We are rapidly becoming a nation of single people. Well-documented figures on separation and divorce are lining the pockets of lawyers but it's also a growing market for the introduction agency.
Finding love or friendship online or through a traditional agency is becoming increasingly popular for a generation of people too busy to find partners on their own. However this adds up to a very satisfying and viable business opportunity that, as an added advantage, really can be set up on a shoe string from your home with just a computer.
What is it?
‘Dating agency’ is an inaccurate term for this business.Dating may be a large part of the function of an agency, but they are also designed to promote wider friendship and social circles, as well as to help people looking for dates and romance.
Introductions can be made at organised social events such as dinners or drinks, or in lunch appointments as opposed to evening dates. Introductions can also be made to give people the chance to meet those in the same situation as them, for example, single, widowed or divorced parents.
An agency may offer any combination of these types of services, but you would do better to specialise in order to offer a good service, particularly if you are starting very small. Organised dinners, for instance, can be a good way of starting to build up a database of people. Each guest will have a friend to recommend you to, who will recommend you in turn and so on.
Bringing people together in the more traditional 'one to one' basis can be achieved in one or a combination of three ways:
· Personal introductions: where the head or specific members of an agency meets and interview all clients. Although the agency can't check everything, the fact that your client's potential date has been personally vetted for suitability will reassure them.
· Computer comparison: the client submits personal information and preferences which are then entered into a computer programwhich compares client details for suitability. Introductions are then made from potential matches.
· Lists method: when a client joins, a list of all clients, or some selected members, is forwarded to them. These lists will then be sent at regular intervals during membership along with arrangements for getting in touch with other members on the list.
· Each method places a different emphasis on your involvement with the clients, personal introductions obviously involving you to the greatest degree. Many agencies offer two or all three types of introduction and, for example, may make a point of interviewing all clients though not placing them personally.
This obviously makes for an agency with a local focus. To start small but have a national clientele would mean running a largely computer and internet-based agency. You need to decide this from the start as the routes are very different.
