Cyber cafe business: a cost and revenue checklist

Ask ten people if a cyber cafe is a good business and you’ll get ten answers. Two cafes on different streets can have opposite results with the same computers and the same printer. So a stranger’s “yes” or “no” isn’t worth much to you. What’s worth something is your own numbers.

That’s what this checklist is for. It doesn’t tell you what you’ll earn, because nobody can know that without seeing your street. It gives you a few simple tables and a way to work out how many jobs you need each month to cover your costs. It covers money only. Registration and premises questions are separate, and you should settle those with your local authority and your adviser. If you’re thinking about running several services from one counter, SiOnline’s retailer page describes how that side works.

What decides whether a cyber cafe works?

Four things, and only you can measure them.

• Footfall. On SiOnline’s current become-a-retailer page, footfall is the whole business. Every service there turns people who already walk past into customers. Adding services will not create passing trade where there is none.
• Fixed costs. Money you pay whether or not a customer comes in.
• Revenue lines. Each thing you sell has its own price, its own direct cost per job and its own pattern of repeat visits. The mix matters more than any one line.
• Repeat lines. A line that brings the same customer back every month gives you a base to cover your fixed costs. A line of big one-off jobs doesn’t.

Which fixed costs can you list today?

Put a figure next to each one only when you have a bill or a written quote. Otherwise leave the box empty. An empty box is honest. A guess isn’t.

Don’t skip your own time. If you sit at the counter ten hours a day and pay yourself nothing, the sheet will look better than the business really is.

The last row is the one people forget. As of 17 October 2026, SiOnline’s pricing page puts monthly maintenance of ₹236 on an IRCTC agent ID, separate from the yearly renewal of ₹2,360 (source: SiOnline’s pricing page). On your sheet, that’s ₹236 x 12 = ₹2,832 a year. The page doesn’t say whether it applies in a month with no bookings, so ask SiOnline in writing. Other services are quoted on enquiry, so ask for each figure in writing too. You can find SiOnline’s published costs for IRCTC and PAN on its pricing page.

Which revenue lines should you record?

Write down only the lines you really run. These are headings to record against, not a menu to copy.

Let’s look at rail tickets, because that’s where people get confused. IRCTC’s Norms for Internet Cafe Scheme (PDF created 14 June 2021) list maximum agent charges of ₹20 for sleeper and ₹40 for AC, inclusive of GST, liable to change without notice. SiOnline’s IRCTC fees page states ₹40 per PNR for AC classes and ₹20 per PNR for non-AC. The charge is per PNR, not per passenger, and it’s printed on the ticket. Payment-gateway charges: being confirmed with IRCTC.

SiOnline pays agents no commission and shares no payment-gateway charges. It charges the agent only ticket fare, payment-gateway charges and IRCTC charges. So the charge you collect isn’t your profit. Other costs sit against it.

PAN works differently. The government fee is published by the Income Tax Department and the PAN service providers. Read it on their pages, not on a shop’s price list. And that fee isn’t your income.

Which lines bring people back every month?

This one question tells you more than almost anything else. For each line, ask: of the customers who used this line last month, how many had used it before?

A line with a high share of repeat customers is a base. A line with none is a bonus. Try to cover your monthly costs from the base, and treat the bonus as extra.

Some lines repeat by nature. A bill comes round every month. A printout for a one-time application might never come back. SiOnline’s current become-a-retailer page says bills and recharges bring people back monthly. Its mobile and DTH recharge page says a prepaid customer recharges several times a month. Both are SiOnline’s statements about its own services, not independent figures, so test them on your own street. If your print count falls over a few months, look at the repeat share on your other lines.

How do you work out break-even?

Break-even is the number of jobs a month it takes to cover your fixed costs. You supply every number.

1. Fixed cost per month. Add up the monthly column of your sheet. Spread yearly items over twelve months.
2. What one job contributes. Take the price you collect for a job and subtract what that job costs you directly, such as paper, ink or a payment charge. What’s left is the contribution. If you don’t know the direct cost, you can’t work out break-even for that line yet.
3. Jobs needed. Divide the fixed cost per month by the contribution of one job. Round up to the next whole job.

Do it for one line first, the one you know best. Then do the next. Don’t try to do the whole counter in one go.

One warning. If a line has a recurring charge, count that in the fixed costs for that line, not in the direct cost per job. Otherwise you’ll count it every time and your sums will look worse than they are. And don’t treat the whole amount a customer pays you as your contribution. Whatever you pass on to someone else comes off first.

A monthly sheet to fill in

Copy this table and fill it at the end of each month. Again, leave a box empty until you have the figure.

For each line, subtract the direct cost from the amount collected. Then subtract the month’s fixed cost from the total. If the result is negative three months in a row, the lines you run don’t cover the counter. The useful question then is “which line should I change?”, not “which new service should I buy?”

Don’t judge by your busiest day. Judge by the month, and by three months if you can. One busy week before a holiday can make an ordinary month look good.

When does a multi-service counter help?

SiOnline’s current become-a-retailer page describes a retailer as a shop running several services on one login and one wallet balance: ticketing, recharge, bill payments, PAN and FASTag. It says funding one balance beats funding several, and that footfall from one service feeds the others. Those are SiOnline’s statements, and the page itself says they depend on a location people already walk past.

Here’s the other side. Every service you add brings more to learn, more things that can fail and more customer questions. It doesn’t bring in customers by itself. So before you add a service, put its cost lines on your sheet. A service with a recurring charge needs enough repeat jobs to cover it. A service quoted on enquiry needs a written quote before it goes on the sheet. SiOnline’s services overview lists what it offers, and which one suits you is a question for your own numbers.

What should you ask any provider before paying?

• What do I pay once, each month and each year, and what’s held as a balance?
• What does a failed or pending transaction look like, and what reference do I give support?
• Will you put all charges in writing, including those quoted on enquiry?
• Who sets the rules for this service, and where can I read them myself?

If a provider gives you an income figure for your counter without seeing your location, they’re guessing. SiOnline’s current become-a-retailer page says it won’t put a monthly figure on the page, because the figure depends entirely on footfall. Treat any confident number with suspicion.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Counting money collected as money earned. A customer pays you the agent charge for a ticket, but that isn’t all yours. Other costs sit against it.
• Forgetting yearly costs. A yearly renewal or an equipment replacement still has to be paid. Spread it across twelve months.
• Leaving your own time out. If you wouldn’t do the job for nothing, count it.
• Mixing government fees with your income. Fees that go to the government aren’t yours. Keep them apart.
• Adding services before the first ones work. Fix the line that loses money first.

Common questions

Is a cyber cafe a good business? It depends on your footfall, your fixed costs and the mix of lines you run. Judge it on your own monthly sheet.

Can I use a cyber cafe business plan template? Yes, as a layout. Use the tables above as a one-page plan, and fill every box from your own bills and quotes. A plan built from someone else’s numbers describes their counter.

How long does it take to break even? Your break-even point is the number of jobs that cover your fixed costs, and you can calculate it. How long you take to reach it depends on how quickly your jobs build up to that number.

Next step

If you’d like to see how a multi-service counter might fit your location, describe it on SiOnline’s retailer enquiry form.

Sources

• IRCTC: Norms for Internet Cafe Scheme, PDF created 14 June 2021, retrieved 17 October 2026.
• SiOnline pages, read on 17 October 2026: become-a-retailer, pricing, IRCTC fees, mobile and DTH recharge and services.

Fees and rules change. Confirm them at the source before you act.