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Are Internet Cafes still a Good Business?

Been receiving a couple of emails lately (mostly from OFWs but there’s one from a Chinese/Taiwanese company) asking if there’s still some good business to be made with internet cafes in the Philippines. From accounts of friends and people who’ve been into the net cafe business as well as what we’re seeing in every mall and street alley, there’s some mixed reaction.

Five years ago, the prospects were better; way better. I myself was thinking of opening up one back then. My excitement was immediately doused after doing the math.

Net Cafe

Just like any other brick and mortar businesses, there are so many extraneous factors that’ll affect your likelihood of success in the internet cafe industry:

  • Location. Pick a good spot and you’ll hit a gold mine. Pick the wrong one and kiss your money goodbye.
  • Competition. Most business-minded people think of competition as a race to charge the lowest prices in order to win customers. While it’s good for the customers, exceeding the lower boundaries can drive you and your competitors to bankruptcy. One cannot expect to recover a Php500,000 investment if hourly rentals go down to as low as Php10. It goes without saying that in this industry, there are no customer loyalty; just cheaper rentals.
  • Quality/Consistency of Broadband Connectivity. For places that don’t have many options for bandwidth providers, this could spell trouble if your only source of connectivity conks out more frequently than you get brown-outs in your area. A backup DSL might be a good solution but many consider the extra cost to be not worth it.
  • Software Licensing. Many people who go into the net cafe business don’t factor in the cost of software licensing in their capital. Either they think they can get away with a few pirated copies or go open-source full-time. Still, there’s the class of ever-popular network games like Starcraft, WoW and CS which cost an arm and a leg to get a per-PC license. Maybe that’s why MMPORG pay-to-play model is more popular in this side of the globe.
  • Expected ROI. While previous half-decade old records saw a return-of-investment in just over a year, lower rentals due to fierce competition and over-saturation of net cafes have driven the ROI further back to as long as 3 years (that’s if you’re lucky enough). To sustain a business that long and derive your income from that sole business could easily drain you of energy and personal savings.

There’s also the question of how many PC units should a net cafe operate in order to realize profit. A friend, who runs a net cafe for about 3 years now, says you need at least 15 units to survive and get decent income. Does that mean others operating below that number are doomed to fail in the long run?

However, the growth and expansion of Netopia’s franchise around the country says there’s still good money to be made from the internet cafe business. Does that mean people wanting to venture into that industry should look into franchising? What do you think — given the opportunity and capital, do you feel a net cafe business in the Philippines is still a lucrative one?

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    74 Responses to “Are Internet Cafes still a Good Business?”


    1. Gravatar Icon EntrepreNars replied on Mar 27th, 2008 at 10:41 am (1)

      I think cafes will go down on their ‘internet’ side of business because internet and computers here in the Philippines are getting cheaper and cheaper, unless you are located near a school, sobrang patok for research, typing and printing, lalo na yung mahileg sa cramming.

      I guess there are still growth in the gaming side because I think gamers prefer group playing than playing solo.

    2. Gravatar Icon gen replied on Mar 27th, 2008 at 1:15 pm (2)

      IMO, Internet / Small scale BPO - that’s a good combination.

      Internet Cafe in the morning then Call center at night. :)

    3. Gravatar Icon calvin replied on Mar 27th, 2008 at 2:39 pm (3)

      patok yung 168 and its sister company ihook. i think it’s because of gaming and not internet. abe nagdodota pa rin kami, pero ngayon sa labas na para pwedeng mag-ingay kahit 40 pesos per hour.

    4. Gravatar Icon yuga replied on Mar 27th, 2008 at 2:42 pm (4)

      @gen, I think meron ng gumagawa ng ganun dito sa Market Market.

      @calvin, uy! sama nyo naman ako!

    5. Gravatar Icon marhgil replied on Mar 27th, 2008 at 3:19 pm (5)

      mas magaling pang magblog na lang tungkol sa internet cafe kesa magtayo ng internet cafe, mas malakas ang kita, di ba? hehehe.

      on a serious note, plano ko rin yan dati sa barangay namin sa batangas. malapit sa school. kaso, may nauna sa akin, and i don’t want to compete with his price. malulugi lang ako.

    6. Gravatar Icon Jeffrey replied on Mar 27th, 2008 at 3:35 pm (6)

      I and my barkada used to have an internet cafe back in 1998. It was good in the first few months.

      To make it short, i don’t want to have this type of business again. Maybe i will, but just a side income, making money online is much more profitable.

