found an old post of mine on iGames

[johnlarson]

Thought I would share this old post from 2009 on iGames -

Elite Zone wrote the following post at Sat, Aug 1 2009 7:12 AM:
Each area has their own laws about taxes.  I highly suggest talking to an accountant about taxes.  The good thing about taxes is that you only pay them when you are buying stuff or making money.

I would figure out who your customers are going to be.  How you are going to get them into your location and how much your location is going to cost?

I don't know a thing about grants or loans.  We had $40,000 and some credit cards.  We have been open less than 6 months and are still learning as we go.  Our model is a little different because we also sell consoles combos and gaming computers with financing; we also are a "lounge" and require anyone under 18 to be accompined by a guardian..  We opened with 6 xboxes and 2 PC's and soon discovered a real need for a game center in the area found this site and have grown to 23 xboxes, 5 PC's and 1 PS3.  We are working towards having 40 total stations ASAP without using any credit cards and keeping 3 months operating cash in the bank.  Personally I had money in savings and my wife has been very understanding (and has a good job).  I don't expect to see much real income for at least another 6 months.  We also plan to get about $75,000 saved and open another one in another city as soon as we can.  Looking back, I should have saved a little more and kept my day job a little longer, but things fell into place.  I also wish I would have found this site BEFORE I opened.  If we didn't have the sales part of it, we would be hurting.  We are growing and as word gets out we are filling up.

I think if you are going to keep your day jobs and you just want a cool place that you and your buddies can hang out then I think you could do it with your $35,000.  It really depends on what you wanted to do.

I really enjoy what I am doing and hope that I can make a real living doing this.  The customers are the best part of the whole thing.  I am at our first lock in.  We had over 27 people come in.  It is almost 7 am and there are still 20 guys in here gaming out.  Our customers are really what makes this so fun.  If the four of you can create a fun place to come game, then I think you can grow it slow.  Just don't quit your day jobs and don't expect a small game center to support you.

Good Luck

I was answering a question, the two posts before mine were pretty discouraging.  I am not sure if the person ever opened up or not.

[Deeds]

Love it man,  I really like this part and the reason I'm getting setup to go back into business

Our customers are really what makes this so fun.

I miss the feeling I got from running a lan center.  The environment is great and creativity is at your fingers in this sort of business plan.

-deeds

[RsteeleAUG]

This would be the type of answer you would expect to find on a forums for people interested in opening a LAN center.
I understand that no one should give others false hope but at the same time no one needs to be roughed up for asking a question.
To be honest I got more out of my conversations with Deeds and reading older posts on igames than I ever did by asking a question there.


I feel the same way about every event that we have here. To see 40 or 50 people all having a really good time, laughing, playing games, makes all the time invested worth every second.

[Deeds]

This would be the type of answer you would expect to find on a forums for people interested in opening a LAN center.
I understand that no one should give others false hope but at the same time no one needs to be roughed up for asking a question.
To be honest I got more out of my conversations with Deeds and reading older posts on igames than I ever did by asking a question there.


I feel the same way about every event that we have here. To see 40 or 50 people all having a really good time, laughing, playing games, makes all the time invested worth every second.

Smirk, and that's how we became so close because I spent those nights through rum and high waters answering your questions because I knew you legitimately needed help and were serious about a game center (And me a rob have a similar fuck what works on the west coast opinion, cause we are southerners).  I even recommended bad advice about a certain group of distributors and you still stuck with me!  I love you Rob!

-deeds

[Rieja]

Ohhhhh man this is what I WANT!