I believe setting up a cybercafe is more than just having a lot of computer with games and fast internet connection. How about hardware recommendations? Especially in dealing with modem, router, switches...which is the most reliable one?

What about legal matters? Licensing? Operating hours?

Software licensing... which online game needs license and which is free to install without the need of paying for license every month? How much is the license for game A? How much is the license for game B?

Serious talk only please... hopefully this thread will help those who want to open a cybercafe.

This post has been edited by soulfly: Dec 30 2006, 08:40 PM

i hav no experience about cc as in don own one, but i juz hav a lil` interest in how cc operate, since i do come across cc programmes and had develop one for my school project. I'm just giving my opinion here, and only using examples...

About Legal Licensing:

OS
Branded Pc: if you're ordering like... 50 gaming rigs from Dell, i think they do bundle on site licensing for winXP. so OS should'nt be a problem.

Rojak Rig from ur average pc shop: yes, this is the concerning one. pirated os are commonly installed in pc shops, and its dangerous when ur running a business. i'd suggest getting a package from an authorise distributor of winXP. it'd be cheaper. its the same as founding a company and buying workstations for your company.

Game Licensing
Example of LAN Games:

DoTA:
since dota is a mod from warcraft 3: tft, it seemed to me that u need a full-site license. i'm not sure gaming licenses are the same as OS, coz MsWindows Xp can be like, 1 package, 1 installation disc, 50 on-site license for 50 pc only. but i've no experience in gaming licenses. but it'd be terrible if u need to purchase 50 license for your cc.

NFS Series:
In most wanted, there are LAN settings, so its possible to run NFSMW for ur cc, but not for NFS:Carbon. NFS carbon does not hav any lan setting, unless the new patches come with them.

CS:
?? no comment. i hav no idea...

Example of Online Games:
Games like RO and RYL are not free, but the client distribution is free i think. therefore the owner of cc do not hav to pay for licensing fees. only players need to buy accounts [*starter pack i think], or access times.

Example of Free Online Games:
Games like Maple and SuperDancerOnline are free in terms of distribution and accessing, so i guess there should'nt be a problem.

About hardware:
In terms of hardwares, its very subjective. i'd suggest using LCD monitors for saving spaces, and placing ur cpu on top of the racks to save spaces.

About the networks, i guess u havto find a contractor to setup ur shop lot before moving in those hardwares, to place all network cables and plugs ready. A normal modem will be enough to me, as normal adsl modems can handles to 6Mbps. Now, would you be subscribing to Streamyx? or seeking for Jaring for a faster dedicated line [*T3]?

Getting a Cisco or BlueCoat bridge with around 30 - 50 ports [*if you're running big size cc] wil be sufficient.

What I think will be faced
Since there are like... so many hardwares [*if you're operating on over 30 pcs], i find these big size operation cc to hav signal issues. customers will not hav good reception on their mobile phones. this might not be a problem, but can anybody suggest a solution?

Operating Hours
There are not alot of cc that opens on 10am, but i've seen quite alot of such scene - "teenagers sitting outside of cc early in the morning [*around 9 to 11] waiting for the cc to open, especially during after-exam times, or holiday times. However, not alot of cc will open at tat time, mayb only during noon. Some even only open at 2pm. This means that you're losing customers, but is it worth to open earlier just for 10 customers?

And also, will you open ur cc till 2am? I've seen crazy ppl who goes to cc after hanging out with frens, and after clubbing at midnite. there are also crazy students who goes to cc at 9 and play till 1-2am. Will it be legal for cc to operate at such hour?

anything else?

ps: anybody dares to install illegal [*in here, pirated] softwares?

Regarding the OS licensing, if not mistaken OEM XP should be no problem since it can be considered bundle together with the computer, right? Budget wise, I read somewhere saying that using OEM license is more cost effective compare to open licensing, though the cons is that the license goes away with the PC if the PC is thrown away... not a big issue though.

Anyway.... is XP Home fine enough for cc usage? Or should we get an XP Pro instead?

Most of the CC are using Home, Pro is preety useless anyway for a CC... IIS and etc those function are preety useless for a CC

Regarding to your post, yes, OEM OS are MUCH cheaper compared to Stand Alone License. The difference could be of Rm1k. Moreover, most cc will choose to go for Branded pc [*like Acer or Dell], which bundles WinXP together. That alone saves alot of cash, besides the good services [*albeit on Dell have my trust].

In comparing Home edition and Pro edition of WinXP, to me, personally, they hav not much difference. Pro provides better network configs and better encryption system, but both are utterly useless in cases of cc. They still function the same, and with a lil` tweek, they DO look the same. So i'd suggest going for Home.

p/s: anybody has any list of cc management programs being commercialised? Please list the name, the URL, and the price.

