Originally Posted by johnny02004976
tbh with furniture, u need as cheap as possible but not total crap - ikea could be a good bet, its cheap so if anything breaks its not a big deal, plus it looks modern as well.
I remember having this debate with my school when they replaced the furniture in the 6th Form Common Room, but businesses and schools cannot simply buy their furnature from places like Ikea, as due to it being a public place it has to conform to more stringent Health & Safety regs, and therefore costs more. Office equipment would be more suitable - but make sure its not home office - as that avoids the regs in a similar manner.
As to the Internet Cafe idea, its a good one, but you need to be able to cater for all the different user groups - from the basic email/word/webcam users to those that want a gaming atmosphere (if you are including this aspect). Training courses, you'd have to look into getting certified if you want to seriously enter that market, though basic skills courses you could run as an introduction to computing.
With the food side, as someone has said if you intend serving cooked food you would have to get the required qualifications. There is also the issue of food & drinks near PCs, so it may mean setting up a cafe area aswell. To be honest a well stocked range of drinks - a vending machine may be a good idea - and a refridgerator with sandwiches etc would probably be a better idea at first, rather than jumping in at the deep end.
With regards internet - you will need a fairly substancial and reliable internet connection for your users. Depending on how many people you intend to serve that may be up to a leased line. You will also need a way of managing the Internet, aswell as providing resources etc - a server with the relevant licences may cost a fair bit unless you are handy with linux.
With regards to the specs of PCs etc that you intend to include, basic dells would be fine (the £299 ones which include a flat panel) and some cheap webcams & headsets if you are offering simply internet access & web comms such as skype etc. If you intend to offer gaming, then your requirements will vary depending on the games you offer, however with games such as steam you can sign up to their cyber cafe scheme - which will limit the requirements on your internet connection when an update is released by hosting a local content server. It may also be a contractual requirement if you are re-selling the games (ie Renting).
With regards to other avenues of income once you have set up the business, a sideline in PC maintainence could be quite profitable, and the possibility of custom built PCs from there may be possible. The only problem with that is providing any warrenty on the entire system, as if you buy parts and assemble it then the warranty will be on individual components.
In terms of advertisement etc, you will need to work out what your target audience will be, this will vary dependant on what services you offer, and will greatly affect the possibilities in terms of advertising. The majority of your costs are going to be upfront, but after purchasing all the equipment and the initial advertising, then your costs should be fairly low, easily covered if you become successful.
Funding wise you could approach a bank if you have a rigorous enough business plan. I also remember reading about a government scheme to back people who have no collateral (such as houses or cars) which the loan can be secured upon, in essence they are your guarentors (the state that is). I'm not sure on the Prince's
trust, but I doubt that would entirely finance the initial outlay required. Therefore partnership with local companies may be a good idea, if you are able to convince them that your business is a viable one
My expertise doesn't extend to retail property, so you would also need to find out about that, but hopefully I have given you some food for thought
EDIT - didn't actually realise how long it was, hopefully though it is easy to read and follow