    7. Gravatar Icon Wauks replied on Mar 27th, 2008 at 3:39 pm (7)

      As long as you have a solid business plan and strategy, your internet cafe should boom. With 50 units we were able to gross around 450,000-500,000 monthly.

    8. Gravatar Icon yuga replied on Mar 27th, 2008 at 3:45 pm (8)

      @wauks, when was this?

    9. Gravatar Icon Kuya Kevin replied on Mar 27th, 2008 at 3:54 pm (9)

      Location, location, location.

      I live in the Ubelt area of the Philippines, and I see a internet cafes all over the place. They are definitely making money in this section of town.

    10. Gravatar Icon sylv3rblade replied on Mar 27th, 2008 at 4:29 pm (10)

      i agree with Kuya Kevin
      It’s about location but as of the moment, the busiest places are also the most hard-fought (too many competitors).

      Second criterion for success would be the quality of experience (Gaming Cafes).

      Third would be “other services.” I have a friend who only has 8 units but he has 10 printers and offers the sought after “Piso Print” service. His printing earnings far exceeds the PC rentals.

    11. Gravatar Icon Wauks replied on Mar 27th, 2008 at 5:21 pm (11)

      That was in 2006. We sold it na though because of all the internal conflict. Never be business partners with your friends, hehe.

    12. Gravatar Icon Ordnacin replied on Mar 27th, 2008 at 6:24 pm (12)

      I used to have an internet cafe but gave it up three years ago. Now I hear rentals are at P15/hour ? Don’t see how one can make money at that rate, you have to find ways to supplement it. Rentals alone won’t cut it…

    13. Gravatar Icon Pacute replied on Mar 27th, 2008 at 6:28 pm (13)

      Maganda magtayo ng internet shop sa mga campus kaso pag bakasyon walang kita.

    14. Gravatar Icon vance replied on Mar 27th, 2008 at 10:05 pm (14)

      I would say yes! But not in Metro Manila, It will be a great business if you locate it the province where only few can afford DSL connection at home.

    15. Gravatar Icon Jeffrey replied on Mar 27th, 2008 at 10:18 pm (15)

      Kuya Kevin, Ubelt area: Bill’s Gate used to be swarmed with customers 7 years ago, it’s now almost empty. Or are they still there?

    16. Gravatar Icon orgl replied on Mar 28th, 2008 at 2:44 am (16)

      I’m a former net cafe owner and so so so proud quitting the business. It’s so so so so so so horrible experience for me caused by lagggggggggy dsl business plan, stiffffff competition, unfairrrrrrrr competition (for using counterfeit softwares). Blogging is farrrrrrrrrrrrr away better than having a computer shop. :)

    17. Gravatar Icon orgl replied on Mar 28th, 2008 at 2:56 am (17)

      Now I am earning more than before with just 1 pc. :)

    18. Gravatar Icon yuga replied on Mar 28th, 2008 at 4:00 am (18)

      @marghil and orgl - why not combine both? put up a net cafe and hire bloggers?

    19. Gravatar Icon joel replied on Mar 28th, 2008 at 5:54 am (19)

      kuya abe, turuan mo na lang kami mag blog, mas maganda pa siguro income kesa mag invest sa internet cafe…hehe

    20. Gravatar Icon orgl replied on Mar 28th, 2008 at 7:06 pm (20)

      Hmmm good idea there yuga! and along with it is a coffee and snack bar. :)

    21. Gravatar Icon Andre replied on Mar 29th, 2008 at 9:01 am (21)

      Does station 168 even make money? I mean looking at all its equipment and fast internet, looks like massive investment even beyond Netopia (who is filled with advertisers and banners). OR maybe they are fine as long as a competitor doesnt open up, or noone can probably afford to compete.

    22. Gravatar Icon ram replied on Mar 29th, 2008 at 10:53 am (22)

      Sa area namin d2 sa bulacan, parang mushroom na nagsusulputan ang internet cafe business, gaya-gaya para ding mineral water business bawat kanto may kalaban. Kaya ang rate P15 per hour na lang, at ang iba ay P10 cguro iba gamit ng jumber na lang para makatipid sa electricity which is risky pag nahuli ka ng Meralco! Ang kuryente parang na ring ginto eh sa mahal!

      Tapos consider mo pa ang municipal ordinance na bawal magpapasok ng estudyante between 7:00 am to 4:00 pm, goodness ano pa kikitain
      jan! Bawat bata hingi ng bonus time eh ano pa sa Meralco na lang lahat punta ng kita!

