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!

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?

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

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.

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.

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.

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.