I have a friend also who is in a process of opening his cybercafe in Johor.
If not mistaken, he was complaining to me that he needs to buy each license for each game in a single PC. Means if you have dota, fifa07, needforspeed. You need to buy each game title. Also you need to renew the license each year. Kinda costly if you ask me.

i operate a cc in kepong call GamerSphere Internet Cafe, what i can share is its very important to scout for a good location first b4 & know the area well b4 attempt to open there. Its pretty usual that u wil need to pay some kopi to some revelant govt body so they wont come n kacau u la if u plan to open 24 hrs or getting the license. Some areas u even have to pay monthly 'protection fees'.

Currently there are 4 major companies that is holding the game license :

Sendi Mutiara - is the most expensive one as they are the one who hold the rights to Blizzard Games (ie warcraft3/dota)
about 2.8-3k per month for 40pc

EA (gamers.com.my) - Electronics Arts
about 800-1k per month for 40pc

New Era - they pretty much covered all the other games
about 450-600 per month for 40 pc

Eclub - counterstrike
about 400 per month for 40 pc

After u pay the monthly license fee to any of this companies, u can install whatever games they have. No need pay anything else liao, if stil pay then better dun open cc. zzzz

Hardware recommendations :
I think it really depends on ur budget la, 3 years ago the pc with some minimal upgrade like ram & graphic card can last until now. But now if do some homework on the upcoming games that is goin to be launch u will need some serious gaming hardware, unless u think dota is still goin to be hot for the next 3 years. One friend of mine, he open cc almost monthly basis but he's using lower range pc, the reason for him is he want to have ROI faster and for me i opened my cafe because im a gamer & its my dream so i invested in really considerably high spec pc for cafe use. Currently my cafe has 48 pc of this spec :

2.66dual core intel
1gig 667 ram
160gig hd
7600 GS & GT graphic cards
19inch LG LCD monitor
Microsoft mouse & keyboard
Altec Lansing speakers

the cost per avg pc cost me was about 3.2k(with window xp pro license) 3 months+ ago. If the area u are interested in opening a cafe, check what type of games they wanna play first & what type of race over there. For example, the malay ppl usually like to play CS games, war-type game and the chinese likes dota. There are many factors u have to think first b4 u open, i planned the whole thing for almost 6 months, took about 4months to scout for location and the other 2 doing homework on games/hardwares.

Just a summary, if u plan to open a cafe make sure its goin to be 40pc n above otherwise just forget bout it. If its a low cost one, a budget around 130k-160k maybe can liao and a high cost could be anywhere above 200k+..(for a 40+ pc cafe)

so... is it a wise choice to buy the licensing for DoTA from Sendi Mutiara if u hav like... 90% of your customer playing DoTA, and ur cc is always full a nights, or nearly full... from 2pm till 2am, until ppl hav to book places, and consider Rm2 per hr. is it worth?

and btw, does Sendi Mutiara's Blizzard licensing includes WoW?

ps: considering Rm3.2k for tat spec, and Core2Duo [*i presume], moreover with licensed Xp, i think its a good deal u hav. and with tat spec, many games can run kinda smooth, unless all ur customers want to play Oblivion with full settings, which is not possible to happen. many would play DoW, CS, Dota, these sort of games... don really need good specs.

sad to say it's usually a MUST to get license from sendi since thats what most of the ppl play nowadays. to know whether it is worth or not juz do a simple maths :

(Number of pc) x 10 hours x rm2 = xxx

thats roughly what most of cybercafe are getting a day if base on rm2.

WoW is a mmorpg game and does not need license frm sendi as far as i know they are dun have the rights to collect money for WOW.

3.2k is juz for the normal 2.66dualcore, not the C2D... if wanna get C2D then prepare to add another extra 600-1k la. The reason i get Intel is because i like the Game On advertising materials that they provide but not everyone can get some good deal from Intel also la, so have to know some ppl n etc. Im lucky that my friend is quite influential in the cc market, thats why i get some really good deals & promo stuffs. I think alot of low spec pc can run the games that u mention easily, but dun forget EA juz launch battlefield2142 and the upcoming crysis & c&c3.... those games are gonna rape the lower spec pc very hard.

Good info [gs]JackMin! I believe this kind of information is what people want to read.

Anyway... Eclub got any website?

Eclub website : http://e-clubmalaysia.com/index.html

Anyway the only games that doesnt require any $ for their license is MMORPG type since this type of games collect revenue frm players & game cards sold to them.

