Dating agencies mint dime from lonely souls

Lonely souls are increasingly paying a premium sum to dating agencies to help them fill the void in their hearts,writes KENNETH KWAMA

The number of people lining up in search of soul mates is going up, resulting into matchmaking business that is slowly turning into a buzz.

The trend can be deciphered through the growing number of ads in newspapers asking people to register with these agencies for quick hook ups.

For men and women with money, prestige or public figures who want to keep their search for a mate under wraps, matchmakers offer the confidentiality they need and also improve their chances of meeting the perfect partner.

It is emerging that besides the regular hunters, there is a group that is so serious about marriage or a long-term relationship and are willing to pay thousands of shillings above regular commitment fees to get help in finding love.

In most cases, people searching for lovers don’t tell anyone about their secret search except their matchmakers.

Instead, they take a scripted businesslike approach to seeking a soul mate.

Dating agencies attract people who are genuinely out looking for love and pleasure seekers in equal measure.

Both men and women subscribe and subscribers are matched according to their profiles and preferences.

More women

Because matchmakers don’t guarantee success after hook ups, the success of the resultant relationship is up to God and luck.

According to various matchmakers, the biggest problem in the industry is that the number of women who are looking for soul mates far outstrips that of their male counterparts.

"The tragedy is that very few of the men enrolled as members are genuine. Most of these men are married and looking for women to pass time with. It complicates things for women who are genuinely looking for love," says a matchmaker who requested not to be named.

Generally, the script is about the same for anyone who wants to enrol with a matchmaker.

You are required to pay a membership fee that ranges from Sh150 to Sh5,000, depending on the agency you are enrolling with.

You are then asked to supply details that include your race, height, age and what you’d prefer to have in a potential mate.

While some agencies say the first three hook ups are free, in others, a customer is supposed to pay a fee for every new hook up arranged by the matchmaker.

In such scenarios, each date adds to the cost. But the lure for subscribers is that once started, the matchmaking starts to take on the characteristics of a casino.

It gets tempting and the matchmakers play their part, offering new potential mates giving someone the illusion that they are closer to landing their soul mate.

A matchmaker who works with a Nairobi-based dating agency called Good Heart Dating Agency says a potential subscriber first has to pay Sh150 in order to be registered for the service.

Clients profile

"After that, we ask subscribers to send us their profiles that must include details like complexion, age and height. We then match them up with people of the opposite sex who are looking for the qualities that they have," says one James.

In this case, subscribers are supplied each other’s contacts and allowed to meet at their own discretion.

Although this model offers freedom that allows the potential lovebirds to interact with each other without ‘undue’ influence from outside, it is also open to abuse.

Probability of landing the wrong partner or meeting pleasure seekers is also high.

Anastanzia Wakesho, a tour guide, who operates two of the most professionally ran matchmaking agencies in the country says several dating agencies don’t have the capacity to offer the services they advertise in newspapers.

"Most of the people looking for these services are desperate. They are single because of various reasons that might include divorce, infidelity or eveil spells. You can’t sort out some of these problems by simply telling someone to M-pesa you money. There has to be some order and a bit of counselling," says Wakesho.

Wakesho runs one of the country’s largest dating agencies, Stacy Care Foundation (SCF) for HIV-positive people.

The foundation, she says, is a faith-based social and support group with single, divorced and widowed God fearing ladies who are looking for life partners of similar status.

"We meet once every month to offer guidance and direction on social issues through the word of God," says Wakesho.

The next monthly meeting for her group will be held on Saturday. While the joining fee for new members in Nairobi is Sh600, old members are usually required to pay Sh200 for such gatherings.

Subscribers in up country towns like Kisumu and Mombasa pay Sh400 to gain membership and Sh150 after enrolment.

"The money is purely for administrative purposes because the meetings involve a lot of organisation," says Wakesho, adding that they counsel members and facilitate them to interact and share experiences during the monthly meetings.

An IT specialist, who is enrolled to a dating agency says he has been a member since 2008, but is yet to meet the right person.

He says matchmaking is just like any other profession and should not be blown out of proportion.

"I am enrolled with a dating agency because I need a shortcut to the right women," he says. "In my profession, we usually outsource some functions for clients. Why should there be a problem outsourcing the initial part of dating, which is meeting the right people in the first place to a matchmaker?" He poses.

His contention is testimony to the fact that matchmaking is has become a trendy occupation and the focus of several budding businesspeople.

Matchmakers seem to be popping up all over the country, many targeting their personalised services to single men and women.

Agencies like Good Heart Dating equate their businesses to executive search firms. Some people refer to these agencies as headhunters for the heart.

Although it seems to have a lot of potential for growth, especially for people with good business acumen, the matchmakers who spoke to Business Unusual said that that the business can be difficult to run sometimes because it deals with emotional issues and extreme expectations.

Unlike in Kenya where the business is just starting to gain currency, the dating-assistance business in developed countries like the US and UK and advanced and matchmakers usually provide customised services.

The services sometimes include websites where photos and profiles are posted.

This gives subscribers the opportunity to access a large number of profiles and even choose the candidates most suitable for themselves.