Accountant Roland Stringer financed his purchase of a dating agency by loaning the money from the vendor.
Although he bought RSVP two years ago, this kind of finance is especially useful means of overcoming the current dearth of credit. The 48-year-old bought RSVP with his wife and fellow accountant Anne, 38, for around half a million.
BusinessWings.co.uk:Why a dating agency?
Roland Stringer: We'd always worked in business to business, so we wanted to do something that actually touched end customers for a change.
We looked around for something with a track record of decent returns and a regular level of revenue.
We've been used to working with consultancy-type businesses, where you have to actively go out and get new business all the time. This was more of a going concern.
And why this dating agency in particular?
It probably has a more sustainable business model than the others.
How so?
All our members pay a monthly fee, whereas with most dating agencies you pay a fee up front and that's it.
How do you justify charging monthly payments?
We're one of only two or three agencies in the UK offering events and we offer far more than anyone else. We arrange meals out, cinema trips, dances, a couple of grand balls... Last weekend we did parachute jumping and this weekend we're doing some helicopter flights.
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