THE EPICENTER
	CafeNet El Sol   Travel and Tour Agency, Internet Cafe, and Information Center	Juanitas Mexican Bar & Grille Tex-Mex, International and Seafood Restaurant and Bar

Puerto Jimenez, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

506 735-5702 / 735-5719                            admin@soldeosa.com

Introduction

	The Epicenter was founded in 2000 upon the inauguration of CafeNet El Sol, the original Internet Cafe and Tourist Information Center of Puerto Jimenez.  In 2001 adjacent real estate was remodeled to found Juanita's Mexican Bar and Grille and to liberate two additional commercial spaces, one of which is being leased to a jewelry store, the other of which comprises a second story apartment/office presently used by the owner.    In order to pursue a career option I have placed the entire complex on the market and will accept the best reasonable offer.  I would like to conclude a sale before the start of the high season so the new ownership can acclimate in time for the season.  The offer includes the following:   Renewable commercial real estate lease on approximately 4500 square feet of prime downtown main street. CafeNet El Sol, Internet Cafe, Tourist Information Center and Travel and Tour Agency since 2000 under original ownership, all equipment, contents, contracts, permits, and licenses Juanitas Mexican Bar and Grille, Tex-Mex, Seafood and Internation Favorites under original ownership since 2001 founding, right next door, for details click here.  All equipment, contents, contracts, permits, and licenses. All associated permits and licenses, banking accounts, credit card merchant affiliations, etc. The corporations Friction Zero Concepts, S.A., and Juanitas Mexican Bar and Grille, S..A. The web sites:  www.soldeosa.com; www.jimenezhotels.com;  www.playalapa.com;  www.matapalorental.com;  www.alfaromeoair.com;  www.juanitasmexican.com Custom Information Management System (SICES and JIMS) software for administration and management of both businesses, plus Internet Cafe management software In addition to the two businesses, the commercial lease includes commercial office space currently leased by a jewelry store, and a second floor, two room + bathroom office/apartment   CafeNet:  $60,000; Juanita's:  $60,000; Commercial Lease:  $30,000 ALL TOGETHER:  $120,000
Figure 1.  Exterior view of The Epicenter
Figure 2.  Interior shot of CafeNet El Sol

Physical Description.

The building containing these commercial properties is located on the main intersection of downtown main street in Puerto Jimenez.  The central location has made CafeNet El Sol the premiere travel and tourist agency since its inception, as well as the only broadband Internet cafe in the region.  Juanitas Mexican Bar and Grille, which is described in greater detail here is the town's most popular night spot and enjoys the largest beer sales of any outlet on the entire peninsula, including the liquor store.  There is an internal door that connects the two businesses included in this offer, which encourages an active interchange of clientele between the two businesses.

Contents

The contents of the Internet cafe and the estimated value of the equipment and furniture is summarized in the table below.

Business Model

There are in practice three fundamentally distinct business activities that are undertaken at CafeNet El Sol.  These are summarized below:

1)  Internet, Computer, and Phone and Fax Services.  The fundamental business activity is the rental of Internet computers to the public, both for use of the Internet and also just for the use of a computer, printer, burner, and other non-Internet related activities.  In addition to rental of computers to local residents and tourist traffic passing through town, there are a total of five phone lines and both domestic and international phone call service are provided as well as sending and receiving faxes.  Averaged across a full year, this component of the business averages $2000 in gross revenues per month.

2)  Tourist Information and Reservation Services.  CafeNet El Sol is a one-stop tourist information center and has professional relationships with all the lodges, tour operators, sportfishing outfitters, commercial airliners, land and sea taxis, and rental car agencies.  We provide walkin tourists with information and reservations and coordinate specialty reservations, most notably the procurement of passes and permits for Corcovado National Park.  On average, walk-in tourist reservations and support, enjoys net revenues of $500 per month.

3)  Specialty services.  CafeNet El Sol provides clerical support for businesses and individuals, including accounting, database management, data entry, typing, report preparation, translation services, business management, and a wide range of specialty services.  Owing to the rapid growth of the area and the high demand for reliable, consistent bilingual services and sixteen hours daily phone answering, this aspect of the business is underdeveloped and wide open for expansion.  At present CafeNet grosses about $500 per month from this segment of the market.

