Playing cupid
There are 5 million lonely hearts in Poland, and Adam Grzesiak wants to make them a match.
The problem is that few singles are yet willing to use the service his matchmaking agency, Czandra, provides. Many Poles are still embarrassed by the idea of letting someone else handle their romantic affairs.
Attitudes are changing, though, and the matchmaking industry may be entering a growth phase.
"The matchmaking market is in a prenatal state," Grzesiak said. About 20,000 Poles used a matchmaking service last year, he added. But in Germany such agencies handled about 300,000 customers, showing there is incredible room for growth in the market here.
Czandra now handles 1,000 clients a month, up from just 150 three years ago. New players are entering the market, and younger Poles are finding that given career pressures, they don't always have time to go out and find that perfect partner.
"I am too busy to look for someone seriously," said Mariola, a Czandra client who did not want to be identified by her last name.
Such time pressures are bringing matchmaking agencies new, sought-after customers - Poles who are under 40 and in some cases under 30.
"Even if there is time to go to a disco on the weekend, you quickly realize it is not a place where you meet the match you have always been dreaming about," added another Czandra customer Gralyna, who also did not want to be identified.
Mariola and Gralyna, both attractive, professional women in their early 30s who are friends, were surprised that they got up the courage to go to a matchmaking service, but were willing to give it a try.
While their willingness to open Czandra's door may signal a turning point for the industry, a survey conducted for the industry by psychologists from Warsaw University found that only 7% of respondents would be willing to use such a service. However, 80% of the respondents approved of the idea of matchmakers, which may be half the battle to growing the business.
"Unlike in the past, we've started to talk about matchmaking businesses openly and their number increases," said Olga Pilinow, a therapist from Warsaw's Laboratorium Psychoedukacji. "If they offer help in such a way that the customers will be able to not lose respect for themselves, they won't hesitate to use it."
There are still societal judgments to overcome, of course. "We decided to (go to the agency) quite unexpectedly, on the street," Mariola said. "But we would never ever admit at work, for example, that we were here."
Pilinow said that most people are embarrassed by going to an agency because it seems they are admitting they are not capable of doing something important. "That's why it's a closely guarded secret," she said.
First step
On the other hand, Magdalena Grzesiak, co-owner of Czandra, described her customers not as people giving up control over their lives, but as those at last ready to shape their own destiny.
Those who take that step first get to pursue the agency's offerings of prospective mates. If a single decides to then become a customer, he or she fills out a voluminous questionnaire that asks about expectations of a future partner, personal characteristics and sexual needs.
The information is plugged into a computer database, which then matches the client with potential partners. Customers also receive the company monthly bulletin that features bios of new mate seekers.
If a customer thinks they may have found a match, they contact the person and take things from there.
Czandra tries to make sure from the get go, though, that all its customers are after the same thing - marriage. The company describes itself as a "matrimonial office" not a dating agency. "We help single people to find permanent relationships and no other offers are accepted," the company said in promotional literature. "Our customers have to be adult, unmarried people who would like to start a family."
Not all agencies are using computers to match prospective couples.
"It's my clients who make the choice, and it makes us different from Czandra," said Magdalena Serczyk-Cieslak, owner of matchmaking agency Syrenka. A family business set up 41 years ago, Syrenka serves 1,000-1,500 customers a year from its comfortable, but slightly old-fashioned premises on ulica Elektoralna. Serczyk-Cieslak considers her agency more of a problem-solving center than a matchmaking service.
"That's why I don't rely on machines," she said. "The only reason I intend to create our own web site is to widen our offer."
Growing competition
While Czandra and Syrenka have been on the market for years, newcomers are springing up. Grzesiak said about 20 matchmaking businesses set up in Warsaw alone every year, but only one makes it to the next year and many are simply escort services.
"It's because Poles want to make money instantly," he said, adding that he would not set up his business again without $500,000 in start-up capital. "Czandra has been on the market for 15 years now, but it started to pay off only two years ago."
The difficulty in making a matchmaking business successful causes some owners to see it more as a sideline. Krzysztof Makowski, owner of Warsaw-based Gracja social club and matchmaking center "for people with style," said he manages to break even.
