JILL Hankoff knows that serving a niche audience can be the core of a solid business plan. For more than a decade, the Los Angeles entrepreneur has been running dating services targeted to gay singles. While she still owns the first service, Adam and Steve, she started the Gay Millionaire's Club two years ago that targets high-net-worth clients.
"I've been in the dating service business for 11 years. In 2000, I created the Gay Millionaire's Club because it was a niche that wasn't being served.
"High-net-worth gay men are not going to bars and they're not going to use the Internet. Where are they going to go? They're going to see me.
"It starts with the clients visiting our Web site, where they fill out a form. It's just general information and we follow it up with a phone call, which takes 15 to 20 minutes.
"If we determine somebody sounds like a profitable candidate, we invite him in for a second interview. A profitable candidate is someone ready and willing to have a relationship. Someone who isn't profitable is someone who just broke up with his boyfriend last month, and the whole conversation is about the ex. We tell them to call us back after therapy.
"After the phone interview, the client comes in and we spend about three hours with them talking about everything. On the day of the interview, we talk about money. Our base fee is $15,000 and it can run up to $25,000 with expenses. You have to bring a check. We don't take credit cards.
"For that they get one year of our services, and we do pretty much everything besides go on the date. First date is usually dinner or lunch. We tell the client what to wear, we make the reservations and we get a car service if they need it.
"In the heterosexual world, success is a ring and a walk down the aisle. In our world, it's a little different. We might have a successful gay man who wants to have a bunch of dates. If I'm getting him dates every Friday and Saturday night, that is successful. All of my clients are looking for long-term relationships."
