At noon the next day, everyone had a meal together at a restaurant outside the school, and then went to the alley that Xu Yiyang had been eyeing.
Although today is not the weekend, this alley is still very lively.
The main reason is that it is not far from China Overseas and Tongji.
The two schools are very close to each other, just over two kilometers away, and this alley is right in the middle of the two schools. It only takes about 10 minutes to walk and only two stops by bus.
Since the overall consumption power of college students is still not very good, it is easier to incubate consumption places that college students like in these relatively messy alleys.
Since it is not on a major road, the rent here is relatively cheap. There are various businesses here, including small clothing stores, small restaurants, small hotels, barber shops, video stores, bookstores, two-name supply stores, game arcades, and of course Internet cafes.
However, the Internet cafe here is very small. Xu Yiyang went in and took a look, and found that there were less than 20 machines in total, and the environment inside was very harsh and smoky.
It is basically impossible for Internet cafes like this to become their own competitors.
Most of the people who visit here at noon are college students. It seems that this place has become the first choice place for students to spend money.
In this alley, almost all self-built houses along the street are self-built houses, some are two-story, three-story, and four-story, and the sizes are also different.
Although it is relatively remote here, Xu Yiyang knows one thing. There is no need to worry about the location when opening an Internet cafe!
Even if you hide in the nook and cranny, someone will find the nook and cranny to play with.
Therefore, in the early stage, there is no need for expensive facades close to the main road.
First make a fortune quietly in a small alley, and then fight your way out of the small alley after making enough money, perfect.
Xu Yiyang calculated the funds. If he invested 700,000 yuan, 600,000 yuan would be used to purchase hardware, and the remaining 100,000 yuan would be used for rent and simple decoration. It should not be a big problem.
The hardware worth RMB 600,000, excluding network equipment, tables and chairs, bar counters, shelves, etc., should still be able to buy about 80 computers.
However, a certain amount of room must be reserved for upgrades, so Xu Yiyang decided to rent a larger storefront.
Xu Yiyang took everyone to look around and fell in love with a two-story building. Upstairs and downstairs were a hall with an actual area of more than 100 square meters, with two rooms of about ten square meters and a bathroom.
Xu Yiyang is very satisfied with this apartment layout. It is not a big problem to put a bar and 60 or 70 computers in the lobby alone. The two small rooms next to it can also have 10 computers each. In this case, only the first floor will be enough in the initial stage.
The second floor can be left empty for now, and when there is revenue, new machines can be purchased every month and the upstairs can be utilized bit by bit.
Others completely relied on Xu Yiyang's opinion, so whatever he said was what he said. Everyone thought it was good if he said it was good.
The landlord is an old man in his fifties. He said that this house was built by his family. The previous tenant built a movie theater of his own choice, which is the kind that has many small compartments and each small compartment has a movie room. There is a TV, a VCD, and a mini video room with a small sofa. The boss has a large number of pirated discs. When customers come, they first select the movies and then go in to watch them with the discs.
It may sound low, but in this day and age, this is a popular place for boys and girls to date and fall in love.
Xu Yiyang was very curious as to why the other party would not do such a popular business.
As a result, the old man told him that his family had become bigger now and rented a small courtyard directly in the back of the alley. It also provided more choices, as well as hourly rooms with TVs and VCDs. Business was booming, and almost all of them were from nearby universities. College students come to visit.
Xu Yiyang was convinced.
It seems that young lovers make the most money.
Zhao Xin couldn't help but said: "How about we do this too! A TV and a VCD are definitely much cheaper than a computer."
Xu Yiyang waved his hand: "The entertainment provided by this model is too single, and it will be completely eliminated in a few years."
After that, Xu Yiyang started to discuss the price with the old man.
The old man's asking price is 8,000 a month, and he deposits one to pay three. The price is a bit high.
Xu Yiyang counter-offered to 6,000, with a deposit of 6,000 yuan and a three-year contract. There would be no rent increase in the first two years and a 15-point increase in the third year.
According to Xu Yiyang's idea, he can only work here for two years at most, and he will definitely move out of the alley within two years.
After negotiating with the landlord, Xu Yiyang signed the contract directly with the old man, paid 42,000 yuan, and then got the key to the door.
Although the house is a bit old, it is still clean and tidy overall. What Xu Yiyang thinks is that the decoration of the Internet cafe is similar to that of a training institution. It doesn't need to be fancy, it just needs to be clean and bright.
Find a worker to paint a large white wall first, replace the rolling shutter door at the door with a floor-to-ceiling glass door, and install more fluorescent tubes to make the entire interior look brighter. It's basically OK.
Then you must have air conditioners, wall-mounted oscillating fans, and ventilation fans, and don't be stingy.
The weather in Zhonghai is hot in summer and wet and cold in winter. Without air conditioning, the customer experience would be very poor.
In the early years, many Internet cafes were very frugal and were reluctant to install air conditioners, and even if they were installed, they were reluctant to turn on air conditioners. Generally, the business of such Internet cafes would not last long.
In addition, a large amount of fire-fighting equipment must be purchased just in case.
Surveillance cameras must also be installed outside and indoors. Although few Internet cafes do this these days, Xu Yiyang feels that safety must be the first priority.
Internet cafes are the easiest place to lose things. Mobile phones are easy to be lost inside and bicycles are easy to be lost outside. Having surveillance cameras can also improve the overall safety of the Internet cafe, which is more reassuring for customers.
Chen Meng said to Xu Yiyang at this time: "Brother Xu, can you give the Internet cafe a name?"
