Cyber Cafe Business Plan
Cyber Cafe Business Plan
Cyber Cafe Business Plan Overview
This is a Cyber Cafe Business Plan to the standard Cyber Cafe Business .
The Almost Death of the Cyber Cafe
More than ever before, between 2010 and 2013 the cyber café business seemed to be on its deathbed. The wide adaptation of smart phones, and generally phones that could access the internet almost ground the business to a halt.
Prices of laptops and desktop were possibly at their lowest making thus becoming accessible to more people. Not to mention the number of cyber cafes had risen such that the market was almost getting saturated.
In a survey we conducted in 2013 within Nairobi the number of cyber cafes closing down was almost the same as those opening. The number of cyber cafes advertised for sale in the newspapers averaged six per week, which was a relatively high figure compared to the previous years. Revenue was going down with the average revenue per user reducing significantly.
Before the mass adaptation of internet enabled phone, and the reduction of data charges, a major reason consumers visited cyber cafes was to check email. With the new phones consumers could easily check email, search and visit other websites from the comfort of their palms.
Visits to the cyber cafes were now largely to print, watch videos, visit data heavy websites and those that are were not mobile friendly. The other major draw to the cyber cafes was to use services like printing and download large files.
Shot in The Arm: e–government
However since 2014 cyber cafes have continuously gotten a shot in the arm. One of the key drivers being the shift of key government services from manual paper work to electronic; the so called e–government. This has not only changed the way consumers access government services, but how they use the internet.
E–government has had the consequence of netting consumers who otherwise would not have used the internet at all. This ‘new customer’ has played a big part in the revival of cyber cafes. They include the PSV driver who wants to renew his license, the old woman who wants to sell his piece of land and requires a PIN number and such other segments of consumers.
If everything had remained constant this group of individuals would probably not have seen any need to use a cyber café. Circumstances have pushed them to the cyber cafes. Their usage requires guidance and more often than not they end up paying a premium price for their lack of skill.
Of note is data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows that although there has been an increase in ownership of personal computers, laptops and smart phones there has not been an equivalent increase in ownership of personal printers.
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