Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Fish-Catching Internet Cafes' seats were much more relaxed than other internet cafes, but there was a limit to how relaxed they were.

When gamers surfed the net, they would only need a table and a chair. Even if they left enough space on both sides and behind to allow others to walk freely, they would only need four or five square meters at most.

On the other hand, the VR equipment could theoretically be played in four or five square meters. However, this was only the basic space required for the game. There was no buffer zone.

If they were in their own living room or study room, five square meters of space would be enough. That was because this was a private space. There was basically no need to worry about encountering anything or anyone else while playing.

However, things were different in the internet cafe.

If both players had a usable area of five square meters, it would be easy for them to touch each other because they were constantly moving and waving their arms. That would affect the game experience.

Therefore, to be safe, if he wanted to change it to a VR experience, he would have to make a partition. What's more, the space would be bigger than his own house. The actual area needed would be at least six square meters or even seven square meters.

Every piece of equipment had an additional two square meters. Wouldn't the space be able to accommodate a lot less customers?

What's more, VR games were only meant to be fresh for a while, not a long-term solution. Most customers' true requirement was to play client-side games with their friends on the computer.

The number of people who would experience the new VR gaming experience zone once Fish-Catching Internet Cafe opened on, however, it would soon become deserted. No one would care about it after the craze.

The people on the first floor wanted to play, but there were no slots; the VR equipment on the second floor were all empty. No one came to play.

What a beautiful scene!

After that, Pei Qian went to the Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's market area, which was also the sales area.

This was also the layout that had been finalized when Fish-Catching Internet Cafe 1.0 was first planned. The sales area was not big. There were only four or five shelves, and most of them sold external products related to games such as mouse, keyboard, and controller.

After Fish-Catching Internet Cafe developed the ROF Computer-Installation business, there were also some products such as graphics cards, internal storage, or ROF Computer-Installation being sold and displayed.

As far as Pei Qian knew, this place was selling very well!

That was because Zhang Yuan had been in charge of Fish-Catching Internet Cafe previously. The employees were also very knowledgeable about computers. The keyboards, mouse, and earphones that they chose were all classic models from first-tier well-known brands. They were definitely very useful.

The gamers walked around the internet cafe and felt that it was very useful. They immediately paid for it. Even though it was more expensive than online sales, most of the customers who came to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe did not care about the difference in price.

After Fish-Catching Internet Cafe became popular, there was a lot of traffic. That became a huge source of income for Fish-Catching Internet Cafe!

Pei Qian said, "Clear out all the third-party products here, including keyboards, mouse, earphones, and so on. They won't be sold in the future! We will only be selling Tengda's own products."

"Of course, we have to keep the original recommendation function. The staff can still recommend keyboards, mouse, and other external settings for customers. However, after the recommendation, they can get customers to place orders online. We won't earn this mark-up."

That way, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe would have one less source of income.

There were relatively few Tengda's current products even though it might generate profits after changing into Tengda's products. There were not many products in this place. Compared to the previous products, it could be said to have been greatly reduced. Sales would definitely be greatly reduced.

What's more, after the 'professional sales team' led by Tian Mo was formed, Pei Qian would arrange for the sales team to 'occupy' all of Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's sales zones in order to dissuade customers.

That way, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's income would definitely fall!

It might not be a lot less, but it would be a lot if they were to accumulate.

Now, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe has opened so many branches. It would still be a huge sum even if the profit of every branch dropped a little.

Xiao Peng frowned and thought seriously.

Obviously, he was trying to understand the deeper meaning behind Boss Pei's words.

Xiao Peng was one of the earlier employees of Fish-Catching Internet Cafe. He had personally witnessed the entire process of Fish-Catching Internet Cafe turning its losses into profits. What's more, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe 2.0 and 3.0 were all managed by him. It could be said that he had a deep understanding of the entire Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's business model.

Obviously, he felt that there was something wrong with Boss Pei's plan.

"Boss Pei, VR games might be a huge trend in the future. I understand that very well."

"However… The current development of VR games is still too immature. The number of players in the entire group is not even one or two orders of magnitude compared to computer players."

"The number of players who are interested in VR games is probably less than 10% compared to computer players."

"Of course, I agree with Fish-Catching Internet Cafe opening a VR zone. However, there shouldn't be a need to occupy a place as big as a computer, right? I think 1: 2 would be enough. It could even be smaller."

Pei Qian sniggered.

He knew that Xiao Peng would not be so willing to accept this loss-making plan.

However, it did not matter. Boss Pei had a silver tongue waiting for these stubborn people.

"You're right. VR gamers are indeed a few orders of magnitude lower than computer gamers."