      In short, cut-throat competition talaga! Kailangan mahaba pisi mo to compete with others!

    23. Gravatar Icon GM Tristan replied on Mar 31st, 2008 at 2:08 am (23)

      I think it’s still a viable business. With the right content, there will be a demand. I remember writing something in January about how to start your own cafe

      Check it out.

      Thx,
      GM T

    24. Gravatar Icon karla replied on Mar 31st, 2008 at 9:50 am (24)

      saturated business in the metro
      maybe if you put up one in the province, i think that would be doable. :D

    25. Gravatar Icon Paul replied on Mar 31st, 2008 at 6:28 pm (25)

      wauks, are you waukeen from pRO?

      Sorry for the O.T.

    26. Gravatar Icon Jazzy replied on Apr 1st, 2008 at 4:38 am (26)

      I would like to add a factor to consider in putting up this business, that is employee to manage the repairs and customers.

      If you’ll be doing it all by yourself, it’s really more a self-employment than a business.

      If you can find a decent job, might as well be employed.

    27. Gravatar Icon Dave Starr replied on Apr 4th, 2008 at 6:03 am (27)

      This is one of the best posts and by far the best set of comments I’ve seen here in a long time … thanks to those who shared.

      This is a perpetual question for me from other expats and from OFW’s who want to help other family members.

      I think the idea of combining small-scale BPO and blogging-style work with a cafe is a viable way to give the business a foundation to carry it through lean times.

      Another technology which can be done very cheaply these days due to open source is thin client. The idea that each customer station needs an entire PC is very wasteful of both hardware and power.

      Sir Abe, we should have more on this subject here!

    28. Gravatar Icon Eduardo replied on Apr 7th, 2008 at 3:49 pm (28)

      How much do cafes spend for electricity when they have 10PCs? what about 20 or 30?

    29. Gravatar Icon Art Norman Gabon replied on Apr 10th, 2008 at 8:24 am (29)

      Hi pwede niyo ba akong bigyan ng magandang business proposal for an internet cafe.. help me please help.. paki send po sa email ko para po mapag-aralan ko yong business.. Thank you

    30. Gravatar Icon arman replied on Apr 10th, 2008 at 8:36 am (30)

      Hi guys meron kasi akong gustong place dito sa amin, meron 3 schools na malapit and meron din 2 cafe’s na competensya pero as a gamers nakikita kong sobrang naasar yong mga players niya kasi sobrang LAG at yong Dota na nga lang na didisconnect pa.. so gusto ko sanang magtayo ng cafe dito yong medyo malakas na computer para lumipat yong mga student.. pero di ako makagawa ng business proposal kasi di ko alam kong paano gawin at saan magsisimula.. kong meron makakatulong sa akin please send me an email artnorman_gabon@yahoo.com

      Thank you

    31. Gravatar Icon philblog replied on Apr 12th, 2008 at 3:52 pm (31)

      well, as for me it is still a good business. Gaya ng experience ko ngayon on which i’m only having a four computer set but i’m earning a gross sales not less than 1k - 2k daily. At habang nagbabantay ng internet shop eto blogging and keeping my new website alive. visit nyo na rin po pala bago kong website.. http://www.filipinoonline.org .

      About sa internet cafe.. i think if you had a “BEST” location. Why not.. it’s still worth a good business. Nasa pakikisama din yan… most of my earning comes from PUPians dito sa Cavite and dahil sa magandang pakikitungo they sticking with our cafe. Actually where already planning for an expansion this month and putting up a ink refiling station…

    32. Gravatar Icon philblog replied on Apr 12th, 2008 at 4:02 pm (32)

      By the way i’m not more on gamers but rather internet users. Sa internet kc pag nag research may kasamang printing and more. Kaunti lang din games ko kasi nagiging magulo and most of my dedicated customers eh gusto sounds lang.. ayaw ng maingay. Tsaka madaling masira ang keyboard and mouse sa mga gamers hihihihihi(but not all).

    33. Gravatar Icon kcirtap replied on Apr 17th, 2008 at 11:31 am (33)

      hello, I just opened my net cafe 3 weeks ago. Im afraid that it would not click. any advices pls. thanks. email me at kcirtap1027@yahoo.com

    34. Gravatar Icon norie replied on Apr 17th, 2008 at 6:16 pm (34)

      Depende siguro sa lugar na pagtatayuan mo, kung saturated na sa area nyo o marami ng internet cafes sa lugar nyo, di humanap ka ng iba lugar na wala pang gaanong competitors!

