Internet cafe chain rationale November 1, 2006
Posted by Munya in Africa, Business, Development, Innovation, Technology.trackback
How do you sustainably provide a high quality service at low cost to a target market that doesn’t fully appreciate the benefits of ICT. What are the advantages of quick and easy access to the internet anyway? Numerous, I’m sure you are aware of them by the mere fact that you where interested enough to have a look at my blog.
The principle advantage is economies of scale, for example the technical problems are dealt with once and replicated across the chain giving the business a opportunity to tap into specialised skills which a small internet cafe couldn’t afford. There is much greater leverage to negotiate discounts in procurement of hardware, software, uniforms, paint, advertising space etc, the list goes on.
[...] Is it really possible? I certainly this so, go through my rationale for the project. Its a well documented fact, that Telecentres struggle to sustain themselves. [...]
[...] I think thats an area the non profits should concentrate on. Its certainly my greatest challenge, that and high transaction costs and a general lack of innovation by bankers and critical government departments. The Infodev report Scaling Up Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries: The Role of Private Sector Finance summed it up well for ICT ventures such as the one I propose. [...]