New Poll: Will You Enter The Dating Industry?
February 23, 2009 by SGE
To start rounding up the series on The Business Of Love. We have a new poll up! (View results of the previous poll: Will you consider using a dating agency?) Read more
In Conversation with Lydia Gan, Wow-Her.com and Clique Wise
February 19, 2009 by Gwendolyn Regina T
Lydia had no other prior business experience and hadn’t thought of being a matchmaker, but now she runs both Wow-Her.com and Clique Wise. She has organized many lifestyle social events and services for singles to better their lives.
Why did you go into the dating industry?
We felt that lack of education is one of the reasons why dating scene is not as thriving in Singapore. Thus I started Wow-her.com, a dating and relationship online portal that provide singles with dating tips in 2004. We then branched into personalized coaching and consultancy services for our clients. I am a certified image consultant and Life Coach, and I oversee other trainers to provide the same level of coaching services.
The social events aspect actually came last. As our client base grew, many asked if we are going to organise any events for the members. We embarked on that and the rest is history….to date we have organized events for close to 3000 individuals.
What’s unique about your service?
I created the Date Profiling System, a localised love personality test, as a value-added service to our clients, i.e. attendees of our social events. Most of the time, we would get between 20 to 30 attendees, and they are all trying to speak to each other within a two hour session. We have received feedback that some clients would like to narrow their focus, so the Date Profiling system is one of the ways to help them do that.
How do you use your web face to facilitate dating offline?
The Internet is a powerful communication tool, and we use Wow-Her.com to facilitate the Date Profiling system and inform clients of our services and upcoming events.
Has the recession had any impact on your business?
Thank God! We have not experienced any negative impact.
Any last words?
I encourage entrepreneurs to start from something they are passionate and gifted at. Also, respect the importance of being original. With these, we can rise above everyone else and shine!
Photo from left: Team – Jackiey and Lydia
About Lydia
Lydia is the principal coach of Wow-Her.com. She holds a degree in Arts and is a certified Counsellor, Life Coach and Behaviour Profiling Analyst. She actively contributes articles and advice to local magazines. On top of these, she is also a creative director with 8 years of design and management experience under her belt.
Photo courtesy of mozzercork.
Interview with Annie Chan, Club2040
February 17, 2009 by Gwendolyn Regina T
She has organized over 1,000 events for people to men and women to network and mix around. Armed with a keen interest to mix business and fun, Annie, founder of Club2040, ultimately hopes to make a difference in the lives of local singles through Club2040.
Why did you go into the dating industry?
When her events management company, Red Box Events Pte Ltd, was appointed by SDU for a 2-year term, founder Annie Chan ventured into organising events for Singles in 2003. Under the 2-year contract, Annie and team had to deliver no less than 1,000 events ranging from dinner dates, talks, workshops, outdoor activities to the all famous speed dating!
The “dating” bug caught on and after the end of the contract, Annie decided to setup Club2040 in 2007 to focus on Singles Events, while Red Box Events will focus on Corporate Events.
What’s unique about your service?
We offer matchmaking services for males only and we organise events on an ad-hoc basis. We want to focus on matchmaking and relationship coaching.
We have an in-house tool which allows clients to learn about his relationship pattern and by understanding his pattern, we will then coach and guide him to improve and hence increase his chance to finding that right partner.
Though our matchmaking service is not available for ladies, we encourage ladies to sign up for our in-house screening package to find out about their relationship pattern as well. By knowing how you will behave in a relationship before jumping straight into one can save singles much heartache!!
Our matchmaking service is at S$988 for 12 months and our in-house screening package (without coaching) is at S$180 for a one-to-one session.
Has the recession had any impact on your business?
In a way it has. When we try to organise events, we have to be mindful of the price to charge. For our matchmaking service, we offer our in-house installment arrangement for ease the burden of upfront payment.
Any last words?
Stay positive. Your special someone is out there, just stay positive, have the right attitude and love will soon find you!
About Annie Chan
Ms Annie Chan is a certified matchmaker from the Institute of Matchmaking, New York. Being a NLP Practitioner also means Annie makes a good relationship coach giving comprehensive guidance for her matchmaking clients and members.
Photo courtesy of dev null.
If You Have HIV Or Are A Vegetarian, There’s A Dating Agency For You
February 16, 2009 by Gwendolyn Regina T
Apart from run-of-the-mill dating agencies that target heterosexuals, there are many other niche dating and matchmaking agencies around in the world. For example, those that serve the needs of people who only want to meet other Christians, other vegetarians, or in another case, other HIV-positive people. Singapore may not have such dating agencies yet, but perhaps this may provide food for thought for entrepreneurs seeking to venture out in the dating business. Read more
In Conversation with Vary Yong, WhoWorksAroundYou
February 16, 2009 by Gwendolyn Regina T
Founder of WhoWorksAroundYou, Vary Yong always had a goal to start his own business. Now, he runs two. Vary’s entrepreneurial streak was already apparent early in life when he tried selling his own newspaper in primary school and also started an e-commerce store some years back. Today, WhoWorksAroundYou is almost two years old. We chat with Vary to find out more about his service. Read more
Flirt With He or She WhoWorksAroundYou
February 15, 2009 by Gwendolyn Regina T
Instead of jostling your way around Lau Pa Sat alone, with WhoWorksAroundYou, you will now able to find a date to help spread your wings to find an empty table. Predicated on working dates into the busy lifestyles of members, WhoWorksAroundYou is a social network that focuses exclusively on allowing you to find suitable dates based on your preferred date criteria and location. Read more
Interview with Kelvin Ong, Singles Mingle
February 14, 2009 by Gwendolyn Regina T
When Kelvin was just venturing out as an entrepreneur back in 2001 during the dot com days, he met the love of his life and future wife, Sie Sie. She supported him throughout his entrepreneurial endeavors and they got married in 2004. Finally in 2006, both of them came up with the term ‘Singles Mingle’ and the company was born. We chat with Kelvin, co-founder of Singles Mingle.