Connections : anything that is SDSL should be good, even a ADSL 2mb SUCK big time!! but SDSL usually available at commercial areas or klangvalley/kl areas only

Branded or non-branded : personally i prefer those non-branded since they are usually cheaper & can be easily configured to suit ur needs. Most importantly is the warranty issue, can u get the faulty parts replace with a 1 to 1 within 24 hours? This is very important as every hour that your pc isnt operating means losing $$. In fact those ppl who i sees who open cafe n using branded pc like dell, acer n etc are ppl who doesnt have much knowledge on computers lol, they definately wont be getting a 24hour on site service or parts change(unless u sign those agreement with them like dell which they will extra charge u more).
Another reason not to choose branded is their casing are usually easy to break in (espcially ppl who steal ram), thats why have to choose a really proper casing which will be hard for them. i beleive 95% cafe has experience this type of probs, even mine i have encounter such probs but ive rectify the probs now(hopefully).
Then again if those robbers really wanna break in ur pc, u cant do much, but i would rather them take a longer time & frustrating for them as well.

This post has been edited by [gs]JackMin: Dec 6 2006, 12:02 AM

which means that u can just install the game client, correct? no need to obtain any kind of license?

besides Warcraft/DOTA and CounterStrike .... what other LAN games which is hot played at cafes currently?

This post has been edited by soulfly: Dec 6 2006, 12:16 AM

yes u can install any MMORPG clients without obtain any license. beside dota/cs, very hard to say cause it really depends on the location. For example, my place im starting to get alot of ppl playing battlefield2142 & fifa now. Can say it depends on how well u try to intro a game to your customers. But games like fifa is quite ok la for any location since majority young teen/adults likes football.

there's one cafe in my town charging RM3. they still doing pretty well.
probably due to:
comfortable environment, road side, 50% pc got LCD flat screen, less pc problem,
all can go battlenet if not mistaken.

they mostly full after dinner.



regarding game licensing fee...
i saw some cafe in KL installed with lots of free beta online mpog game.
that can attract gamer and get them addicted, while game is free.
example, gunbound, ryl, ......
so, cafe owner must constantly be updated on free beta game.
just install them on pc, some ppl go cafe see what other playing and they follow too.
some go there dunno what to play, they click on the programme icon on desktop.


This post has been edited by liquidoice: Dec 7 2006, 11:34 AM

Probably it's not a good time to set up a cybercafe. I heard that in Sarawak, all new cybercafe permit has been frozen. Darn those idiot government.

How bout installing a webcam to monitor the operation of the cc..
Since nowadays there are many thief..
They usually pick hidden pc to play and then steal usually
RAM,Cable...

I've caught some...(although i'm not the owner..)
I seen that they open the cd panel and through that they can steal...

Any solution..?

This post has been edited by hr_elie: Dec 8 2006, 12:06 PM

Due to many parents complains and also many illegal cc turned into a gambling outlet. That's y the cc license frozen.

usually cc install cctv. webcam cannot zoom on the thief.

there wont be a good time to set up a cybercafe even if the govt permits, the relevant govt dept will make it hard for you to open one unless u give some kopi, sad to say thats how it works. Anyway majority of the cc around malaysia, dont have license. Some ppl think only gangster will come ask money frm u, but now 21st century is different... its those with 'badge' who will come n ask money frm u.

For the security, its very important that u install cctv and its on for 24hours... u wont know wat happen & also u need it for insurance purposes.

This post has been edited by [gs]JackMin: Dec 8 2006, 08:45 PM

Some people said that it's still possible to have internet service (the classic cybercafe) without gaming if you're running under computer shop. Dunno how far true is it.

how to survive without gaming? almost everybody has screamyx and their own PC.

unless he have some unique selling point where other people cant have those at home or other CC.

a question about gaming.. is FEAR combat one of the hot games being played theses days?.. haven't been to a cc for so long..

There is no lisence needed for FEAR combat. You only have to download and provide your enail and some details about yourself to obtain a CD key. But then if you have 50pcs in your cc, you'll need 50 different email addresses.

Also, i used to be a student at mmu melaka. There's CC there called i-relax that also have pool tables. this is a good idea for extra revenue since the tables are almost always occupied during the wee hours. is this allowed under the cc lisence?..or do you need a totaly different lisence (entertaiment lisence?) for pool tables, billiards, arcade machines ect?

Wanna ask.. if i open a CC cum Comp shop do i need to apply for an extra licence?

For MS Licensing for Cyber Cafes you need to purchase the OEM or Full package license as well as complete the SW Rental Agreement.

http://www.microsoft.com/malaysia/genuine/...netcafe/mra.asp

majority of student housing areas still do not have streamyx.

YES, u need 2 license
1. PUSAT KOMPUTER
2. PUSAT INTERNET

I think currently PJ area still no licence for CyberCafe yet.
All cc under PJ area are using Pusat Komputer or Cafe Minuman Licence at the moment.

Anyway, to me, maintaining the cybercafe is the most challenging.

Always ensure all online games patch is up to date and install every new games.