      Well, kung sayo ang place at hindi ka na uupa ng monthly rental pwede yon kahit maraming competitors, daanin mo na lang sa promo! Nasa strategy mo na lang yon on how to beat your competitors!

    35. Gravatar Icon gelo replied on Apr 21st, 2008 at 9:40 am (35)

      internet cafe is not a good business anymore. you see, computers are getting cheaper and people today can afford to buy one. if most of us has a computer, why bother going to an internetshop? even students today has their own notebooks. so who’s going to internetshop nowadays? your “yaya”?? :D

    36. Gravatar Icon Eduardo replied on Apr 21st, 2008 at 6:17 pm (36)

      Whether it’s good or not depends on your location and your presentation. Besides that, I doubt that even a quarter (perhaps a lot less) of the Filipino population can afford the fees for internet services - let alone a computer (sorry, don’t have the proper percentages, and I don’t have the resources to do a countrywide poll.. but a good guess would be 10%… hehehe).

      The cheapest BRAND NEW PC I can get which is compatible with most current popular MMOGs would cost around 8 - 9 thousand pesos - that’s a system with an AMD Sempron and a 780G or 690G motherboard. That’s a lot of money.

      The CHEAPEST I can get is probably an old PII or PII for about 2 thousand, and a monitor might be around 1 to 2 thousand - if you know where to look - the problem with this is the warranty; and these systems just won’t cut it - even for Warcraft III with all the eye candy set to the lowest.

      Besides that, most used computers have problems and no warranty - you’ll end up spending more on repairs or buying more old ones susceptible to damage, eventually spending more than you would had you bought a brand new one. And there’s the electric bill…

      Anyway… electricity… could anyone here please post electricity bills for your net cafes? Number of PCs, monthly electricity charges, hours per month. I’d like to get an idea of approximately how much I’d be spending on that as I’m planning on putting up one in my little town.

    37. Gravatar Icon X.A. replied on Apr 24th, 2008 at 5:05 pm (37)

      Hello, got 10 computers now all PIII for pure internet surfing only, surviving for 1.5 year now, monthly profit of no more than P30K not less than P23K. I’ve got a supplier that offers 1 year warranty to all second hand PCs so dont have any problem with that, i bought this 10 units for P60K. So, i immediately got my ROI for just 3 months! Friendster alone can pay for your rent and earn much more!

    38. Gravatar Icon Dave Starr replied on Apr 25th, 2008 at 5:50 am (38)

      X.A., Thanks for an informative comment, with numbers. Interesting and I wish you well.

      I just came back from a 4 day road trip up north with my son who is visiting from the states. We used cafe’s at leaast once a day. Major thing I observed as a business man is, most cafes make it too hard on themselves. Way too much labor for a simple task. Sign this, fill up that, etc. Labor costs the owner even if it is his own, and slows down the amount of time a customer is online and thus making the operator money.

      There is good cafe management software out there, currently way too much paper and time being used.

      I must say though, from personal observation, this is still for sure a viable business if you run it as a business.

      Big opportunity I see being missed is monetizing things like advertising and membership deals to the users. Many owners/shop attendants barely acknowledge the presence of customers instead of talking to them, finding out their needs and making them feel welcome … and signing them up to a free monthly newsletter … you are promoting your shop with a monthly newsletter, aren’t you?

      Last tip … have change! It is a business’s responsibility to make change for the customer, period. You offera service for a fee, part of the cost of doing business is to be able to make change … fact of life. Making the customer feel guilty for not having change is bad business. It’s like paying your Meralco bill … not always a happy occasion but a necessity for ongoing sales.

    39. Gravatar Icon pinoydeal replied on Apr 25th, 2008 at 10:49 am (39)

      im planning to start a net cafe biz but for an roi in 3 years makes me wonder and have to double check on an alternative. would a reloading biz and photocopy biz help together with the net cafe biz?

    40. Gravatar Icon Dave Starr replied on Apr 26th, 2008 at 5:52 am (40)

      @ Yuga and in particular your great response to marghil and orgl.

      The biggest thing I see standing in anybody’s idea so many people seem to have that a ‘computer shop’ only does this thing or that thing. Time (money) slips away while people don’t come in the shop to do what the owner thinks they should be doing … instead, the owner could be finding things they want to do.

