In Brazil things are a little bit different 'cos airports are still owned by
the government (although they'll probably be privatized some day). So you
have to go thru a "public hearing" or something like that. But it's more a
political than a financial process. So if you know the right people there's
a chance you can make it even if you don't have a solid financial
background.
But I agree with you that in an airport like Heatrow, Zurich or Kennedy, a
small cybercafe would have serious problems to get some space. But in the
big European cities, I think there's an excellent alternative: train
stations! You probably gonna face similar problems but in a smaller
degree... and I'm not sure if your income will be much smaller. I remember
one cybercafé near Roma Termini (and it was not even inside the station)
that was always crowded...
Rodrigo.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Sullivan [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2001 10:25 AM
> To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]'
> Subject: RE: [cc] Cybercafes in airports
>
> That is exactly right.
> Anyone visiting an airport would be hard pushed to find anything other
> than
> a large chain operator within the sales complex. Landlords want a strong
> covenant (Cash in the bank) for occupiers in their space as this gives
> them
> better investment values and longer term security. They also prefer the
> larger operators as they attract others.
> In addition, the more lucrative the space, the higher the rents and
> premiums.
> With a smaller operator, the requirement to rent this type of space is
> liable to involve paying several years rent upfront and possibly the
> payment
> of a hefty premium for the privilege and even if you can meet these
> criteria, if any larger operator has an interest in the same unit, kiss it
> goodbye.
> The best possibility of obtaining a unit within this environment is to try
> and get a sublet from one of the existing occupiers as there are some that
> are not quite as worried about the overall covenant strength. Good
> examples
> of units to target are those that belong to direct competitors and also,
> units sometimes become available due to mergers between two competitors.
> With up to £3 million backing, you could still be playing second fiddle to
> the big boys in most airports.
> To a lesser degree, this is also how most high street rentals work.
>
> DaveS
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: John Hibbs [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> > Sent: 02 February 2001 22:28
> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Subject: RE: [cc] Cybercafes in airports
> >
> > I used to work for a company that was the forerunner to Duty Free
> > Shoppers; I was also very much involved in locating video games. In
> > both cases, we had to have a keen, keen eye on airports and
> > acquisition of leases at favorable rents. This became increasingly
> > difficult to the point that most of us "middle men" got squeezed
> > between the airport managers and big corporates who wanted a presence
> > that was "justified" as much because of its advertising "reach" as
> > from the profits generated by the sales.
> >
> > My suggestion would be to "work backwards", first taking the lease
> > costs per foot. You might even find that you are not sufficiently
> > credit worthy for the space, as very often airports only want Fortune
> > 500, regardless of your own high rating (as a small player).
> >
> > Before you get too caught up in what will work or what won't work,
> > make sure that you can indeed get space and what it will cost. You
> > might conclude that you either can't qualify or if you did you would
> > never make the rent regardless of how promising are the forecasts.
> >
> > For what it's worth...
> > John Hibbs
> > www.bfranklin.edu
> >
> >
> > At 6:28 PM +0000 02/01/01, David Sullivan wrote:
> > >When we looked at doing this in an airport, we guestimated (partly from
> > ours
> > >and friends experience) that 30 minutes up to 1 hour would be the norm
> > >unless there were flight delays. We planned on selling a minimum of 30
> > >minutes usage time with the customer option to take more at any
> stage.We
> > >figured that this would give us the best continuous flow of users
> without
> > >them feeling that they were being ripped off. We also planned on
> > targeting
> > >the games users, especially as most families have kids in tow who are a
> > >nightmare to keep an eye on. What also surprised us was the number of
> > 18/30
> > >type groups who end up lounging in the larger open cafe areas whilst
> > waiting
> > >for flight calls.
> > >With regards to laptop users; a server connected to a 24 port hub which
> > in
> > >turn has connector points strategically placed (fixed), either to the
> > wall
> > >or from a central point on the tables was our solution. Power points
> > were
> > >also incorporated into this setup.
> > >Even though we were aware we could get business users, we placed them
> > very
> > >much of secondary importance with the arcade style predominant in our
> > minds.
> > >
> > >Regards
> > >DaveS
> > >
> > >> -----Original Message-----
> > >> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > >> [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> > >> Sent: 30 January 2001 18:19
> > >> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > >> Subject: RE: [cc] Cybercafes in airports
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Beth, David and Kireau,
> > >>
> > >> Thanks a lot for your help!
> > >>
> > >> I'm planning to open this cybercafe in the airport of a Latin
> American
> > >> city
> > >> with 1-1.5M inhabitants (I won't name it here 'cos my partners are
> > afraid
> > >> someone might steal our idea) and a high income per capita (close to
> > >> European standards). We won't have to bother with Starbucks and
> things
> > >> like
> > >> that yet, but McDonald's is everywhere and I'm sure that they'll get
> > some
> > >> of
> > >> our younger potential clients. Another good point: the airport is
> only
> > 4-5
> > >> miles away from downtown, so our clients might include people that
> are
> > not
> > >> travelling or waiting for someone, but actually went to the airport
> > just
> > >> to
> > >> use the cybercafe (where it's going to be easier and cheaper to park
> > than
> > >> downtown).
> > >>
> > >> Back to the cafe: the flight information board is very important, of
> > >> course!
> > >> We also intend to have a price policy similar to easyEverything in
> > order
> > >> to
> > >> attract clients out of peak hours. I'm pretty sure that a large TV
> > with
> > >> CNN/ESPN and a lounge atmosfere might also attract unwired
> passengers
> > who
> > >> just want to rest, have a coffee and wait for their flights. We're
> > also
> > >> trying to negotiate with airlines in order to give 15 or 30 minutes
> > free
> > >> for
> > >> business class passengers ('cos the money they spend on food,
> > beverage,
> > >> magazines and additional services will probably pay for it) and
> > discounts
> > >> for coach passengers if a flight is delayed or something like that.
> > >> Network
> > >> connections will also be available if you bring your own laptop.
> > > >
> > >> My problem: How to estimate the number of terminals that I'll need?
> Is
> > it
> > >> reasonable to estimate the number of clients based on the number of
> > >> passengers per day? What percentage should I use? What is the
> > percentage
> > >> of
> > >> people flying with laptops? How much time should I consider as the
> > average
> > >> that a client will spend at the cafe? (the answer for this will
> > probably
> > >> be
> > >> much lower than in a regular cybercafe) 1 hour?
> > >>
> > >> I'm asking these questions because I have to write a solid business
> > plan
> > >> in
> > >> order to raise some capital. If any one of you have experience with
> > >> airport
> > >> cybercafes or have any idea about where I'd find those statistics
> that
> > >> would
> > >> be really great!
> > >>
> > >> Thanks a lot!!!
> > >>
> > >> Rodrigo.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
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