familiar with their spending patterns. A thorough understanding of the target audience helps one to decide on the best location for the browsing centre to attract maximum customers.

Location

Is crucial and as mentioned depends on the nature of the target audience. If the target audience were businessmen then the best location would be a commercial business centre. On the other hand if the target audience is housewives, and retirees then the centre would profit when set up in the residential quarters of the city. The location of the centre determines the amount of rent to be paid for the space.

Rent

Rent is largely determined by the commercial value of the area in which the rental space is situated. Commercial space in the business locality is much more costly than in the residential areas. In many cities and towns of India the local municipality and town planning departments offer commercial space for entrepreneurs at a much more purse friendly rent.

Furniture

The browser needs comfortable furniture to surf the net and this means that ergonomically designed chairs need to be bought. Workstations to fit in the monitor and the CPU are available in wood, plastic and other synthetic materials in the furniture stores in a wide range of prices.

After setting aside resources for these costs the entrepreneur has to start investing in the technology, which is required to set up and run the Internet browsing centre.

Technology

The technology costs can be divided into hardware and software. The hardware consists of the monitor, central processing unit, the modem, the hub, the mouse, and speakers. All these can be bought at competitive prices off the shelf from the various computer dealers in the open market. Since assembled PCs are more cost effective they are preferred by most of the entrepreneurs. Annual maintenance contracts with the computer dealer ensure the smooth running of the machines.The software required covers a wide range right from the essential MS office set up to photoshop programs which enables to store photographs and graphics.

Some of the most basic programs needed are Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator - Internet navigation programs, Eudora, Microsoft Outlook Express-email clients, MIRC, ICQ, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger - popular Chat programs.

The computer dealer from whom the machines have been purchased will download all these software.

Franchisee

If one is daunted by the task of setting up their own browsing centre, then they can become a franchisee for one of the bigger chains. This has a decided advantage as the brand name gives instant recognition. Another advantage is that the franchisee gets in depth training in the various areas of managing a cyber cafefrom the parent company, while the independent owner has to learn from experience.

Connectivity

Other than VSNL (Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited), which is a government Internet Service Provider, many private ISPs like Dishnet, Satyam Infoway also offer packages at competitive prices. One has to pay for a certain number of hours of connectivity.

Initially cafeowners prefer to get a dial up connection, which are more cost effective and later on switch to ISDN lines. With the advent of Internet through cable more people are opting for this technology, which needs a one-time investment, for the cable modem, special lines, and provides life long connectivity with a nominal monthly charge for the service.

Allied services

What ensures the long term success of browsing centres is the allied services that it can offer other than just internet connectivity. Most centres provide DTP (Desktop Publication) services, colour and B/W printouts, scanning facilities, and short-term courses, which help one to optimise the use of the information superhighway. These are value additions, which guarantee that the customer comes back, as multiple services can be availed of under one roof.

Subject to availability of space many a browsing centres have also set up dining areas with a limited menu.

With enough knowledge of the commercial aspects and technology one can conduct this business profitably.

However, as sources for market information and business strategy are absent an entrepreneur has to learn on the job.

It is estimated that there were a total of 322 million Internet users worldwide in June 2000 and with more logging on each day, starting a cyber cafe by far seems like the best ``low investment, high returns'' venture for today's entrepreneur.

MALINI SURYANARAYANAN

maalini.mds@careercommunity.co.in