My husband had an idea, that has completely turned my world around. We live next to a small town of about 3000 people. All the surrounding rural communities come into this town of Mountain View Arkansas to get groceries, go to Wal-Mart, go to the library, hardware store, the college, for faxing things, printing things, to listen to music on the square. (It is a bluegrass town and lots of groups of musicians sit around the town square at night playing music.) Altogether, Mountain View, and the several communities that surround it comes up to a population, I'd say, of about 15-20,000 people. We have interviewed, and surveyed about 100-150 people from Mountain View and the surrounding areas. We came to the conclusion that about 3 out of every 10 people do not have a home computer, or that have a home computer but will not, or cannot get internet access in their area. My husband woke up one morning and said, "this is it!" I was like "What?" and he told me his dream of an internet cafe and grill... we are spiritual people, so this has since changed into The Christian Internet Cafe and Grill. One thing I think that sparked this with him was that we heard some college students in one of our classes talking about how they didn't have a home computer and that the hours for the computer lab at the school did not fit their schedule between work and class and their home life. I know what you're thinking... "Yeah right, a college student without a laptop or notebook ... that is unrealistic." Right? Wrong. Many of these people are low to mid income and either cannot afford a computer, or cannot afford the monthly access to internet. Many of these college students are aged 25-45 middle aged... and some don't know the first thing about a computer! So my husband and I grow this idea into something feasible... something plausible... something that can actually get done.

We plan to have 20-25 computers, 5 of which will be for the younger generation and dedicated to gaming. We will offer pre-paid credit cards so that people can buy, and legally download songs and movies off the internet and burn them to disc that they buy from us. We want to provide printing, faxing, copying, and scanning services. We would like to provide a computer/internet class one day a week to provide people that don't know how to use internet and basic computer applications with the knowledge they need to use them. We will also be a restaurant, with half of the place set up with tables, chairs and booths so people can eat, drink, chit-chat, or wait on a computer, and the other half will consist of the computer stations. We will offer a wide range of menu items, coffees, cappuccinos, soft-drinks, and maybe even virgin mixed drinks. (We live in a dry county) On Friday and Saturday nights, we want to extend the hours of the place until about 11 at night to have amateur musician, poet and artist night. We have a lot of local talent so this will REALLY benefit the community and well as provide an artistic outlet and encourage socialization. We will have our hostess and waitresses be trained with basic internet and computer application knowledge so that they can provide help for new users and suggest good websites for legal downloading, online bill paying (etc.)

We want to have a homey yet modern atmosphere. We are thinking of the building looking like a log cabin from the outside, and have unique furniture inside that match the log cabin theme, but also to have a more modern look with modern artwork (Maybe local artwork) and a modern set up. Now the "Christian" part of the business may scare people or make them think that they are not welcome, but we will make sure EVERYONE that walks through the doors of our business is treated like family. The only stipulation is that they have to keep it clean, safe, wholesome, and fun. We want to have an entertaining, educational, social, family atmosphere, and to do this best, there has to be certain rules and regulations. We are really looking forward to finishing our business plan and pitching to investors. We are in the planning stage right now. We hope (because it is a Christian cafe and grill) that we can be a witness to others, and help people feel like they are not alone in this world. I hope we find an investor (s) that understands our dream and helps us to realize it.

If you've read this far I appreciate it. I am a long way from finishing my business plan, but it is in the works. I've researched and created graphs according to local statistics and I hope that I can now come up with an adequate financial plan. That is the step I'm on now. If anyone can help me with the financial plan (that will not charge me a fee) let me know and we'll talk. I'm not afraid to ask for help, however, I do want to do the business plan MYSELF and not hire someone to do it because I want to know whats going on at any point in time and have my hands in it from the get go. Well, I've typed a book... later y'all!!!