How To Start A Roommate Finding Service

The average income for the owners of this kind of business inCalifornia is $65,000 a year. Best of all, here's a business thatyou can start with an absolute minimum investment. Practicallyanyone who lives in a city anywhere in the country can expect todo just about as well, and with a bit of imagination, mixed withsome business "moxie," you should be able to do even better!
Income and market potentials for a service such as this are trulyfantastic! rent increases that have far outpaced wage increaseshave brought about a tremendous need for a method to alleviatethe cost of housing. Also, many apartment complexes are beingconverted into expensive condominiums. These two factors havecreated a problem of gantic proportions for millions of peoplewho are concerned about keeping a roof over their heads.
You can make big money solving that problem with your ownRoommate Finding Service. We're going to tell you how.
Many of the nation's leading economists are predicting this kindof living arrangement to be the "money-saving answer" for theapartment dwellers for the rest of this century. Others arepredicting the roommate finding service to become as popular asthe employment agency by 1990.
This is an ideal absentee owner business. Most of those operatingon the West Coast have a woman doing the managing--sometimes asjust the manager, and sometimes as the owner-manager. Thisapparently has something to do with the nature of the business,and how most people seem to naturally trust a woman to fid theright roommate for them.
As to the fee structure, I suggest something similar to thesuccessful employment agencies. Charge everyone a $25registration fee to start the ball rolling toward finding them asuitable roommate. You take a Polaroid snapshot of eachregistrant, have them fill out an appropriate application cardwhich will indicate the kind of roommate they'd be happy with,and start searching through your files for people with similarlikes and dislikes.
To get started, you'll want a bank reference; a legal reference,a telephone, a business name, letterhead paper, envelopes, andbusiness cards; and office supplies such as 3x5 index cards;typewriter; file cabinet; and printed questionaire-applicationform. You'll also need a responsibility disclaimer, which can becombined with the applicant's agreement-to-pay contract. Onceyou've found a roommate for your prospective client, you shouldhave it spelled out in your agreement that each of the "matchedroommates" will pay you 15% to 20% of the first month's rent. Youshould charge a bit extra for particular requirements, andperhaps somewhat less for older persons, or foe persons withhandicaps.
The approval or disapproval is left up to the parties involved.You simply look through your registration card file, pull five orsix apparently suitable roommates, call each of them on the phoneand arrange separate meetings for them with your client. Yourclient reports back to you, and tells you his or her decision,and you call the person chosen and finalize the deal.
Good advertising will play a most important part getting thisbusiness off the ground. Make a good circular or "flyer"detailing your roommate finding services, and listing your phonenumber. Get these flyers on as many bulletin boards in your areaas possible. Get them in grocery stores, barber shops, communitycolleges, beauty salons, bowling alleys; the list of places to "billboard" your flyers is endless. Another idea is to set up"take one" boxes in as many retail places of business as you can.Don't overlook the value of placing your flyers onwindshields---particularly around apartment complexes, and in theparking lots of colleges in your area. You might even pay thedowntown parking lots attendants to slip one under the windshieldwiper of each car he parks on Monday. If you do a good job withthe make-up of your flyer, and use your imagination in gettingthem into the hands of your prospective clients, you'll have notrouble moving your business into the black quickly.
Even so, you'll need to run regular ads in your area newspapers.The best headings to run your ads under is the Personals Column.Your ad might read:
NEED A ROOMMATE? We'll find the ideal roommate for you!Everything handled on a strictly confidential basis. For details,call Jan, Mary, or Carol, 123-4567.
Within only a couple of months, you should be well enoughestablished, and with a income large enough to afford an officelocation. When you establish your office, do some publicizing ofyour business with press releases to all the media in your area,and plan some fanfare that will bring attention to your services.Tacking up on your office walls the enthusiastic testimonials ofpeople you've have matched with roommates is a very good idea.Later on, you might want to input all your client information oncomputer, and take video pictures of each client for showing toprospective roommates. In the final analysis, once you have yourbusiness underway, your future success will be limited only byyour imagination.