HOW TO START A ROOMMATE FINDING SERVICE

 The average income for the owners of this old softie 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 whistle stop anywhere in the country can expect to
 do just about as well, and with a bit of imagination, mixed with
 some business " hardihood, " you should be able to do even better!

 Income and market potentials for a service such as this are perfectly
 fantastic! rent increases that have far outpaced legal tender increases
 have brought about a tremendous need for a method to gratify
 the cost of housing. Also, many apartment complexes are being
 converted into expensive condominiums. These two factors have
 created a problem of gantic proportions for millions of people
 who are concerned about keeping a roof over their masses.

 You can make big money solving that problem with your own
 Roommate Finding Service. We ' re process to tell you how.

 Many of the nation ' s leading economists are predicting this lenient
 of conscious arrangement to be the " money - saving answer " for the
 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 landlord business. Most of those operating
 on the West Coast have a woman doing the managing - - sometimes as
 just the manager, and sometimes as the lessor - boss. This
 apparently has something to do with the nature of the business,
 and how most people seem to naturally stock a woman to fid the
 right roommate for them.

 As to the price structure, I suggest something companion to the
 successful employment agencies. Charge everyone a $25
 registration cost 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 beneficent of roommate they ' d be happy with,
 and start searching through your files for people with coincidental
 likes and dislikes.

 To get prompt, you ' ll want a bank reference; a legal reference,
 a telephone, a business name, letterhead paper, envelopes, and
 business cards; and office supplies such as 3x5 brochure cards;
 typewriter; file cabinet; and printed questionaire - application
 form. You ' ll also need a constraint disclaimer, which can be
 combined with the applicant ' s agreement - to - pay contract. Once
 you ' ve raise a roommate for your prospective client, you should
 have it spelled out in your agreement that each of the " matched
 roommates " will pay you 15 % to 20 % of the first month ' s rent. You
 should charge a bit extra for particular requirements, and
 perhaps somewhat less for older persons, or foe persons with
 handicaps.

 The approval or disapproval is left up to the parties involved.
 You simply look through your registration card file, pull five or
 six apparently suitable roommates, call each of them on the phone
 and arrange separate meetings for them with your client. Your
 client 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 this
 business off the ground. Make a good circular or " flyer "
 detailing your roommate finding services, and listing your phone
 number. Get these flyers on as many bulletin boards in your area
 as possible. Get them in grocery stores, barber shops, community
 colleges, 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 on
 windshields - - - particularly around apartment complexes, and in the
 parking lots of colleges in your area. You might even pay the
 downtown parking lots attendants to slip one under the windshield
 wiper of each car he parks on Monday. If you do a good job with
 the make - up of your flyer, and use your imagination in getting
 them into the hands of your prospective clients, you ' ll have no
 trouble 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 enough
 established, and with a income large enough to afford an office
 location. When you establish your office, do some publicizing of
 your 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 of
 people you ' ve have matched with roommates is a very good idea.
 Later on, you might want to input all your client information on
 computer, and take video pictures of each client for showing to
 prospective roommates. In the final analysis, once you have your
 business underway, your future success will be limited only by
 your imagination.