The first, can be surmounted, but figuring out how to make a profit with a cybercafe in the US has proven to be more problematical.
Looking at similar projects in the past, the only ones still around make their profits in some other way and just happen to have internet access. This is wholely unacceptable for the spirit of the idea. And taking significant losses is unacceptable in business, no matter what you're doing.
Now, just today, an idea struck me on how to make it work: Showcase Advertizing. Basically, you make the Cafe, add terminals, and then solicit various companies to pay you to showcase their brand name in your cafe. Whether it be IBM, Microsloth, or Novell, you rent out exclusive advertizing rights for the sponsor. They get to redecorate, put up posters, set up a demo station, and they control the advertizing on the screens and commercials shown on the terminals. The Cafe runs the terminals, the coffee, and charges for internet access, while the sponsor gets (almost) exclusive brand inundation to the customers. This would be perfect for product launches, advertizing campaigns, and to train sales and marketing people for dispatch into the arena of major conventions.
You could have a small logo for the actual company running the place and the rest of the advertizing space taken up by the sponsor's ads. Screensavers, banner ads, paint schemes, etc. would be controlled by the sponsor, a little like those advertizing cars you see now and then or like the big ad space on public busses.
With the sponsored ads changing often, the visitors get a change of scenery and with the same company running the coffee and net access side of things, there is an internal consistancy for getting your work done.
Anyone want to start something like this? Commen here or email me through the contact info to your left.