However, there are plenty of solution available to manage PC now.
I'm now selling the HDDless solution for cybercafe outlet.

As i do marketing for the solution, i learnt how current cc manage their system..

Anyone newbie serious about opening a cc can contact me for a drink to talk more about it ya..

I'm always around Sg Buloh, Sunway, subang, damansara & puchong area.

i've been worked in cc for few month , i heard that da boss said not easy to earn .. hm .. or i should say fortune is growing but the cash doesnt really growing
he told me that the amount that he earned every month , have to pay back .. such as updating pc , buy in new game ( license ) , maintain , the fee of like hardwork spoilt etc ..
but .. its depend on different ppl own mind ..



and the legal operation time is actually until 12am only right ?

This post has been edited by skylands: Dec 19 2006, 07:18 PM

there is a lot of concern if u wanna setup a cc

your capital would include....rental, renovation, pc's, licence from relevant authority, networking cost, furniture, airconds etc
monthly expenditure....upgrading pc and peripherals, electricity, water, phone bill, salary, replacement of parts etc....

looking at the per hour rate nowadays, u may need to have a lot of capital to setup before even breaking even.

also need to take into consideration the existing cc and possible competitors

u may need to think twice before opeining a cc

as i know last time open a CC quite easy and less restriction but now... seem like lots of thing to consider like competitors, good selling point (since many ppl hv streamyx), big capital

last time planning to open a CC b4 but while planning facing lots of problem so give ady

CC is not so profitable like the old days any more. High investment. High running overhead. Every month after paid overhead not much left as profit. Just enaugh to survive only. Long operating hours. Slow capital return. By the time you fully return capital it might be time for another endless upgrade investment. Notice once in a while we got ppl selling cc closed down items in garage sales? If got sell food and drinks operators need to get the licence like hawker license which need to get vacination injection yearly. In my area the bandaran won't issue operating license for upstair shop CC. Said got fire escape problem etc. PC software licence AT LEAST you need OEM XP Home for each PC. Many online games which previously pay to play are now free. They obtain profit by selling items.

This post has been edited by seeseng: Dec 20 2006, 01:20 AM

as i know the most profitable CC is FTZ in SS15,weekend sure full until waiting list 100++
because that CC location is too good

i think setting up a CC not easy now...somemore now CC not so "hot" like last time...coz most of the people have their own pc and laptop now...so they will spend their time at cafe (starbuck) rather than spend $ at CC...

yeah , even the waiting list is 100++ , but still as they said , profit return very slow ,and the fee still 2 ~ 3 ringgit per hour...
like if u only got 50 pc , so no matter how many ppl waiting but u still making the same profit at the moment ..
its my opinion .. correct me if im wrong ..

i doubt ftz has a waiting list of 100+ coz im quite a regular there eventhough i own a cafe lol. But even without that kind of waitin list, their income can easily hit 6k on weekdays n maybe 8k+ on weekends a day. (i havent include their profit frm selling drinks which is 100% margin) This is how i calculate, 300pc(not fullhouse) x 10 hours a day x rm2.20 = 6k ++
So i can bet they are making bout 180-200k a month, minus the expenses at the most around 40k... net profit at least around 150k a month. What i can say is, if u have alot of money and have such prime location(all the college in surrounding area) then it is a good investment.

But then again, setting up a cafe is not as easy as buying computer, getting shop and etc. There is alot of problem in the licensing issue unless u are a datuk or powerful family background with good connection. And if u only have a small capital (anything below 300k), then better dun do this business cause the profit margin will be little(for me la) and u have to think where to get the money after 2-3 years to upgrade the pc as well.

erm...school holiday weekend will reach that lvl,is quite scary
open a CC in KL isn't that profitable to others city,am i right?

the license really tiring em ... let's count only 100 pc .. only windows license edi cost u 50k... and what abt game .. at least more than 10 games in every pc :/ and server fee .. hm ..

the license issue i talk bout is the cybercafe license issue by majlis perbandaran or the local enforcement. window license is actually added to the pc cost already for most ppl and usually can get cheaper by buying bulk. The games is not really much prob as long as u pay the monthly license fee to the local license holder, they dun care if u install pirate or original.

yhtan : not true la, sometime even open in smaller unknown places also very good profit. Usually good places like ss15, ss2 or wangsa maju are really great place to open cybercafe, PROVIDED u are the only one there la. But once ppl see u making money then alot of ppl will start to jump in as well, then itll be very competitive and hard for those without much capital to survive. Juz look at how FTZ asiacafe now affecting alot of cafe's business in ss15 as a newcomer and so do their foodcourt as well which has closed down a couple kopitiam nearby. If u have that kind of capital then u dun need to worry much but if money an issue then better do it in smaller town areas.

