LanLizards Advice (Score 1)

My cybercafe has been open almost 5 years now, and there are a few keys things I've learved.

1: If you plan on getting rich, invest your money and time elsewhere.
2: Folks come to socialiaze. Your computers must run well, but do not need to be cutting edge.
3: Keep costs low. Sounds obvious, but you'd be amazed at how many screw this up.
4: If you are not approachable or generally don't get along with people. Stay away.
5: Be prepared to not make a dime for 2 years. Budget accordingly.
6: Your place should look nice. Paint is cheep. Use it.
7: Make your pricing easy to figure out.
8: Locate where people can WALK to you.
9: Near Middle/High School = Good. Near College = Bad. College kids have no money.
10: Watch your employees. They should not be giving perks to friends.
11: Join iGames.org. Great member forums and info, plus some game licenses ONLY available there.
12: No margin in selling new games. Don't add that to your plan.
13: How tolerant is your significant other? This is a long painful trip.
14: If a location seems to expensive, keep looking.
15: Locate far far away from another cafe/center even if they stink on ice.
16: Advertise in every high school paper in your area.
17: At the start, hand out cards to customers where if someone else brings it in, the original customer get free time.

I'd say more, but you really need to join iGames.org (http://www.igames.org/) if you are serious. Also feel free to check us out. We're in the Notre Dame area in a city called Mishawaka. My place is called LanLizards (http://www.lanlizards.com/).