Looking at the economic ociety of students in the university of Reading, I realized a good and entertaining profitable business in the area of leisure. The opportunity that came to mind was the Idea of having an on campus game chilling centre combined with a licensed bar for students. I noticed that more than average of students worldwide are into the habit of computer games, in most places, some students have been found to be addicted to It. Regardless of that fact, It Is still hard for them to keep up this habit during their university years.
The problems being that if they want to keep the habit up, they will eed to get the compatible appliances for the games which involves extra expenses for the students. The costs Involved will be too much on them. They will need to purchase televisions, consoles, game cd’s e. t. c which are quite expensive even for the privileged students. Even if they do acquire these items, the issues of maintenance, tv license e. t. c come In. Apart from my external research and personal analysis. I also have friends who are into computer games and have the same complaints.
So from an internal point of view, I have seen for my self the stress of owning a console in a university hall of residence. As most students cannot resist the temptation of playing computer games, if there is at least one console within reach, then every effort will be made by the students around it to play it. The issue of portability is also a problem for them. If for instance they want to move out or change rooms, it becomes an extra problem for them, moving the appliances. I still investigated further by conducting primary and secondary research, which will be discussed later In the essay.
But from the research It was obvious that there Is a large market to be exploited for my Idea and a lot of willing customers. The idea of having a bar in the center will be worthy as the market for social bars already exists and attracts a lot of students. So it will computer games being in the arena. In addition to that, the location for the proposed idea is going to be in the center of campus, which is the general meeting place for the university students as well as being beside the students union.
It’s going to be the first center of its kind in the university with the only other competition on campus does not posses a threat to my business as it offers a different service. It offers only a bar and provides snacks but no games involved. So my market analysis is very optimistic and I am confident that the business will bring a positive outcome and a lot of profit. 2. BUSINESS IDEA The idea is to open a game-chilling center which provides services such as different game consoles, a licensed bar and can be booked for social events such as birthday parties, themed nights, karaoke nights.
It will be accessible by both students and staff of the university of reading. The centre will be a room in the centre of the university formerly a bank building but has enough space for all the above activities. The room will consist of six (6) consoles, which will be in sets of 2 each: 1. Xbox 360 2. Play station 3 3. Nintendo Wii It will also consist of six (6) forty two (42) inch plasma tVs for the consoles and comfortable sofa’s. The latest cd’s and most popular games will be available so that the customers will have varieties of games to play for the period of time they have paid for.
Vending machines will be available in the centre for snacks and drinks to make the customers more comfortable. It will be open everyday from loam to 10pm excluding Sundays, which the centre will be open from loam to 6pm. The charges and source of income will be solely from the games. The price list is as follows; * CONSOLES E3/hour plus El for extra controllers * DRINKS E2/bottle (lager, cider, alcopops) E3/cocktail * EVENTS ElOO/h(30 people) , E80 extra hours. There will be monthly game competitions that will bring extra revenue to the business.
The target market is going to be the male students between the ages of 16-25 as well as the female students. To encourage the female students visit the centre. The Nintendo Wii, which is a popular console with the ladies, will be available in the centre. There will be one staff that will be knowledgeable on electronics and be a computer literate. The staff will refill the dispensers; keep the place clean watch over the customers. A special program will be installed to automatically stop the game once their time is up.
The other staff will be the one serving at the bar. The idea was inspired by the love and increasing passion students have for video games. It is a very exciting business idea that involves a lot of fun, which will help heal some 3. GAME CENTRE POSSIBLE DESIGN WIRED GAME CENTRE POSSIBLE DESIGN. 4. MARKETING In terms of marketing the business, I have divided the customers into segments using criteria such as; Age, timetables and gender. Students’ aged between 18 and 22 will be the specific target.
This will be our main target as we forecast interest for the centre to predominantly be from young males. Marketing research has also shown that quite a number of female students are very much interested, especially the presence of the Nintendo Wii Console. The prices have been set in accordance to the results of the market research survey, which the students answered. Advertisements through the university radio, key rings, leaflets in halls of residence and around the university and also through the company website, A website that will enable us ontact the customers easily.
The website will include news of events taking place in the centre and the latest games available, It will also be used to advertise competitions that will be taking place in the centre. The services have to match the customers demand so there will be surveys at the end of every month to get a feedback from the customers. This will enable us to reduce the flaws of the business. There will be much focus on customer retention and customer service commitment. According to my market research the only competitors are the students on campus restaurants and bars.
The idea of having a bar in the centre is to draw customers from these competitors incase they become a possible threat. The location of the centre, which is in the middle of the most populated student area in the university, is going to make it easier for the customers to locate the place. A large attractive banner will be hung in front of the building to attract customers. Also there will be special offers available for students coming in groups e. g. A group of 6 students will have 2 extra controllers for free and a group of 9 will have 3 controllers for free.
There will also be special discounts for disabled students. A free drink of the customer’s choice will be given to him/her if they book for 3 or more hours and pay upfront. Hopefully all these will attract more customers. 5. MANAGEMENT AND ORGANISATIONAL PLAN There are going to be 2 chief officers and 2 staffs. I will take up of the role of The running the business daily and also taking major decisions on the company. I also happen acquire great leadership qualities as well as experience in the gaming sector. I personally own 3 consoles myself and I am very much up to date with what is happening in the games sector.
I am also a student in the university studying nformation technology so I have a little bit of technical experience with such electronics, I will also take up the role of the technical officer. A Chief Financial Officer will also be appointed who will be overseeing the financial records of the company. The CFO must also be a student of the university as well studying accounting, management or investment banking. The CFO must be able prepare the management reports, financial statements and also offer advice on how to get income. The CFO will also be an investor to the business.
The first staff is going to be the bartender. This staff will be in charge of the bar. The staff must be an experienced bartender and will be paid on an hourly basis. The second staff is going to be the one overseeing the activities in the centre. The staff will monitor all activities in the centre. It will be their responsibilities to receive payments, assist the customer to change the c’ds and also offer gaming advice to the customers if needed. This particular staff must be very knowledgeable in using gaming materials and must also be technically good with the appliances.