This post has been edited by [gs]JackMin: Dec 21 2006, 12:05 AM

so hows ur return per year?is it exceed 20%?

at the rate im goin, i should able to get back in 1 1/2 yrs-, but im planning for phase 2 which is expanding the cafe so that might shorten the duration of my first initial investment. One of my fren who open a cafe with really lower capital than mine but his profit is giving him a 8mths ROI and he has the only cafe in that area. For me i dun really regret of investing so much coz the main reason i open this cafe is something i wanna do for a long time now as a 'gamer'.

ohh...so u do it for ur interest
8 month ROI,not bad....but i hate those CC which their pc sux to the max

Thanks badawi_rocks for creating this section.
This topic especially, might've been a joke if posted in Kopitiam, but its here to stay.
And it is not just me, I'm sure alot out there are interested in the cybercafe business despite topics of forex, stocks & whatsnot. This topic is for all discussions on cybercafes and issues that comes with it ~ the capitals, the maintenances, the cost, the laws & legals, the social impacts, the systems, profit & loss, and everything else that connects to it.

An Internet cafe (as refered to in wikipedia) or cybercafe is a place where one can use a computer with Internet access for a fee, usually per hour or minute; sometimes one can have unmetered access with a pass for a day or month, etc. It may or may not serve as a regular cafe as well, with food and drinks being served.

Taking China for example: according to "Survey of China Internet Caf� Industry" by the Ministry of Culture, in 2005: China has 110,000 Internet cafes, with more than 1,000,000 people working in this area, contributing 18,500,000,000 Yuan to China's GDP. More than 70% Internet caf� visitors are from 18 years old to 30. 90% are male, 65% unmarried, 54% hold college degree or higher. More than 70% visitors play computer games. 20% of China's Internet users go to InternetCafe.

Milestones:

* Before 1995. An Internet Caf� called 3C+T appeared in Shanghai, suspected as the first one in China (Chinese people are still looking for the first Internet Cafe). Price: 20 Yuan per hour
* 1995~1998. China's Internet Caf�s reached a period of fast development. Playing unconnected games is the main purpose of caf� users. Price: 15~20 Yuan per hour
* 1998~2000. Booming era of Internet cafes. Competition became more and more fierce.
* 2000~2002. Booming era of Internet games. First Internet chain caf� occurred in 2001. Nine people were killed in an Internet caf� fire in Beijing in June, 2002. A new regulation was released by the state government, giving the Ministry of Culture full responsibility of licensing Internet cafes.
* After 2002, heavy censorships were imposed, including real name registration. At the end of 2004, more than 70,000 Internet cafes were closed in a nationwide campaign.

=======================================

But of course, that example is on China. What's to say on our local CCs?
I know there can be alot of questions and I also know in LYT, there are quite a handful of CC owners as well that are able to give the best recommended answers.

To start things off for everyone to answer, CC visitors and CC owners alike:

How does your neighborhood CC(s)/your most visited CC(s)/your own CC(s) goes fare in business?

Our local consumers are not diversed enough, mostly playing on DotA custom game. We also need to change the public perception in this field. For the newcomers, make sure you throughly did your homework before jump into this business, I dont like to hear another case just like my friend who thinks this business in good but in the end I have to save the day... everyday! Thats all I have to say, over and out.

First of all, as a previous owner of a cybercafe, I have a few advice for you.
Cybercafe was a good business, and I thought about that too. Noticed I used 'was' right? That's right. If your cybercafe is opened 2-5 years ago, you'll be making big bucks. So, you'll need to prepare for loses in these 2 years at least, meaning no profit for 2 years.
People tend to go established cybercafes at the moment. Although you can compete in price and service, you know you won't stay long.
If you haven't noticed, some big cybercafes are reducing their branches. Competition kills even the big guns, if of course you have the capital.
Location wise, it is that important that you have to make sure you pick the 'perfect' spot. Where are you from anyways?

yup, i gree with u..location is very important..well actually is the ultimate key..my family is operating one now at sek 7, shah alam..business is not bad but overheads are high so have to diversify to other things as well..

we do not offer gaming & as far as my concern, we chose the right concept coz most customers who came liked our concept..thanks to God, we have quite a number of repeat customers..

I was in Malaysia a few months back for other purposes, at the same time decided to check out potential opportunities and locations for such business.

Had a meeting with Inferno as well; their package are not bad, but kinda costly from my point of view due to the fact that myself (and lots more here, it is LYT anyway ) knows the actual costs for pc specs. However, despite the cost, the package itself comes with everything that one needs to quickly setup a cybercafe quickly, added with good monthly maintenances.

Due to that, it does boggles the mind, whether to go for packages (which is expensive) or going through the hard way but knowing every inch of the the way the entire business & technical system works.