      How many ’stories’ fit for a blog post happen everyday, right as people are using the cafe? It doesn’t cost a centavo more to write about them … especially if business is slow anyway.

    41. Gravatar Icon Eduardo replied on Apr 26th, 2008 at 2:40 pm (41)

      Thanks for the info X.A… makes me all the more hopeful for my plans to do at least OK. Thanks to Dave too, for the recommendations.

    42. Gravatar Icon Information Dose replied on Jul 17th, 2008 at 8:22 am (42)

      on my opinion, internet cafe business is a dying business nowadays :(

    43. Gravatar Icon Eric replied on Jul 24th, 2008 at 6:20 pm (43)

      I used to own and operate an internet cafe here in the province, but having licensed OS per PC really cut down our profits and set back the ROI. During the early 2000s, rates here were at 20-25 pesos and the monthly gross varied from 20k-50k. Electricity was cheap back then. I had 10 units.

      Sadly, due to plunging rates and unfair competition (shops with pirated OS being allowed to operate) I had to close it after 2yrs of operation. I wasn’t able to recover 100% of my investment, only around 75% of it.

      Here in the provinces viability is determined by location as well as employees willing to work below minimum wage.

      With DSL access being more and more affordable for homes, and free wifi access spots ever increasing, internet usage is shifting away from cafes.

    44. Gravatar Icon gerald replied on Jul 26th, 2008 at 4:03 pm (44)

      for WoW, i think you can use just one copy and distribute it on the computers. it’s the player’s responsibility anyway to have an account.

    45. Gravatar Icon Linda replied on Aug 7th, 2008 at 4:32 pm (45)

      i need to startup this business,what are my considerations?

    46. Gravatar Icon myra replied on Aug 8th, 2008 at 2:13 pm (46)

      I’m a shop owner for almost 8 years, i started with just 2 pc, and now it’s 31 units, so I may say magandang negosyo, cguro noon, pero ngayon na sunod-sunod ang nagtayo sa lugar namin, (by the way, malayo ako sa school, purely residential area) ngayon ang hirap na, half of my PC eh hindi na nauupuan sa maghapon, and with new shops near my area and lower rates like P10/hr, now i don’t know kung paano na!

    47. Gravatar Icon Rihana F replied on Aug 9th, 2008 at 5:18 am (47)

      Internet Cafe is NON-EXISTENCE in USA. 99% of American families have at least 2 or more personal computers in their homes. Price of computers here is so cheap, family homes are saturated with computers.
      PLUS — for those who does not have computers at home, they can always go to any public library.There are plenty of computers in the library for the local resident to use for FREE.

      This Internet Cafe business in the Philippines will soon die slowly once the price of computers becomes affordable for local pilipinos to buy .

    48. Gravatar Icon Lucien Dominick G. Tiojanco replied on Aug 13th, 2008 at 7:33 am (48)

      My take on this is to make sure you use highly efficient rigs that are highly scalable. I would suggest going with the following set up:

      AMD Athlon 4850e (45W versus 65W most dual core processors consume)
      AMD 780G Chipset motherboard (Power efficient chipset with powerful IGP capable of running locally populaar games)
      1×2GB 800mhz DDR2 RAM
      80GB 7200 RPM HDD
      CD-ROM ODD (leave the DVD-RW in your service unit so you can charge customers to burn CD’s/DVD’s)
      15 - 17″ LCD with no more than 1280×800 resolution (Consumes significantly less power than CRT monitors and attracts more customers)
      Windows Vista Basic

      You’re probably asking why use Vista when it’s a resource hog. Well, Vista allows you to scale your rig up by simply adding an ATI 3450/3470 Graphics card to take advantage of AMD’s Hybrid Crossfire technology when locally popular games start requiring extra power, also Vista Basic isn’t as much a resource hog as Vista Premium and the 2GB 800mhz RAM should be more than enough to sustain it, and you can always add another 1 or 2GB to further improve performance (note: 32 Bit Vista may not be able to completely utilize 4 GB worth of RAM).

      Now, the best part about this set up is that it consumes significantly less energy than most computers you’ll see currently being used by alot of internet cafes (less ongoing overhead expense) and at the same time provides better gaming and surfing experience, attracting more customers (more revenue).

      What do you think guys?