Xu Yiyang thought for a while and said: "This is about to cross the century. How about we give the Internet cafe a name with the characteristics of the times? Let's call it New Century Internet Cafe."
No one has any opinion on this.
Zhao Xin asked him: "Old Xu, is it easy to get the certificate for the Internet cafe?"
"It's easy to handle." Xu Yiyang said, "I'll find a scalper then and it should be easy to solve."
Nowadays, there are no restrictions or controls on Internet cafes in various places, and there is no difficulty in approving the qualifications of Internet cafes.
In fact, until the Lan Jisu incident in 2002, the management of Internet cafes was very loose, and the required qualifications were very simple.
Xu Yiyang went to many scalpers near the industrial and commercial area, chose the most reliable one, and entrusted all the certification matters to the other party.
These days, scalpers can do almost anything.
Not to mention applying for industrial and commercial documents, as long as you pay enough money, you can go to Shenzhen City to get big documents such as foreign trade certificates from scalpers.
It's just that scalpers like the latter are a type of scalpers with a very strong relationship with strength.
Then, Xu Yiyang divided the work among everyone on the spot.
He told everyone: "We still have a lot of work to do next. At noon tomorrow, I am going to go to the Electronic City, find a reliable computer store, and then order 90 computers, computer desks, computer chairs and other items. Network equipment should be ready in Electronic City, and the rest needs to be divided among everyone."
Zhao Xin said hurriedly: "Lao Xu, just give me your orders and everyone will follow your arrangements."
Xu Yiyang said: "Brother Xin, take the time to go to the home appliance store at noon tomorrow and install ten wall-mounted oscillating fans on the first floor, eight in the lobby outside, one in each of the two rooms inside, and six water dispensers. There are four outside, one for each of the two rooms inside, four more air conditioners, two high-power vertical air conditioners for the hall, two one-and-a-half-horse hanging air conditioners for the two cabins inside, and ventilation equipment. Use a square exhaust fan, one for each window, and the power should be higher, otherwise if all the guests inside smoke, the air will be too bad."
Zhao Xin asked: "Is it cheaper to buy a second-hand air conditioner?"
Xu Yiyang waved his hand: "You never know how dirty a second-hand air conditioner is, and you don't know how strong the smell is. Many air conditioners will turn yellow after a few years. You can tell at a glance that they are old goods. All this money is spent on the surface. We can’t save money. If they are all second-hand air conditioners, the experience for the guests will definitely be very bad.”
"I see!"
Xu Yiyang continued: "Junnan, please contact the landlord tomorrow. He knows a reliable electrician and ask him to come over to check the circuit for us and eliminate hidden dangers. Upgrade the areas that need to be upgraded. Wires and air switches must be selected properly. , and find a wall painter to re-treat all the walls."
"Okay, Brother Xu."
"Xiao Meng, you go to the furniture store tomorrow and order a larger bar, a row of glass cabinets, a row of cabinets against the wall, and a few sets of the simplest fabric sofas to place against the wall, and another Small safe.”
"Okay, Brother Xu."
"Yiming, you go to the lighting store tomorrow and install six rows of fluorescent tubes on the outside and one row on the inside. Choose the ones with higher brightness, and then let the electricians install them for us."
"Okay, Brother Xu."
Yiyang finally looked at Gu Peng and said: "Forget love, look for a place that sells firefighting equipment tomorrow. Buy me thirty four-kilogram dry powder fire extinguishers and four twenty-kilogram trolley fire extinguishers." Three to four kilograms of carbon dioxide fire extinguishers, give me ten."
"Pfft..." Gu Peng, who was drinking water, choked and coughed for a long time before saying in surprise: "Brother Xu, are you sure you want to buy so many? Buy more than 40 fire extinguishers???"
Xu Yiyang nodded and said, "Yes, forty-four!"
Everyone was dumbfounded.
They couldn't understand why so many fire extinguishers were needed to open an Internet cafe
But Xu Yiyang feels that fire extinguishers are indispensable.
Doing business at this stage is far less stringent than in later generations. In a few years, almost all physical businesses will have to undergo strict fire audits to avoid fires to the greatest extent. Now there is no such thing.
80% of Internet cafes across the country may not even have two cans of fire extinguishers.
But Xu Yiyang hopes to be more prepared. If he opens an Internet cafe in a self-built house in a lane like this, he cannot install a complete set of sprinkler fire-extinguishing equipment. If he wants to do a good job in firefighting, he has to pile up fire extinguishers.
Moreover, because he knew the tragic consequences of the Lan Jisu incident and the bad impact it had on the country in his previous life, Xu Yiyang now opened an Internet cafe and dared to save any money, but he definitely did not dare to save a penny on safety, especially fire protection.
Dry powder fire extinguishers are actually not expensive. A four-kilogram fire extinguisher will cost no more than one hundred yuan. Buying thirty of them only costs three thousand yuan, and a twenty-kilogram fire extinguisher only costs three or four hundred yuan.
There are so many dry powder fire extinguishers, which can basically deal with fires caused by oil and chemical materials.
In fact, there are not many combustible materials in Internet cafes except for circuits and electronic equipment. Xu Yiyang does not plan to use flammable carpets and other decorations, so dry powder fire extinguishers are basically enough.
As for carbon dioxide fire extinguishers, they are slightly more expensive. A small can costs two to three hundred yuan. They are mainly used to extinguish fires on electronic equipment and valuables. If a fire breaks out in a computer, using a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher can minimize the impact of the fire. Damage to the computer itself.
By then, with so many fire extinguishers, you can basically sit back and relax.
(End of chapter)