How To Start A Roommate Finding Service
The average income for owners of this kind of business in California is $65,000 a year. Best of all, here's a business that you can start with an absolute minimum investment. Practically anyone who lives in a city anywhere in the country can expect to do just about as well, and with a bit of imagination, mixed with some business "moxie", you should be able to do even better!
Income and market potentials for a service such as this are truly fantastic! Rent increases that have far outpaced wage increase have brought about a tremendous need for a method to alleviate the cost of housing. Also, many apartment complexes are being converted into expensive condominiums. These two factors have created a problem of gigantic proportions for millions of people who are concerned about keeping a roof over their heads.
You can make big money solving the problem with your own Roommate Finding Service. We're going to tell you how.
Many of the nation's leading economists are predicting this kind of living arrangement to be the "money-saving answer" for apartment dwellers for the rest of this century. Others are predicting the roommate finding service to become as popular as the employment agency by 1990.
This is an ideal absentee owner business. Most of those operating on the West Coast have a woman doing the managing - sometimes as just the manager, and some times as the owner - manager. This apparently has something to do with the nature of the business, and how most people seem to naturally trust a woman to find the right roommate for them.
As to the fee structure, I suggest something similar to the successful employment agencies. Charge everyone a $25 registration fee to start the ball rolling toward finding them a suitable roommate. You take a Polaroid snapshot of each registrant, have them fill out an appropriate application card which will indicate the kind of roommate they'd be happy with, and start searching through your files for people with similar likes and dislikes.
To get started, you'll want a bank reference; a legal reference, a telephone; a business name, letterhead paper, envelopes and business bards; and office supplies such as a 3 x 5 index cards; typewriter; file cabinet; and a printed questionnaire-application form. You'll also need a responsibility disclaimer, which can be combined with the applicant's agreement- to-pay contract. Once you've found a roommate
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