    49. Gravatar Icon snowman replied on Aug 27th, 2008 at 9:52 pm (49)

      i’m planning to start a internet business next month but after reading this im having a doubt now..kakaasar hirap naman ang mahal mag start ng business pero hirap kumita now a day..estimate cost ko to start a business is 150k pesos..which is a mabigat na sa bulsa ko para sa isang katulad ko..tama nga kayo nagigin mura na ang pc ngyn,,at nagkakaron na ng magndang deals sa internet connection,, pwede pa cguro ako magstart pero cguro pabagsak palang ang internet business..pwede pa rin ngyn im sure pwede pa rin magstart and kikita ka prin pero papunta ka kc ang pilipinas sa pagiging more technology needs.. tignan mo ang cellphone..dati panay telephono ang malakas na kita ng mga big company pero dahil sa cellphone at naging sobrang mura na cellphone halos wala ng nagamit ngyn ng telephono db? kaaasar nmn..almost too late na yata para magtayo…hay pano kya ako yayaman nito,,guys/girls ano opinion nio sa LOTtO franchise? magkano kaya kita nun,,konti lng kc ang budget ko eh i cant afford a resturant..

    50. Gravatar Icon snowman replied on Aug 27th, 2008 at 10:00 pm (50)

      ako din i’m planning to start a internet business next month but after reading this im having a doubt now..kakaasar hirap naman ang mahal mag start ng business pero hirap kumita now a day..estimate cost ko to start a business is 150k pesos..which is a mabigat na sa bulsa ko para sa isang katulad ko..tama nga kayo nagigin mura na ang pc ngyn,,at nagkakaron na ng magndang deals sa internet connection,, pwede pa cguro ako magstart pero cguro pabagsak palang ang internet business..pwede pa rin ngyn im sure pwede pa rin magstart and kikita ka prin pero papunta ka kc ang pilipinas sa pagiging more technology needs.. tignan mo ang cellphone..dati panay telephono ang malakas na kita ng mga big company pero dahil sa cellphone at naging sobrang mura na cellphone halos wala ng nagamit ngyn ng telephono db? kaaasar nmn..almost too late na yata para magtayo…hay pano kya ako yayaman nito,,guys/girls ano opinion nio sa LOTtO franchise? magkano kaya kita nun,,konti lng kc ang budget ko eh i cant afford a resturant..

    51. Gravatar Icon bianca rae replied on Aug 28th, 2008 at 7:38 pm (51)

      can anyone help me with regards to my electric bill?

      i have a total of 12 computers(operation time is 9am-12mn),
      4 wall fans,
      1 2horse power aircon(opened at 12noon to 8pm)
      1 heavy duty copier (around 1000 watts)
      etc…(scanner,fax,6-flourescent lights)

      i already use 2 energy savers but my electricity dsnt decrease.

      My monthly bill has an average of 20k

      is that ok? or can i still do something about it in regards to lessening it

      Thank You!

    52. Gravatar Icon ediljaze internet cafe replied on Sep 9th, 2008 at 12:51 am (52)

      hi, sa mga gustong magkaroon ng cafe shop.hinde basta basta ang internet cafe…kailan may dicarte ka at marunung ka mag troubleshoot lalo na sa networking..may cafe shop ako dito sa zamboanga city para ako nakaukay ng kinto simula 10am to 3am no vacant palagi pc ko..meroon ako assistant 10am to 8pm and duty niya.ako nag babantay ng 8pm to 3am ..minsan sakit sa ulo hinde maiwasan mga errors at mga ibang troubles.nagaral ako sa sti basic troubleshooting para de na ako maghire ng technician,minsan sakit sa ulo amg mga technician.mahirap lng sa amin dito holdapan.discarte lng mga bro.

    53. Gravatar Icon ediljaze internet cafe replied on Sep 9th, 2008 at 1:16 am (53)

      oo, totoo yan..

      internet cafe is not a good business anymore. you see, computers are getting cheaper and people today can afford to buy one. if most of us has a computer, why bother going to an internetshop? even students today has their own notebooks. so who’s going to internetshop nowadays?
      except lng sa mga addict sa mga online games sila na lng ang pagasa namin.salamat sa dios peron pa sa akin dito nagrereserve…no vacant parin…