But the business is more of a hobby than a serious money-making venture. Like most matchmakers, Gracja is a small business with no more than 1,500 customers per year.
"Even if there are some profits, they're small," he said. "I do what I do to help people. It could be a profitable venture but I don't have money to invest in it."
Despite the difficulties the industry faces, some see opportunities on the market. Mariola Puchalska decided to target a specific niche, but one that in Poland offers a huge number of customers - Catholics.
Three months ago, Puchalska established the lodz-based Swiety Walenty, one of the first Catholic matchmaking businesses.
"It's the kind of service many people have been waiting for," said Puchalska, whose offices are located at the home of the Polish Social-Catholic Association. "It's kind of a credit for us," she said of the agency's location.
So how does the Catholic agency differ from other matchmaking services? Customers who are not regular church-goers should look for help elsewhere because Puchalska pays particular attention to their Catholic background.
"When someone declares that he observes the 10 commandments it is a kind of guarantee that he is not looking for adventures," she said.
Puchalska said demand so far is beyond her expectations. There are already a few customers who have found matches and some are thinking of getting married.
"We have over 100 customers," she said, "Many of them come from all over Poland; there are even Poles from abroad."
But even if the matches are moving along, Puchalska, like many of her competitors, doesn't expect to become rich.
"I gave myself six months to see the business running," she said. Meanwhile, she has to pay out of her own pocket for poetry evenings and pilgrimages where customers have a chance to meet their match.
In addition, she does not expect the business to pay off soon and is generous when charging clients. Students and pensioners receive a 50% discount and pay a fee of just zl. 50 per quarter.
Czandra isn't as laid back about the business. Grzesiak is looking to make his agency into a powerhouse with nationwide reach.
"We are to open a branch office in Wroclaw by the end of December," he said adding that "already 30% of our customers are not from Warsaw."
In its quest to grow, Czandra is also actively promoting itself. The agency spends more than zl. 20,000 a month on advertising.
And Czandra takes the idea of the market monopolization seriously. "And we can triple this sum if necessary," Grzesiak said. "We won't let competitors in, unless really big capital comes up."
Still, even Czandra can't bulk up fees too much to try and grow. Grzesiak said the key to making a matchmaking agency profitable is to get above 500 customers a month. Agencies with fewer clients cannot be profitable and cheap, he added.
A Czandra customer has to pay zl. 140 to become a customer and then another zl. 28 a month until a match is found. Syrenka charges foreigners $350 for a yearly membership and Poles zl. 70 every two months.
"We can't be more expensive if we want to be attractive to our customers," Grzesiak said, "Our company handles all kinds of clients, including those who work for state enterprises. Doctors and teachers couldn't pay more anyway."
Not just money
Staying small and staying alive may be difficult for some agencies in the future, however. To attract new customers they will have to invest and advertise, especially because the customer profile is changing.
While Syrenka's customers are generally not younger than 45, Czandra's and Sw. Walenty's customers are sometimes below 30.
At the same time, these younger customers are more demanding expecting the agencies to act like professional businesses.
One way to present such a professional face is through a web site or computer service. These modern accouterments may also help agencies keep up with another rival, the internet.
So far, though, the net hasn't posed much of a threat in Poland.
There are only about 100 discussion groups on the Polish Usernet (such as pl.soc.seks. towarzyskie) compared to thousands in the United States, said Jaroslaw Polukoszko, marketing manager with AGS Media.
"This is not a big business to compete with 'real' matchmaking companies," he said.
A bigger threat may come from the overall decline in marriages in Poland. In 1989, there were 255,700. By 1997, the annual rate dropped to 204,000, according to the Central Statistical Office (GUS).
But for the optimistic Grzesiak, this could also provide an opportunity because it means it's tougher to find the right partner.
Still, matchmakers insist that at the end of the day their business is about love, not money.
"It is not a profit-making venture," Serczyk-Cieslak said. "I do it for sentimental reasons."
Grzesiak, who admits to wanting to become one of the 100 richest Poles, added that influencing someone's life gives great satisfaction.
