If you’re opening up an internet café franchise – or just looking to give your old place a boost – you can do it by getting into the sweepstakes business.

What does that mean?

More and more internet cafes are installing sweepstakes machines. In exchange for buying things like computer time or a phone card, customers get a turn on a sweepstakes machine.

What do these machines do?

Sweepstakes companies have designed these machines to look like fun games – like poker games or slot machines. In reality, though, whether a customer wins or loses is decided randomly by a computer. There’s no skill involved – just luck. When a customer wins, he gets a prize – usually a coupon for more internet time or another phone card.

Good sweepstakes companies will even help you determine which machines will be most popular in your café!

But what exactly can sweepstakes machines do for your business?

1. Encourage people to buy more stuff

When people know there’s a reward at the end of the tunnel – or even just the chance of winning a reward – they’re far more willing to buy something. When you have sweepstakes machines sitting in your internet café franchise, people will be happy to make extra purchases – like buying some internet time in addition to the phone card – to play the sweepstakes machine.

Luckily, it’s a win-win situation. For you, there are some extra profits that you probably wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. For your customers, there’s the thrill of playing sweepstakes games and a potential prize.

2. Encourage repeat business

Once people get a taste of the sweepstakes business in your internet café, they’ll want to come back. After all, wouldn’t you rather do business with a company that offers you some fun and a potential reward, rather than the company who just takes your money?

If you can get a steady stream of repeat customers – along with the inevitable walk-ins – they’ll more than pay for the costs associated with your sweepstakes business!

3.Encourage word-of-mouth advertising

One of the biggest things that can make an internet café franchise succeed is word-of-mouth advertising. After all, getting recommendations from friends is far more effective at bringing in new business than any paid ad can be!

When your internet café franchise is known as “the fun place where you get to play cool games and win cool prizes”, people are going to tell their friends about it. If your sweepstakes machines can generate enough of a buzz, you may not even need any paid advertising!