Please Help me fine tune this Dating Agency Business idea.

[Schoolmumeroo]

Hi everyone,

Please give advice if you think this idea is a potential non starter or not. Basically, as many of you will know the dating game has changed. Apps are dying, nightlife is closing down and dating is becoming increasingly difficult.

I’ve had a thought about starting a dating agency for my entire county. Not a luxury service that costs ££££s but a reasonably priced monthly subscription (12 month minimum term?).

the main factors to consider would be:

• vetting process - people must produce an enhanced dbs at their own costs to join the books initially (this would need to be seen in person which would be a bit of an issue I suppose without an office space - interviewing could be done over zoom). extra checks would be preferable but I don’t see how they are scalable beyond proof of id, electoral register for proof of address (and not married). I think there’s a way people can give you permission for credit ratings? To make sure about bankruptcy ccjs etc.
• Scale, very intense marketing to get across to enough people plus an affordable price point for subscriptions.
• creating or sourcing an algorithm to provide the majority of matches which can then be human checked.
• To do additional drinks receptions for groups, or speed dates, even ‘supper clubs’ hiring restaurants. How much to charge to offset costs. Locations would vary depending on how many in attendance. For example 50 carefully selected individuals in each town would be an event each, if only 10 appropriate to mingle then not so much worth doing, 10 in each town doing one event in a central location.

I want something that’s accessible, affordable, safer than bars, when you’ve exhausted all possible friends of friends, and when you’ve become demoralised from the apps.

I’m aware this would be a lot of work. Let me know your thoughts please!

Individuals can't apply for their own enhanced DBS

Thanks. It states organisations can, does that have to be an employer though?

It sounds expensive

It's a bit scattergun. To be successful you usually need to find and fill a niche.

there are already singles' clubs etc for free on apps like Meetup. Why would anybody pay for something like this?

Plenty of dating apps arrange meet ups - I think you need a better USP.

I can see your thinking on the DBS but as someone else said I don’t think applying as an individual is viable.

The usp would be that it’s in person and based on more than a couple pictures and a short bio as opposed to online. Could you elaborate on the scattergun please as I’d like to think it through a bit more.

Meet up isn’t aimed at dating specifically and very few people use it. I would like to focus on the 25-35 age range mostly but include services for all ages.

Price wise something affordable people wouldn’t notice going out of their account like £5-10 monthly.

`Have you paid Mumsnet for the privilege of conducting your research here?

There’s a podcast called dear shandy who interviewed the owner of a dating agency in one episode. She talks a lot about how she runs her business. American but might give you some ideas

When did apps die then? They still seem to be happening to me. Since Covid, do you think? I met dp via an app in late 2020, since then?

I think the crucial point here is the marketing - that is going to have to be exactly right and very expensive, because without it you won't have any people joining. It would take a huge amount of investment to get that right, and the market research isn't going to be a thread on MN. The churn on any dating business must be enormous too, you're going to need a constant stream of people.

Unless you are in fact a big company, I can't see how something like this can be done as a small business. But it's true that I'm not an entrepreneur.

DBS doesn't mean someone isn't an arsehole and we all know how much DV goes unreported and unconvicted, so I'm not sure of the point of DBS checks in a dating context. Both Wayne Couzens and Lucy Letby had enhanced DBS status.
Also you need grounds for enhanced status being required which I don't think a dating agency would meet.

I can see why women and/or parents might care about having some sort of vetting for potential partners, but how would that USP attract men and people without children? You might end up with an abundance of vetted people who care about vetting but no-one to match them with because it won't be a priority for many (despite the fact they may have perfectly clean records).

Also, I think it sounds like you'd be exposing your company to liability by taking on the responsibility of vetting people - even if you did manage to set it up in such a way that you can request DBS checks, that doesn't mean the person is suitable for a relationship and it might lull vulnerable women (or women with vulnerable children) into a false sense of security that the person is 'vetted' and they might let their guard down sooner than they otherwise would. All a DBS shows is that they haven't been caught - it's not a guarantee of anything else.

I think you'd be better off dropping the DBS idea and making it clear that it's merely an introduction service and that it's on members to determine the suitability of matches. It's too complicated and risky otherwise, IMO.

Agree that DBS seems a bit tangential.

You need to be matching potential partners, not just throwing vaguely suitable people together.

Also, I could be wrong but aren't 25-35s most likely to be partnered and/or have reasonable social lives? I'd have thought older punters would be more interested. Or target by lifestyle rather than age, so single parents, people with ASDs, physically disabled or what have you.

Aside from everything else, a 12 month minimum term wouldn't work. If I meet The One 2 months in, I'm not going to keep paying you for another 10 months.

I can't see people going for it tbh. There are so many free apps that are successful in finding people compatible dates.

Also, unless you are on an island, restricting it to just your county seems odd, as the majority of people will live nearer to the next county over than to people on the other side of their own county - why would they want to restrict themselves to meeting someone in the same county when they could use most other dating apps and filter people by distance from where they are geographically?

Insisting on a 12 month minimum seems to imply that a paying member is unlikely to meet anyone they like anytime soon. Would seem to be the wrong message for a dating agency.
I echo PP’s comments about the DBS checks, in my line of work most people have an advanced DBS ( as do I myself) , this does not stop some of them being odd or having questionable attitudes.

If I saw a dating agency with 12 month minimum term I’d assume they weren’t very successful at matching people. Most people would hope to be coupled up by then

Exactly this

You should require users film a short video of themselves, like dating agencies used to do in the 80s and 90s. Introverts and Mumsnet users would hate it but I bet it would catch on. The explosion of Tik Tok, YT etc shows a lot of people really are quite happy to film themselves and upload it 😀

This would be as if people met someone in the first month it wouldn’t be financially viable and costs charged would have to be much higher otherwise, therefore not accessible.

there’s a market of approximately 50,000 people to tap into. I agree with the need for strong marketing and advertising. Had a look and a one month marketing drive to launch would be in the estimated region of £3000-1200.

some very valid points on this thread, especially regarding vetting. I’m aware that the vetting mentioned doesn’t offer that much protection and people would be advised of safety advice. Clare’s and Valerie’s law would be preferable and technically doable (but still not foolproof, shows they just haven’t been caught) however I don’t think the police would be impressed with so many requests.

I agree with pp regarding the dbs, they are only a record of what the owner of it has been caught doing .
Also enhanced ones go back a long way , I see quite a lot of them through my job and while some are clean others have lots of issues like , indecent exposure ( peeing in a park at 2am ) ,threatening behaviour ( defending her friend from attack) driving without due care ( was a 18yrs old and admitted he was a prat )
All of the above and many more like them were done years ago (10+)
So when / is there a cut off and who decides this ?

Regarding the fee , instead of a 12 month contract at £5 a month , have a tolling month by month agreement with a free month after say about 5 months.

I think aming it at the 25/35 Yr old market is narrowing your filed to much and as pp say I think it the older generations 50+ that struggle more.

I think a short ( 2 mins ?) Video introduction would be a good idea .

Having a business idea is one thing but knowing how to market and promote it to actually get in front of customers is the biggest challenge. Your competitors spend hundreds of thousands on marketing and advertising. How would you be found?

Where did you get £3000 for marketing? That seems unfeasibly low