Why did you go into the dating industry?
Singles Mingle is founded and driven by a team of dedicated professionals who are passionate about creating a 24/7 community network for singles to meet, mingle and find their life partners.
It is our goal to bring singles together in one place, creating wholesome opportunities for them to meet, as well as leveraging on all the resources in the community available to us, including married couples, families and mentors- as an integral part of our widening support network.
More importantly, we have always position ourselves as a socially driven organisation rather than being a commercially driven entity. Personally, as a deputy marriage registrar, it has always been a joy for me to solemnise the marriages for couples so having an entity that brings singles together just complete the picture.
What’s unique about your service?
We offer a full range of services including events, personalised introduction, pre-marital talks, post marital workshops and also wedding flavours offered through Affinity Lodge. We are also the only private dating organisation that offers a clubhouse (The Arts House @ Old Parliament) for members to meet, dine and connect with other singles in the community. Our matchmaking centre is also located at the easily accessible Civil Service Club in Bukit Batok.
Has the recession had any impact on your business?
Whether in good times or in bad times, there will always be singles out there want to widen his/her social circle or even finding that special someone.
Any last words?
As a dating practitioner, it is important to first have a passion for people and to bring them together. Along with relevant trainings, only then will one be able to provide the service effectively and manage the expectation of the singles professionally.
Photo from left: Husband and wife team – Sie Sie and Kelvin.
About Kelvin Ong
Mr Kelvin Ong is the Director of Singles Mingle Pte Ltd. He also heads a training organisation In Tandem and is a partner of Affinity Lodge, an entity that deals with wedding flavours and solemnisations. He is a knowledge-based consultant by profession and has developed and facilitated many programmes and workshops for both the government and private organisations over the last decade. Since 2005, he has also facilitated several hundred of events for graduate singles for Social Development Unit (SDU) as well as for Singles Mingle Pte Ltd. He has also designed and conducted Marital and Family Bonding Workshops for staff from both public and private sectors. As a resource speaker for MCYS Family Life Education and a Family Life Ambassador, Kelvin also provides valuable pre-marital advice to couples before he solemnises their marriage in his capacity as a Deputy Marriage Registrar / Licensed Solemniser with Registry of Marriages (ROM). He has been happily married for 5 years.
Photo courtesy of dev null.
In Conversation with Violet Lim, Eteract and Lunch Actually
February 13, 2009 by SGE
Interview with Matthew Tan, GoMovieDate.com
February 13, 2009 by Gwendolyn Regina T
Fueled by the belief that he needed to relate to how singles think and feel as a business owner of a dating agency, Matthew decided to remain single himself. We sat down for a short interview with Matthew Tan, founder of GoMovieDate.com and found out how this idea got its start.
Why did you go into the dating industry?
We went into this industry purely because of curiosity and with an adventurous heart. I came upon this idea 4 years ago when out shopping with a male friend on a Friday night. Noticed many single young and beautiful ladies are out shopping or strolling along busy Orchard road, alone! Immediately, I asked my friend if only there is a legitimate and yet fun dating services online which can gather this group of customers for an event as simple as a movie (Singapore’s favourite pastime and simple yet powerful ice-breaker), I will pay money to join and get myself a new friend. Told my friend, Wilson the very next day and we both agreed that this concept will work and started to brainstorm the detail and out it came : www.gomoviedate.com.
What’s unique about your service?
Our USP (Unique Selling Proposition) is Stress-free dating services at your own time own target. No more monotonous speed dating over lunch or dinner. Choose your own matches online and send him or her an invitation via online and SMS. Accept them and the male members will ALWAYS pay for the ladies as it is always our practise in GMD (GoMovieDate), a gentlemanly gesture.
Once confirmed after payment, we will send the tickets by Hand to both parties mailing address and both parties will then meet inside the cinema, filled with thrill and suspense right? [Editor: Hmm...]
How do you negotiate between dating offline and online?
We have been operating since 2003, till last year we did our first offline movie event in Nov. There are 2 groups of Singles out there, first are those who in need to find a partner without much hassle and if possible, using the shortest time to get the ideal match, this group of Singles will go for offline match making services as they can select from the data via photos and interview.
As for online, the 2nd group of Singles are the one who carry with the mindset of “trial and error”. They would like to experience various of services or ways to meet new friends online without having to step out of their doorstep and more importantly they are not that serious in meeting “The One” yet.
Has the recession had any impact on your business?
Honestly, there isn’t much impact on us as people still in need of making new friends in the time like this. In fact, on average we have more couples going for movie dates then last time same period. Guess maybe people have more free time now as work load lessens.
Any last words?
There will be more interesting dating services in time to come. Be it offline or online. Additional to that, the Singles are more open minded than before and more adventurous as they are keen in trying new ways to meet new people. More importantly, they are willing to spend too.
About Matthew Tan
After 7 years, the loneliness was too much to cope. During a business networking session in Ho Chin Minh, he bumped into a girl, clicked, and they got together soon after. Now he’s looking at this relationship with his lovely Vietnamese girlfriend as an inspiration for GoMovieDate’s possible future expansion plan.
Photo courtesy of HAMED MASOUMI.
Wanna GoMovieDate With Me?
February 12, 2009 by Gwendolyn Regina T
GoMovieDate is no newcomer to the dating industry nor are their founders to the Singapore entrepreneurship scene. Having started in late 2003, the two founders of GMD (as they prefer to call themselves) have been featured in national press and also garnered a Spirit of Enterprise award in 2006. Read more
Share this: