Playing Cupid
These matchmaking sisters aim to give busy singles a fast--and fun--way to date.
At the starting signal, 20 to 40 couples start their dates.
Their challenge: to determine whether their "date" is
their perfect match . . . in only four minutes.
The 4-Minute Date capitalizes on the speed-dating trend, and
sisters Donna Heiser, 48, and Pat Maida, 51, are getting in on the
action-as business owners.
After their cousin raved about The 4-Minute Date session she
attended, Maida researched the company and discovered the service
was not yet offered in her area. The sisters bought the exclusive
licensing rights to The 4-Minute Date in the Tampa Bay, Florida,
area for $5,000 last fall.
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The service is geared toward single, time-pressed professionals
who are tired of the singles-bar scene, says Heiser. The sisters
set up events at bars or restaurants, where singles meet and
mingle. "[Clients] get to go out one night and buy a couple of
drinks, instead of going out 20 nights," Heiser explains of
the business's appeal.
Nationwide, 14 couples report they got engaged after meeting
through the service, says founder Christian Screen. And for a fee
of just $35, Heiser says, people are not only finding their
significant others, but are also "making friendships and
business connections."
Running the business does have its challenges-one is to have an
equal number of men and women for each event. Men sometimes
"chicken out," says Heiser. Another difficulty is making
their name known in the area, so the sisters have invested in
advertising in Tampa Bay's three major newspapers.
Today, Heiser and Maida believe they've found their
match-they have registered about 800 people on the Web site,
www.speedmingle.com, and expect to make $70,000 in
2004 gross sales.