AboutHire about working at a high class escortservice

AboutHire is an online recruitment platform. They invited owner Marike to share more about what it is like to manage a high class escortservice and work as a high class escort. In this interview, published in English, Marike is as transparent as possible about her company, day to day work and vision on the escort business. The original article can be found on the website of AboutHire. It can also be viewed and read below.

From Startup To Success: Society Service’s Inspiring Journey To $219k/Month

In your own words, what does your company do?

I am the founder and owner of Society Service, which is the premier and fully legal high-end escort service in the Netherlands. We match our escorts with clientele looking for an intimate experience that goes beyond entertainment in the bedroom. The social aspect of a booking is at least as important as the more erotic aspect. 

This type of business is fully legal in the Netherlands, provided you have the right permit, which we do. We pay taxes like any other business would and you’ll be surprised how much our day-to-day tasks are no different from other businesses. Society Service is unique in the sense that aside from our 17+ years of experience, we focus on the enjoyment and comfort of the escorts we work with. 

We prioritize that over the desires of our clients. This results in a very genuine and authentic experience. The level of intimacy that is reached during bookings is far beyond what most people expect they would at an escort service. Although a high-class escort service such as Society Service is considered a form of sex work, the focus is not on the erotic. We work with ladies, gentlemen, and anybody in between who are at least 21 years of age, with at least a bachelor-level education, and who consider working with us a nice addition to an already fulfilling and healthy lifestyle. They are all full-time students, employed or independent entrepreneurs, and see working with us as the most pleasurable way possible to venture out on adventures allowing them a more luxurious lifestyle. In short; just like eroticism is not the sole focus of our clients, neither is money to our escorts.

📈 Monthly revenue: Approximately $219,400

📈 ~% Churn: To protect the privacy of my clients, I do not store client data for longer than 3 years. Within these 3 years, 84% of our clients make a repeat booking. I estimate the return rate on a longer period of at least 95%. 

📈 ~% Net profit: $54,850 per month

📈 Funding: None. Funding, loans, mortgages, and insurance all exclude this industry. 

📈 Initial cost/investment to start the company: $5,485. I started the company together with another person and did a buyout a few years after setting up the business. From there I’ve grown each year. When we founded the company, it was not very capital-intensive to start a business in this industry. That has changed, a mediocre agency will require a startup capital of at least $21,940 but to execute this well you’ll need a budget of at least $219,400. 

📈 Number of team members: I am the sole owner and founder of Society Service and do not have any employees. I do however work with a dozen of independents who assist me with my day-to-day activities, from accounting and legal to cyber security, photography, PA, and webmasters. In addition to that, I work with at any given time 50+ escorts, who are all independent as well. Therefore, they are free to decide when they work, who they work with, for what rate, and what they do during bookings. There is no relationship of authority, I am nobody’s ‘boss’. 

📈 Number of founders: 2 But after the buy-out I am the only founder left.

📈 Started: We started preparations in mid-2005 but founded Society Service in March 2006.

How does the company make money?

The only revenue Society Service generates is through setting up bookings between clients and escorts. To set up bookings, thorough matchmaking is often required to make the booking successful for both parties. It is a service-oriented company and I do not sell any products. 

On a daily basis, I receive between 15 and 30 booking requests, of which half meet the requirements and are accepted. In addition to that, I am limited by the amount of escorts I have available at any given time. Due to this limited availability, it is customary to set up booking weeks, if not months in advance. Bookings have a minimum duration of 2 hours but are often much longer, such as overnights. They are set up to imitate a date-like experience; a romantic dinner followed by a sensual night together. 

In addition to that I focus on a few target groups such as couples looking to expand their horizons, corporate and incentive entertainment, and inexperienced virgins looking to improve their social skills and learn about eroticism in a safe environment. This taps into interesting new markets.

Society Service is part of a holding and the money I made with Society Service I invested in stocks and real estate. That real estate I manage as well and provide a steady form of income. 

3 strategies that have worked to attract and retain customers? 

✅ Be professional: I deliver as promised and keep the relationship with clients professional. I  am serious about managing my business, have set up clear terms and conditions, and stick to them. In addition, I’ve implemented major IT and automation solutions that benefit both clients and escorts.

✅ Transparency: I am honest with clients as well as the general public. I believe this honesty helps me manage expectations, resulting in a better experience for both the client and the escort. Sometimes it’s just better to say ‘no’ instead of making a sale.

✅ Make a difference: I am proactive and stay ahead of the competition. They copy and follow me, never the other way around. Society Service has therefore been the market leader in the Netherlands for the past decade.

3 things that you’ve learned about hiring and retaining great talent?

✅ Think outside the box: Active recruitment is illegal in this industry. I am not allowed to approach a person and ask them to come to work for us, and neither do the mainstream platforms allow for recruitment advertisements of an escort service. In addition to the desire to be as transparent as possible, cooperating with interview requests from the media helps me recruit new employees.

✅ Make it work: I understand that the escort is just an added adventure to his/her life and I make that as easy as possible to manage. The escorts can focus on their bookings and anything else that makes their life better and not worry about any red tape or administrative responsibilities.

✅ Be flexible: Legally, the escorts I work with should have any freedom they desire. In practice, many escort services do not offer this. I do. The escort is free to decide who, what, where, when, and more while making an hourly rate most can only dream about.