"I would do it even if I found only two perfect matches a year," he said.
The problem is that few singles are yet willing to use the service his matchmaking agency, Czandra, provides. Many Poles are still embarrassed by the idea of letting someone else handle their romantic affairs.
Attitudes are changing, though, and the matchmaking industry may be entering a growth phase.
"The matchmaking market is in a prenatal state," Grzesiak said. About 20,000 Poles used a matchmaking service last year, he added. But in Germany such agencies handled about 300,000 customers, showing there is incredible room for growth in the market here.
Czandra now handles 1,000 clients a month, up from just 150 three years ago. New players are entering the market, and younger Poles are finding that given career pressures, they don't always have time to go out and find that perfect partner.
"I am too busy to look for someone seriously," said Mariola, a Czandra client who did not want to be identified by her last name.
Such time pressures are bringing matchmaking agencies new, sought-after customers - Poles who are under 40 and in some cases under 30.
"Even if there is time to go to a disco on the weekend, you quickly realize it is not a place where you meet the match you have always been dreaming about," added another Czandra customer Gralyna, who also did not want to be identified.
Mariola and Gralyna, both attractive, professional women in their early 30s who are friends, were surprised that they got up the courage to go to a matchmaking service, but were willing to give it a try.
While their willingness to open Czandra's door may signal a turning point for the industry, a survey conducted for the industry by psychologists from Warsaw University found that only 7% of respondents would be willing to use such a service. However, 80% of the respondents approved of the idea of matchmakers, which may be half the battle to growing the business.
"Unlike in the past, we've started to talk about matchmaking businesses openly and their number increases," said Olga Pilinow, a therapist from Warsaw's Laboratorium Psychoedukacji. "If they offer help in such a way that the customers will be able to not lose respect for themselves, they won't hesitate to use it."
There are still societal judgments to overcome, of course. "We decided to (go to the agency) quite unexpectedly, on the street," Mariola said. "But we would never ever admit at work, for example, that we were here."
Pilinow said that most people are embarrassed by going to an agency because it seems they are admitting they are not capable of doing something important. "That's why it's a closely guarded secret," she said.
First step
On the other hand, Magdalena Grzesiak, co-owner of Czandra, described her customers not as people giving up control over their lives, but as those at last ready to shape their own destiny.
Those who take that step first get to pursue the agency's offerings of prospective mates. If a single decides to then become a customer, he or she fills out a voluminous questionnaire that asks about expectations of a future partner, personal characteristics and sexual needs.
The information is plugged into a computer database, which then matches the client with potential partners. Customers also receive the company monthly bulletin that features bios of new mate seekers.
If a customer thinks they may have found a match, they contact the person and take things from there.
Czandra tries to make sure from the get go, though, that all its customers are after the same thing - marriage. The company describes itself as a "matrimonial office" not a dating agency. "We help single people to find permanent relationships and no other offers are accepted," the company said in promotional literature. "Our customers have to be adult, unmarried people who would like to start a family."
Not all agencies are using computers to match prospective couples.
"It's my clients who make the choice, and it makes us different from Czandra," said Magdalena Serczyk-Cieslak, owner of matchmaking agency Syrenka. A family business set up 41 years ago, Syrenka serves 1,000-1,500 customers a year from its comfortable, but slightly old-fashioned premises on ulica Elektoralna. Serczyk-Cieslak considers her agency more of a problem-solving center than a matchmaking service.
"That's why I don't rely on machines," she said. "The only reason I intend to create our own web site is to widen our offer."
Growing competition
While Czandra and Syrenka have been on the market for years, newcomers are springing up. Grzesiak said about 20 matchmaking businesses set up in Warsaw alone every year, but only one makes it to the next year and many are simply escort services.
"It's because Poles want to make money instantly," he said, adding that he would not set up his business again without $500,000 in start-up capital. "Czandra has been on the market for 15 years now, but it started to pay off only two years ago."
The difficulty in making a matchmaking business successful causes some owners to see it more as a sideline. Krzysztof Makowski, owner of Warsaw-based Gracja social club and matchmaking center "for people with style," said he manages to break even.