Also, I hope there are some comments due to the increasing number of unwanted people that creates trouble by asking @ urging for protection money.

How does your neighborhood CC(s)/your most visited CC(s)/your own CC(s) goes fare in business?


imo... if u wanna keep ur customers, pls pls pls forgot abt the renovation(ok ok can edi) forgot abt how many branches u hav. upgrade n maintain ur pc. <alots of cc fail this>

the cc i always visit, (that area got many cc) which hardly to compete with more n more new opening cc :star:

*btw 1 thing funny, the same roll cc 's boss love to "stick" his face on the glass door n 'kap' c who business is better" this is lol me *

With the increased in overhead and dropping in the prices being charge, this business is no longer as easy as before.

However, they are still money to be made here.
Managing is CC is not as diffcult and as time consuming as other business. I consider CC is partially automated business where you can really minimised your time needed to take care of it.

I'm selling solution for cc to ease their workload (centralise hdd server), I seems like most of them are doing pretty ok. It's not as profitable as before, but still makes more than being employed & have more working flexibility.

Centralised hdd server might be good to lower the overhead, but you need a powerful one to reduce the lag too.
Overhead is high, and maintenance is also high. Just think of how fast the IT world is changing. For a cc to survive the market place, it's said that you'll need to upgrade once every 6 months.
Consider these points before you get into it.

I would suggest learn it the hard way and at least if something really screwed up, u know what is hppening rather than taking the packages, not knowing anything at all, when something screwed up, debugging the problem is hard.

currently i working in a cc...
the price of 1 set of PC is about RM3k..
inside the cc got 30pc and open 19hours/day...
in the 1 day can make total of RM400-500..

the cc already consider making money... and the location is quite good where it near a lot shop-office and low/mediam cost housing area...

Anyone go to Infinity to play?

In Ipoh their main office is 4 shops ...all fully with PCs..

In Penang branch also 4 shops....all fully with PCs.

I heard in Johor also got 1 branch.

The owner around 24-26 and driving the latest BMW5 series. Hehe.

means around 30pc full for around 8 hours.... but ur boss no pay gaming license isit, if u make 400-500 a day susah survive not to mention getting back the initial capital which is around mabe around 110k-120k?

does anybody know the procedure to open cc?i meant procedure to get the licence

Different municipals will have different rules.
But the basic is, you'll need to go to ROC and register your name.
After that, bring that to your municipal for them to check the area. Remember to feed them money, the higher council you go, the better.
Then, you'll need to get the police letter. Feed them money as well.
Get approval from Bomba, again feed money.
Then go back to municipal and feed the balance.
That's roughly the procedure for licence.

wah... that was too suck!

yea jordy got it all right lol..... some municipal requires u to deposit 10k for the license since they categorize it as 'entertainment license' and another 5k for yearly renewable license. after that prepare another 10k to feed them all. u dun feed, then alot of xcuses to deny ur license. Even after u feed, doesnt gurantee they dun come n kacau u. Their little boys will come n visit u often ask tis n that.... especially during cny, hari raya(OMG), xmas, deepavali and any freakin damn holidays. Of course not all places has the same prob, but ill say it quite normal.

This post has been edited by [gs]JackMin: Dec 29 2006, 09:10 AM

I knew it! Tsk tsk.
Bah, as much as I would love to bash on the issue, I guess that is just how it goes all these while.

Moving along, something interest me from one of the posts:

Why does making RM$400-$500 a day is mentioned as 'not enough' to cover back the initial capital invested, which lets say within RM$100k-RM$200k?

I won't start by asking whether the expenses are too costly, I'm sure every business have that, but I sure would like to hear examples within say, monthly expenses vs profit gain.

if you're talking to inferno, then i think you have not done sufficient research about the industry.

Inferno was mentioned as a reference for the earlier bolded sentence.
Which in fact is the same point of this thread; to gather information from those who know.

Seeing from your point of view, do share on what would be sufficient, that have not already been covered by most of the posts here

Lets say, if you're making RM500 a day, in a month your revenue is RM15000.
Supposed you have 5 staffs, and you're paying each of your staff RM1000, the total would be RM5000. Licencing for your games, lets say another RM5000. Your utilities bill should be around RM800. The rent for your shop, lets put it RM3000. The grand total would be RM13500.
Your profit before tax is RM1500. According to my calculation, to cover your capital of RM100k, you'll need around 60 months = 5 years.

the major problem now is that cybercafe permit already frozen, how to open a new cybercafe?

Thanks for the thread merging Soulfly, appreciate the 'no bragging'-tag.

Regarding that matter, got the news link about it?