    54. Gravatar Icon calvin replied on Sep 17th, 2008 at 1:35 am (54)

      to no.56 Bianca rae.
      reg on power comsumption.
      i suggest masyado mataas ang expense mo sa power sa 4 wallfan Plus 2h.p aircon. &sa 1 heavy duty copier (around 1000 watts)i have 13units. 2 wall fan. dpa me aabot ng 9K a mo. sa 1000 watts equivalent nyan more than 20units lcd only. meaning mataasang gastos mo dyan sa copier. if d nmanganun ka klangan & PROFIT ibigay mo nlang sa iba yan,,, PM mo nlang me sa email ko if my question ka,, Help kita, God Ble$$! kaya mo yan,

    55. Gravatar Icon George G.Jr replied on Sep 19th, 2008 at 3:04 pm (55)

      Internet Cafe Business in my location(Bontoc Mountain Province) is not a good business anymore. RATES ON Xerox, Printing, Gaming & most of all the HOURLY rental is a competetion from 10-20 pesos only of more than 20 operators to this date.

      For this competition, an operator of an internet cafe should have atleast the Basic technical requirements as follows:
      1. Software Installation
      2. Hardware Installation
      3. LAN Setup & Troubleshooting
      4. Basic Troubleshooting on Hardware/Software

    56. Gravatar Icon Jojo replied on Sep 20th, 2008 at 1:53 pm (56)

      Hi guyz, ask ko lng f ok nb pang icafe gamings itong specs ko: 2.4ghz athlon 64bit 1620, ecs motherboard with 256mb chipset, 80G sata hdd 7200 rpm, 1G memory. Tsaka ano b ung 256 mb chipset? Built in nb ang vcard nito? Guyz f not enough ang specs ko ask ko nrn f ano mas mbilis. Tanx

    57. Gravatar Icon PTC Watch replied on Oct 3rd, 2008 at 4:30 am (57)

      Sad to say, internet cafe business in the country is not profitable as it was before. Filipino should learn to compete based on quality of service and not to engage in a domino effect of a price war.

    58. Gravatar Icon Calnook replied on Nov 6th, 2008 at 1:56 pm (58)

      Isang profitable business opporunity din sa mga internet cafes is to be a distributor of online learning prepaid cards. Netopia, the largest internet cafe chain in the philippines launched CALNOOK, dubbed as “the first-ever online prepaid service for everyone.”

      Using the Internet café as a learning infrastructure, the CAL-Netopia collaboration with its virtual school will open windows for education and opportunities to broaden horizons for both Filipino students and workers in an inexpensive, convenient way. Netopia has over 170 branches with more than 8,000 terminals.

      CALNOOK is a portal of various Certification Training Courses such as E-Commerce Consultant, Cisco, CompTIA A+, Network +, and Security +; European Computer Driving License Certification International Computer Driving License, Human Resource Certification Institute Recertification; Microsoft Certification Courses, Microsoft Office Specialists, Oracle Certification Program, Project Management Institute, Red Hat Certified Technician – Linux; and Sun Certification Program.

      Details of this can be found at http://www.calnook.com

    59. Gravatar Icon douglas donoghue replied on Nov 17th, 2008 at 2:24 pm (59)

      I have had an IC for 10 months, the rate is 15/hour with incentive 5 hour block time at night of 10 pesos. This is the going local rate and it is not a good business at that rate. I saw in Cebu that competition had driven the rate down to 7 pesos in a few cafés. Cafés fold regularly.
      Some of the advice offered here is quite good.
      Location, location, location are the three primary criteria for a profitable cafe.
      Finding a good, competent, and honest technician is almost impossible so you better be your own techie.
      Attendants tend to be thieves so keep tight control.
      There is much trouble with the ISPs not providing reliable service or providing the speeds you are paying for.
      Damage from gamers and theft are also problems.
      Air conditioning is expensive.
      Landlords will ask for a 10% increase annually which will put you right out of business so never sign such a lease contract. Costs go up while rates remain stable or decline
      I had a previous café that folded because of the rent increases. It is now restarting in a new location. The manager is an excellent business woman
      It is a tough business……………….

    60. Gravatar Icon Marc replied on Nov 23rd, 2008 at 8:30 pm (60)

      I’ll have to rethink putting up a pc gaming or internet shop. Actually, I was already told that one by one inet or pc gaming cafes are no longer a thing, they mean it is only if one strategically thinks about tbe dimensions [location, location, location or maybe some others]. I was told though beforehand I have this huge probability a flourishing u know…so now that majority has spoken and reading from the commenters experience therefore, no thank you to being a computer businessman.