4)  Online Reservations.  The most profitable business activity is providing reservations from online inquiries that originate from the various web sites that are in place targeting this market.  CafeNet El Sol, is the exclusive online booking agent for Alfa Romeo Charter Air Services (www.alfaromeoair.com), Terrapin Lodge in Carate (www.terrapinlodge.com), Casa Platanilla in Matapalo (www.matapalorental.com) and has formal working relationships with Sansa and Natureair domestic airlines, Solid Car Rental, and all the regional lodges, sportfishing outfitters, and tour operators.  I personally have handled this part of the business and receive an average of five inquiries per day, mostly from the sites www.soldeosa.com and www.jimenezhotels.com.  CafeNet El Sol enjoys commissions of 15% from most businesses, 10% from commercial airlines and ground transport providers, 20% from rental car agencies and most sport fishing outfitters, and we charge a flat $25 fee for each Corcovado Park reservation that we make.  The average net revenue for these online reservation services is $2000 per month. 

Monthly expenses are fixed at CafeNet, and include rent, electricity, water, payroll and benefits, Internet, web hosting, miscellaneous supplies, and periodic maintenance.  These are summarized below

With the above described revenues of an average of $5000 and expenses of $2300, average net profit for the business is $2700, which translates to around $30,000 in yearly income.  Juanitas enjoys a profit margin of around $24,000.  Hence, discounting additional investment that new ownership may wish to make, the new owners can look forward to recovery of their investment in two years of operations. 

Financial Summary

Additional financial details for both businesses are available upon request.

Operations

CafeNet El Sol is open from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. every day of the year except for Christmas Day, and the Thursday and Friday before Easter.  The business is operated by a single trained attendant to handle Internet clients.  For the high season it is optimal to deploy a bilingual sales representative to boost reservations revenues.  In addition to computer rentals, reservations, tourist information, and phone and fax support, CafeNet El Sol also sells CDs, post cards, maps, used paperbacks, and filtered drinking water.

Our daily controls are undertaken with Tinasoft EasyCafe software that is a custom Internet Cafe administrative time and charging aid, and a custom Access database specifically developed for CafeNet operations that includes not only sales and accounting support but also payroll and inventory modules.  A report is prepared daily by the software and monthly accounting and payroll are all straight forward and easy to process with SICES software.

Licensure and Banking.

Corporation.  Friction Zero Concepts, S.A. is a fully licensed public corporation that was established in 2000 in order to undertake commercial activities in Costa Rica.  This corporation is included with the sale.

Business License.  Emitted by the Municipality of Golfito in 2000, the business license is current and up to date. 

Health Permit.  The sanitary permit is renewed on an annual basis.

Banking.  CafeNet banks at Banco Nacional de Costa Rica using a colon electronic account in the corporate name, Friction Zero Concepts, S.A..  The business has a credit card pay machine that incurs a 5% banking fee that we pass on to the client.  We make all of our purchases, payroll, and bill payments through online banking deposits.  Our banking records for the past several years are available upon request for review by interested parties.  A We make night deposits of cash revenues in the bank on Saturday and Sunday mornings to reduce the amount of cash that we have at any one time accumulated in the safe. 

Personal

I founded CafeNet El Sol as a vehicle for relocating to Costa Rica and to provide a base for a series of commercial adventures that I have explored over the past seven years.  These have included:  founding of a newspaper; founding of a restaurant and bar; management and administration of an in-town hotel; management and administration of a remote eco-lodge; and property management of remote residences for homeowners dividing their time between their home countries and the Osa Peninsula.  Two businesses that I have founded and presently own and operate, Osa Water Works and Osa Pen Realty, have grown to occupy increasing amounts of my time.  The revenues from these businesses considerably exceed the net revenues from Juanita's Mexican Bar and Grille and CafeNet El Sol, and they are in line with my professional background in geology and engineering.  In order to devote more of my time to real estate and engineering, I have decided to get out of the retail business altogether and have placed both Juanita's Mexican Bar and Grille and CafeNet El Sol on the market. 

This business opportunity is a unique one for many reasons and is a turn-key guaranteed money-maker.  The incomparable location of the business ensures that no matter what is done with this office space that it will enjoy a high probability of commercial success.  Both CafeNet and Juanitas have proven track records and are described in all the guide books.  Until last year it was the only Internet Cafe in town.  Even though now there are two others, they have much slower bandwidth, less central locations, and are not on the same scale of business as CafeNet.  Also, while there are other tourism offices in town, none of these offer the versatility and consistent success that CafeNet has been providing for seven years.  For these reasons, CafeNet El Sol enjoys a permanent place in the commercial culture of Puerto Jimenez and represents a sure bet for a person wishing to relocate to the area and have a turnkey profitable business to earn a living.

Interested persons may contact me directly for more information:  +506 735-5702

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