If you need a consultant pls pm me

This is how i would calculate :
wages - $3.50(minimal rate) x 19hrs x 30days = 1995k
game license(for 30 pc) - 3k ? (nt sure hw many license this cafe taking)
utilities bill - 3k (electric, internet, water)
rental - anywher from 1k-5k (lets say 3.5k for a prime area)

so total would be around RM11495, and if profit is 500 per day then monthly gross profit would be rm15000 - rm 11495 = 3505. I havent even include the little problems that could happen and need $$ to fix on monthly basis. Thats why i asked if the boss got pay game license or not, otherwise investing around 120k and getting 3.5k back per month is way way not enough. Reason no1 is, by the 3rd year the pc is definately out dated n need replacement where to find the capital for it? (unless he's a rich man frm other business, well thats another issue)

Pls dont misunderstand me, im not bashing anyone... juz taking this as an example why my earlier post saying anywhere below 40pc is a waste of time & money to open cc.

This post has been edited by [gs]JackMin: Jan 2 2007, 05:35 PM

No no, I don't misunderstand you bro; coming from someone who already owns a CC, many thanks for your input
(I'm reading back the previous pages since soulfly merge this)

Quoting from the back pages, location-wise is as important as understanding the business issues. Speaking of which, for example lets say SS15 - it does seems like a goldmine due to its surrounding colleges, offices and restaurants (despite the new entry of that new big CC).

In that sense, how does a business owner fares to start a new CC there, with capitals as much as the ones already there, trying to compete against the likes of Ftz?

Forgive my blur question on the situation of CCs at SS15 now; I had been away from Malaysia from quite a while now.

Goldmines like ss15 could be like a heaven or hell lol. Heaven to those with big capitals i.e Ftz, autosurf to play & hell to the smaller players. Reason is this ppl have alot of pc, imagine if this ppl throw their price to $1-$1.50 (like what happened earlier to Kaos, Inferno, Warnet) they will still make more money than those with 30-50 pc. Cafes like GamesWorld, Inferno, Warnet has already made back their capital so they dont mind throwing it to rm1 but what bout those who came in late & havent recover capital? Alot of strategies involve with this big timers and it is juz not simple as that. So if u are new & unexperience then better find less competitive area to setup the cafe in. (ie. myself lol)

An example of david vs goliath : (goliath wins though..)

I remember Zion Net was in front of asiacafe which has pretty good business for couple mths, but had to relocate after FTZ came. 60 pc vs 340 pc, its already a mentality to gamers that the more pc the cafe has, the more games they can join (ie dota, cs). Situation in ss15 or ss2 or wangsa maju are a big warzone and if u dun have anywhere between 600k - 1million then u better stay out.

This is how the rich boy fares :

From my calculation ill say FTZ is making close to 6k-8k a day and after minus their expenses, they should stil take home bout 150k p/m. Imagine 150k per month, that means they should get back their ROI in a year or less and then make profit all the way. So better think what they can actually do with all those money after ROI next year...

(300pc x rm2.20 x 10hours avg = $$$$$ ), havent include the can drink profit they made and weekend heavier human traffic.

I don't have any news link because it was since 2004... quite an old story... which I myself also recently found out when I check for the permit with the local district council. In Sarawak, there is no more permit to open a new cybercafe, and I believe most state in Malaysia also implemented it long time already.

If u really want to open a cc in sarawak, there was once I heard the license is being sold up to RM100K. It the old cc owners selling their cc license.


Rather I'd hope you would rephase the whole topic over again as opening a cyber cafe isn't that easy by simply asking consultation online(and also encouraging spoonfeeding). Different areas, different set of rules played by the authority. Also depending on location, thugs will constantly be a pain in the @$$. And to those who plan to open a cybercafe without other source of business income, you won't stand long Not to pop everybody's bubble but when it comes to reality, you might end up really hurt.

Why would I rephrase the whole topic? I just couldn't see the relevance.

Suggest me a title then.

How much the total cost to set up a small e.g. 10 pc cyber cafe???

Apologies...that was the previous merged thread title that got into me.

Let's make a thread of like cyber cafe corner. Rather all about setting up a cyber cafe.

I'm not sure, my guess would within 100k, but that's just me speaking without a CC of my own.
Hope others with CC-owned experience can give a much detail estimation.

Quite agreeable with hamster9, it's best to have (1) a stable job or (2) another business (another CC branch perhaps?) before setting up a new CC, but I guess this is common knowledge for any new business setup these days.

Let's move on to another issue: capital-wise.