But the business is more of a hobby than a serious money-making venture. Like most matchmakers, Gracja is a small business with no more than 1,500 customers per year.
"Even if there are some profits, they're small," he said. "I do what I do to help people. It could be a profitable venture but I don't have money to invest in it."
Despite the difficulties the industry faces, some see opportunities on the market. Mariola Puchalska decided to target a specific niche, but one that in Poland offers a huge number of customers - Catholics.
Three months ago, Puchalska established the lodz-based Swiety Walenty, one of the first Catholic matchmaking businesses.
"It's the kind of service many people have been waiting for," said Puchalska, whose offices are located at the home of the Polish Social-Catholic Association. "It's kind of a credit for us," she said of the agency's location.
So how does the Catholic agency differ from other matchmaking services? Customers who are not regular church-goers should look for help elsewhere because Puchalska pays particular attention to their Catholic background.
"When someone declares that he observes the 10 commandments it is a kind of guarantee that he is not looking for adventures," she said.
Puchalska said demand so far is beyond her expectations. There are already a few customers who have found matches and some are thinking of getting married.
"We have over 100 customers," she said, "Many of them come from all over Poland; there are even Poles from abroad."
But even if the matches are moving along, Puchalska, like many of her competitors, doesn't expect to become rich.
"I gave myself six months to see the business running," she said. Meanwhile, she has to pay out of her own pocket for poetry evenings and pilgrimages where customers have a chance to meet their match.
In addition, she does not expect the business to pay off soon and is generous when charging clients. Students and pensioners receive a 50% discount and pay a fee of just zl. 50 per quarter.
Czandra isn't as laid back about the business. Grzesiak is looking to make his agency into a powerhouse with nationwide reach.
"We are to open a branch office in Wroclaw by the end of December," he said adding that "already 30% of our customers are not from Warsaw."
In its quest to grow, Czandra is also actively promoting itself. The agency spends more than zl. 20,000 a month on advertising.
And Czandra takes the idea of the market monopolization seriously. "And we can triple this sum if necessary," Grzesiak said. "We won't let competitors in, unless really big capital comes up."
Still, even Czandra can't bulk up fees too much to try and grow. Grzesiak said the key to making a matchmaking agency profitable is to get above 500 customers a month. Agencies with fewer clients cannot be profitable and cheap, he added.
A Czandra customer has to pay zl. 140 to become a customer and then another zl. 28 a month until a match is found. Syrenka charges foreigners $350 for a yearly membership and Poles zl. 70 every two months.
"We can't be more expensive if we want to be attractive to our customers," Grzesiak said, "Our company handles all kinds of clients, including those who work for state enterprises. Doctors and teachers couldn't pay more anyway."
Not just money
Staying small and staying alive may be difficult for some agencies in the future, however. To attract new customers they will have to invest and advertise, especially because the customer profile is changing.
While Syrenka's customers are generally not younger than 45, Czandra's and Sw. Walenty's customers are sometimes below 30.
At the same time, these younger customers are more demanding expecting the agencies to act like professional businesses.
One way to present such a professional face is through a web site or computer service. These modern accouterments may also help agencies keep up with another rival, the internet.
So far, though, the net hasn't posed much of a threat in Poland.
There are only about 100 discussion groups on the Polish Usernet (such as pl.soc.seks. towarzyskie) compared to thousands in the United States, said Jaroslaw Polukoszko, marketing manager with AGS Media.
"This is not a big business to compete with 'real' matchmaking companies," he said.
A bigger threat may come from the overall decline in marriages in Poland. In 1989, there were 255,700. By 1997, the annual rate dropped to 204,000, according to the Central Statistical Office (GUS).
But for the optimistic Grzesiak, this could also provide an opportunity because it means it's tougher to find the right partner.
Still, matchmakers insist that at the end of the day their business is about love, not money.
"It is not a profit-making venture," Serczyk-Cieslak said. "I do it for sentimental reasons."
Grzesiak, who admits to wanting to become one of the 100 richest Poles, added that influencing someone's life gives great satisfaction.
"I would do it even if I found only two perfect matches a year," he said.