"However… have you ever thought that this is the reason why we want to roll out more VR equipment?"

"Huh?" Xiao Peng was stunned and could not react in time.

Pei Qian explained, "Five or even ten years ago, internet cafes were much more popular than they are now. Why? That was because most players were poor back then. They could not afford high-end computers and could not obtain the best gaming experience. That was why they chose to go to internet cafes with their friends."

"Why has the entire internet cafe industry changed in recent years? There are fewer and fewer internet cafes, and they are becoming more and more refined. From a low-end internet cafe with a foul atmosphere to a graceful and comfortable high-end internet cafe?"

"That's because the functions of internet cafes are different."

"Now that everyone is more financially wealthy, there are more and more people who have high-end computers. Therefore, the crowd for the internet cafe is shrinking. We have to change the model."

Xiao Peng nodded in agreement.

Obviously, this was one of the key reasons why Fish-Catching Internet Cafe could stand out among the other internet cafes: it was the first brand to make high-end internet cafes. It was one or two years ahead of the entire market.

Pei Qian continued, "In the future, the internet cafe might not disappear. However, if it is purely used for gaming, it will definitely fade. What's more, client-side games have been declining in recent years, and mobile games have been rising rapidly. That has made the internet cafe business even more difficult."

"There are indeed fewer gamers in VR games. However, have you ever thought that it is precisely because VR is something new that fewer gamers are willing to buy VR glasses? That is why they are more inclined to come to the internet cafe to experience it? On the other hand, if a large number of VR glasses are installed in Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, the gamers' passion to try out the game would be satisfied as much as possible. That would allow the entire VR gamers to expand faster?"

Pei Qian's expression was serious, as if he was speaking the truth.

In fact, he knew very well that in his memory, this was probably a not very good business model. At the very least, the high-end internet cafes in his memory did not change half of the internet cafes' computers into VR glasses.

However, that did not matter. It did not affect him from bluffing Xiao Peng.

Pei Qian firmly believed that with his powerful bluffing skills and acting skills, coupled with his halo as the leader of Tengda Corporation, he would definitely be able to arrange for Xiao Peng to understand everything so that he could finally accept this decision.

As expected, Xiao Peng looked enlightened after some thought.

"So that was it!

"The success of Fish-Catching Internet Cafe is because we have understood the development patterns of the entire internet cafe industry. We are ahead of all our peers. Now that a large number of high-end internet cafes are emerging and the competition is intense, we have to take another huge step forward and walk in front of all our peers!"

"At that time, the VR experience area will be a core selling point that is different from other internet cafes!"

"Boss Pei is indeed far-sighted!"

Suddenly, Xiao Peng thought of something. "Boss Pei, I have a suggestion."

"We can change all the computer tables and monitors on the second floor to foldable forms. The main computer will be placed on top of the head with a frame. The mouse, keyboard, earphones, head displays, and so on will be hung up. The chairs will also be foldable."

"That way, players would have enough space to experience VR content in the foldable state. Players would also be able to play computer games normally when the desktop and stool are unfolded."

Pei Qian: "…"

You're such a smart little brat!

Obviously, Xiao Peng's plan was a compromise. Even though the entire VR experience zone was based on VR experience, it could also be used to surf the net and play games normally.

That was equivalent to insurance. When the VR craze subsided, players could still return to play computer games.

Pei Qian giggled inwardly.

Xiao Peng, Xiao Peng, I would not have been able to do anything about it if you did not tell me but did it secretly.

However, if you were to tell me now, wouldn't I be able to take precautions in advance?

Pei Qian thought for a moment and immediately said, "Of course not!"

"It shouldn't be a problem if the monitor and computer desktop are made into folders. However, the chairs are also made into folders. It would definitely be uncomfortable to sit!"

"No matter how much you design a foldable chair, it would be difficult to compare it to a custom-made human-made chair, an E-Sports chair, or an armchair. That's because the prerequisite of folding would definitely be to sacrifice comfort."

"We have to give the players the most perfect experience. We can't make do in this way."

Xiao Peng thought for a moment. "Er… Boss Pei, you're right. That's not appropriate."

"However, even if you want to play VR games, you still need the main computer, right? After all, those large VR games are calculated on the main computer. What's more, when you open the game platform or search for content, you still need the mouse and monitor."

"We can't save these even if we don't want the seats, can we?"

Pei Qian pondered for a moment. That was true.

Given the current technical level and content of the VR profile, it was impossible to completely replace the PC. A lot of content had to be set up on the PC before it could be displayed.

VR integrated computers could only run VR games that were similar in size to cell phone games. Those large-scale games had to be calculated using computers.

Thus, the display screen, the system unit, and the mouse were indispensable.