May I ask how does one gather the source? No need to get into detail, I can understand the importance of business success, but hope those with experience can share in general elaborations. It could be from banks, from family/self savings, loan sharks, Bumi-loans, etc, but again, that's just me shooting the blanks.

may b use win 98 to lowest costs on win license ? and win 98 can support those latest game

*correct me if wrong

Legacy windows is vulnerable and new games don't support them now days, for instance doom 3. Also new graphic drivers recommend WinXP for optimum results, some graphical features will not show in older windows e.g. ATI gfx driver. Basically win98 is non future proof

yeah FTZ is crazy. They took over the Restaurant upstairs and downstairs wasn't enclosed previously. I still remember it was selling "chao tau fu". I was gone for 2 months and whoop come FTZ taking 2 floors..and 340 PC is a lot damn it. Heh. Somehow I feel that the whole Asiacafe is owned by one boss, and that includes the place to sell drinks and rent for stalls, FTZ, snooker and pool centers.

Can break down the detail of estimated 100K?

If u plan to open a 10 pc cafe, then dun expect gamers will come everyday to play since most of them wil be lookin for LAN games. Frm what i beleive, if u wanna do a low cost cafe, then do it as low cost as possible and the targeted market would be the casual surfers, location preferably somewhere with alot of foreigners. One of the reason why i would opt for a low cost, the revenue for 10 pc is too little to cover back the investment for high spec pc for games & beside u dont have to pay for those game license.
10pc x 10 hours x 2.50 = rm250 a day consider very good

For this kind of pc spec i think it should be around 1k with win98 license. Try get all those old 2nd hand pc, im sure u can find alot in LYP & lelong or ebay. The only other cost would be juz the rental, utilities & salary. So i think around 20k-40k u can open a 10pc cafe.

yea.. i have a friend who's just started operating a cyber cafe since last year.. it's doing quite great now..
he had about 60pcs all quite high end.. coz don't wanna get outdated that fast.. and upgrade after one year and so... fitted with LCDs, carpet and creates very nice environment.. neon lights and so on..

from that i learnt... invest a little first.. dun be afraid to spend.. coz you wanna attract customers first.. games and all are mostly the same.. you know most ppl come just to play mostly one game only.

don't worry about reaching your break-even point that fast.. your cash will keep flowing in.. you know how addictive is that game.. mostly if players are playing in your CC, they'll be stuck there already..

This post has been edited by paranoid: Jan 2 2007, 09:40 AM

capital wise - best not to borrow since you are testing the market now. It's your initial business, so it's best that you could minimize on loans. Next best thing is family but make sure you'd pay them back on the dot else you'd suffer for the next family gathering like Chinese New Year, or Hari Raya....

You'd need to allocate at least 6 months of expected expenditure for a CC. First few month will be a streeful one since you are new and all of a sudden there's many software failures, pc hang, etc which you are not aware of. After a while when the cc starts its momentum, then you can relax a bit.

I have several businesses apart from my own CC. if cc alone, i dun think can survive if I'd were to withdraw my full salary (let's say RM1.5k) to have ROI in a year.

win 98 will have trouble in plug and play and customers accessing to the thumbdrive

for 10pc no need until 100k. about 50k also enough. Inclusive furniture and fittings and basic renovation

This post has been edited by hamster9: Jan 3 2007, 04:18 PM

for threadstarter,
i had been supply hardwares for some customer who owns cc
with also problems of permits( business license)
But, they are still open their shop
why?
they jus dont bother of the license matter!

many cafe operate without license.

coz it makes no difference between having a license and not having one. Sure kena kacau no matter what. License can be revoked if they like it.

anyone operating cafe in klang

Tis is what every cafe owner dream should be............ im gonna move to china if i got a chance man!


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it is illegal in msia

if its illegal, then what's those big nightclubs like de vegas & bintang palace doing in kl? it really depends on how rich u are to pull this off. Even without those chicks, i think i really wanna own a cafe something like that

lol.. are you sure tat is a cybercafe?? it more just like a promotion of a games la... if it is a night club cyber cafe sure wont be so bright...

i think it's a cyber cafe, but with some promotions going on..

nvr see a cc like that b4..just see their display, isnt that 24" widescreen LCD?

It doesn't matter if it is 32 inch LCD or what, i just want the bunny girls
On the serious note, I wonder how much RMB they charge per hour with that kind of service.

yes its one of the huge cybercafe located in shanghai. the other day i had a meeting wif the intel marketing manager whch came bak frm shanghai, he told me the cc over there usually have at least 300-800 pc. the one in the pic is the latest cc open few mths back, those girl are trained in some games/surfing and their job is to teach or accompany ppl play game. (xtra charge la of course)

did u ask them how much?

hello i wanna ask something... thats.. should i buy 1G lan switch for my cc? i'm having 50-60 pc so how?

just to clear any doubts, the statement isn't true, so your intuition is inaccurate.

LOL, 1 hour RM50? , i see 'Rabbit'.

WOOO...I dunno about shanghai. I've just came back from Shenzhen. The cc rates there are super cheap. It RMB2.5 per hour which means RM1.25 per hour and the connection is fast. Playing YouTube without buffering.