I look back now and think, you crazy lady - you opened a dating agency with no one on your books? Now I have over a thousand wonderful clients with Two's Company and am delighted with my decision to get out on my own.
It was actually my partner's idea. I had been running one of New Zealand's largest Talent agencies for 6 years, matching people to briefs for television, film and photographic work. I was working very long hours for someone else and was not getting that sense of achievement that makes it worthwhile. I thought maybe it was time to do something for myself.
My partner is one of those incredible men who has amazing business ideas, but most involve having millions of dollars in the bank. When he mentioned that maybe I should open an introduction agency for single people, I saw the potential straight away.
Researching for Two's Company involved checking out the competition and talking to single people. I found out what people disliked about the current agencies, what they loved, and simply drew up my business plan around that.
I decided it was going to be a serious, focussed one on one introduction agency. Not an events agency for single people, or speed dating or even internet, just one on one.
One of our points of difference is to meet with clients at a café close to where they work or live. One reason being to take away the fear factor of being recognised walking into a dating agency. Time is also an obvious factor.
I decided that filling out a form was a little too impersonal. So we just chat over a coffee while I take notes about their life, what they are looking for out of the future and what they are looking for out of a partner. They simply tell me what sort of people they would like to meet.
Whilst researching I was a little surprised at the one size fits all attitude in the industry in relation to their service and fee structure. General feed back was that people wanted to trial the agencies services with the ability to 'add on' services according to their needs. So I based my fees around my customer's requirements. There is a one off start up fee that includes four introductions and clients are able to increase the number of people they are introduced to as suits them.
Another key difference is our sign up criteria; we do not take clients on unless we honestly have the right sort of people to introduce them to. Because we do one on one introductions I can't propose a match that suits one person and not the other. This is vital as my business runs on referrals. It actually makes my job a lot easier knowing I can be confident that with all the introductions I propose.
So armed with this knowledge I bought a laptop, digital camera, and had a computer data base built for me. I took advantage of the courses offered by Gosling Chapman. These are government subsidised and have been invaluable. They are high quality 3 hours courses taken by industry leaders. They cover all areas of business, GST for small business. Tax for small business, marketing and profitability. Any course they were running that was relevant, I did. Not only does it give you this amazing opportunity at no charge you also benefit from 1.5 hours of one on one mentoring with the tutor
We started with a launch to which I invited every person I knew. Sunday Star Times covered it and from there Two's Company began.
Joining the Auckland Chamber of Commerce has provided us with a fabulous avenue for net working. They have table top expos about 4 times a year at which I can talk about what we do to up 1000 professional business people.
The biggest source of new business for Two's Company is from word of mouth, something I did not expect because of the private nature of the industry. The second biggest source is clearly the Yellow Pages.
Our hardest area is Men in the 55+ age group. Where are they? We start at 27 and go straight up. In the 27 - 55 age groups we are very balanced between men and women - so much for a man shortage! It's just in that 55+ group, so any advertising we do targets them.
The highs of having my own business are that I am in control of my own destiny and the satisfaction of a very enjoyable job. The flip side is not having a regular pay check! Doing your own GST and having to specialise in all areas of the business. Now though, I have an accountant to do the tax and an office assistant doing all my administrative tasks, so I get to do the interesting part, meeting new clients and organising the introductions!
Two's Company has many success stories, including 2 weddings, one child born and 2 engagements announced this year. Because people who join are genuinely interested in meeting someone with a view to forming a long term relationship, they help themselves It's an enjoyable job because I am dealing with intelligent, financially secure people with great social lives, just few opportunities to meet other single like minded people.
The major lessons I have learnt in the last 4 years are - Keep on top of your paper work! Make your own opportunities. Take on board all the advice that others give you. Take advantage of every learning opportunity. And, honest dealings with clients and business partners will ensure you sleep well at night.