    61. Gravatar Icon amomandmore replied on Nov 23rd, 2008 at 10:58 pm (61)

      Good location, competent and honest internet cafe staff and ample back-ups for hardware and DSL connection are “must haves” to ensure the viability of internet cafe businesses. I operated a pizza parlor-game/internet cafe from 1999 and closed shop sometime in 2006 — due to very stiff price cuts from nearby start-up cafes and the mushrooming of cafes competing for a limited target market.

      Now, I am thinking about re-opening but in a different location but without the gaming component since it would not jibe anymore with the tutorial/study center my family wants to develop in the same site.

      Any experience to share about the financial viability of operating purely for internet research, online education and encoding?

    62. Gravatar Icon Jeff/cowboy42 replied on Dec 14th, 2008 at 5:01 am (62)

      I am thinking about doing a netcafe/coffee/food/teaching english. I still live in the usa but want to move there for my girl friend in Iloilo city. Any idea’s on how toget some one to help with $$$$$??? any idea’s at all as to if this would be a good idea or not?

    63. Gravatar Icon Ned replied on Dec 17th, 2008 at 7:30 am (63)

      in my opinion and experience. having a net cafe with 20 units is still profitable lalo na pag nalagay mo sa exact spot like mine is. 15 / hr but if want to be a member u can avail a 12/hr and per minute basis when u log in. kc bugyan ko sila ng username and pass to log in anytime they want to play. minimum purchase of 120 php though (10hrs)and especially if the units ur have rocks . i mean literally rocks. mga competition ko d2 are amd athlon lang at pentium 4… guess what mine is.. 6 quad core, 10 amd 64×2 5200+ and 4 core 2 duo all with 8500gr ddr2 vc @ 2Gb 800mhz. 160Gb nga lang memo and 15-17′ lcd monitors. so all my clients can play dota, friendster, bot ragna/sro/cabal, autoclick ran and conquer and my gay clients can edit modify pics burn/rewrite cds while listening to mp3s/mp4s all at the same time and they love it kc di nag hahang pc. and they come every day because of this. and i troubleshoot my own pcs. oo nga pala, di nag lang aircondition shop ko kaya I bought some cpu fans like cyth for the quads kc madali lang mag overheat cpu with the stock fans kc di aircon shop ko. 20 pcs still manage to get around 1.3k the least to 3k a day 9am-12mn.
      ( licsended po yung OS ko ah 32bit Wxp. di pa ako nag upgrade vista, loko2x kc vista, dami pro conflict or error)

    64. Gravatar Icon dave replied on Dec 18th, 2008 at 7:27 pm (64)

      putah, ang tumal ng internet cafe business ngayon, magpapasko pa naman! Malapit na naman ang business renewal permit sa January 2009, nilalangaw pa rin ah!

      hay naku, nakaka depress talaga ang present economic crisis!

    65. Gravatar Icon dave replied on Dec 18th, 2008 at 7:33 pm (65)

      mr. ned, talaga lahat licensed ang OS ng 20 PCs? baka ireport kita sa Microsoft Philippines!hehe!

      kilala kita alam ko ang location ng shop mo! hehe!
      dare me!

    66. Gravatar Icon Ned replied on Dec 26th, 2008 at 7:49 am (66)

      yeah. actually 21 lahat pc ko kasama server. and yes, licensed po lahat os ko. kc need ko yung update ng microsoft eh. dami kc bugs pag di ko ma update yung OS and u cant update it pag pirated os mo, lalo na yung gameguard na epal at yung bot ng cabal (cabalrider) nag error pag peke os kc di na update. ^^ nasa tyaga lang yan at pagbibigyan mo naman customers mo paminsan minsan. halimbawa naglaro sila ng DOTA 5×5 tapos nag time yung isa and ala pang extend. pagbigyan mo na lang hanggan matapos yung laro kung walang papalit sa kanya diba. ^^

    67. Gravatar Icon edriel replied on Jan 3rd, 2009 at 12:28 am (67)

      d2 samin kahit hindi tabing school astig ang kitaan 150 pc 3rd flor puno araw araw 40pesos 3 hrs
      dinadayo kahit malalayong lugar pa at hindi ka pa
      maiinis sa unit na gagamitin mo… bago lang to
      pero pumatok pa din kahit may katabing com shop
      nag lipatan lahat ng suki nila dahil sa napaka
      mahal na singil…

    68. Gravatar Icon Ned replied on Jan 7th, 2009 at 8:38 am (68)

      150pcs . omg. ang lufet naman nyan. wow. 20 units lang sa akin >_<

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