Written by Aghnia Hilya | Read in Indonesian

After almost three years of being hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, Indonesians are getting increasingly creative in surviving. Not only in meeting the financial needs, but also in fighting loneliness when direct interaction is not as easy as it used to be; renting a date is one example.

The reason? Although direct interactions and out-of-home activities have started to return to normal, some people still choose to stay at home if they don't have to go out.

This is because now we realise that many things can be done remotely without direct interaction. However, that method is sometimes not enough to get rid of the loneliness that strikes every so often.

A survey by Into The Light and Change.org regarding the mental health of Indonesian people (2022) revealed that 98% of the 5,211 respondents in six provinces in Java reported feeling lonely.

Lonely business innovation: Rent-a-date service

On Valentine 2021 TFR discussed “lonely” businesses, such as cuddle services and vent listening services, and this time we are exploring rent-a-date services which have been gaining traction in recent years.

Rent-a-date services are gaining popularity, especially after a gossip account uploaded a video snippet of Gritte Agatha's chat with a talent of a rent-a-date service last October.

The video reveals that to rent a date, the client needs to pay around Rp300,000 for offline dating and an additional Rp20,000 for physical contact.

If that's the cost for the client, how do these businesspeople view the services they offer? Is that profitable? Or is there something to be pursued other than money?

Rent partners, the place for clients to express their feelings

Customers or clients are the main focus in the rent-a-date services business. Not only for a date, the services are also here to listen to clients’ feelings that they often struggle to express.

This is also the intention of Deeptalk, an online service that has been around since July 2022 and positions itself as a virtual support system for its clients.

“Deeptalk came about because we found that there is a need in society to have someone who can listen, support and be a place (for clients) to express themselves and their feelings. Because not everyone is lucky enough to have a trusted friend or significant other,"explained Nada (not her real name), Deeptalk External Affair.

In addition to reaching out to Deeptalk, TFR also spoke with Daisuke, 28, a talent and owner of rent-a-date business Koibito. For Daisuke, clients are the main focus of Koibito’s services.

“To be honest, Koibito might be more expensive than others, but we are looking for a market that is looking for quality. We prioritise quality for our clients," he said.

Multi-layered process to become a talent aka rent partner

For the sake of service quality and the safety of clients and talents, every rent-a-date business has a strict recruitment process, character requirements that need to be met, as well as multi-layered background checks.

In fact, both Koibito and Deeptalk revealed that their talents are people who are well-known and familiar in real life.

While Deeptalk has determined from the very beginning that it would not accept talents under the age of 20, Koibito set an interview process in place as well as online and offline tests. That’s right, Koibito provides offline date services.

"For online dates, the test is whether they can serve clients via chat. For offline, we'll see if they're awkward when meeting strangers, whether they can adapt or not," explained Daisuke, who oversees 20 talents.

Talents at Deeptalk and Koibito are freelancers, and for them, this work is only a side job, not their main source of income. This affects their work hours.

Talent's persona according to the target consumer

Interestingly, the confidentiality of both the clients’ and talents’ identity in this business is guaranteed very strictly. Every talent has a pseudonym, and at every interaction, it is strictly forbidden to discuss personal matters.

So, in order for clients to imagine the appearance of the talents before renting, the talents’ persona was built–adjusted to the target consumers.

From the start, Koibito’s main market was people who liked anime. Therefore, its social media to introduce the persona and character of each talent was designed with a Japanese animation style.

Deeptalk has a different method, considering the services it offers are only virtual.

“We want clients to have an image of people who will talk to them and listen to them. That way, they can choose a talent whose character suits their preferences," said M.

If Koibito displays visuals, Deeptalk gives consumers imagination through audio. Yes, besides the description of their personality, each talent shows their persona through voice recordings on Instagram.

Admin’s role in ensuring rent partners’ safety

Even though the talents can be visualised, the owner of a rent-a-date service business cannot escape the fact that the clients who order their services are strangers.

Therefore, for the sake of talent and client safety, rent-a-date business owners take preventive measures. The first thing is to maximise the role of administrator as the first layer of filter.

Both Koibito and Deeptalk emphasised the crucial role of administrators. Even the chat between the (prospective) client and the admin is one of the benchmarks, apart from cross-checking the client’s  number in the Get Contact application.

In addition to giving advice to potential clients about which rent partners match their preferences, admins have a big say in whether a client is safe or suspicious.

They are also the ones that will deal with clients who are too involved. Nada admitted that Deeptalk once had a client who was too involved, which prompted them to take action by terminating the client.

"If it is considered excessive, the intensity will be lowered from talent service first," said Nada.

Preventive measures of rent-a-date service providers

Another preventive measure taken by Deeptalk is to focus on online services. You see, if there is an offline service, Deeptalk has to be able to check clients more strictly and have a person in charge of each date.

"Many asked why we don't go offline. The reason is because we can't control many possibilities. In our opinion, there are more dangers than benefits,” Nada explained.

Koibito also applies strict rules if clients want to try offline dating. Physical contact that can be made is also limited to holding hands, shoulder hugs and patting the head.

“Koibito also does not recommend changing the place of appointment. If the client has frequently rented and is safe, they may change place as long as it is a public place and they take public transportation," Daisuke said.

Not only that, in order to ensure quality control of services, Koibito, which talents are now available in six cities, also chose to slowly expand its services to other cities.

Challenges and misconceptions of rent-a-date services

Not only security, misconceptions are also a problem in this business because there are still people who think that working as a rent partner is the same as "whoring" or that the clients who hire this service are weeaboos.

"The challenge at the beginning was that many did not believe in this service. Do people really want to be hired as a date? Then being suspected as fraud. In fact, until now many think that the (business) of renting dates has a negative connotation (prostitution, ed.)," Daisuke recalled.

That's why Daisuke didn't deny that there are rent-a-date service providers who are afraid that their business will be too exposed and will have to close down. As a result, the rent-a-date business appears to be run discreetly.

Deeptalk also admitted the social stigma associated with rent-a-date services. Therefore, they continuously educate the public properly and gradually.

“There are also challenges from competitors. They disguise themselves as clients and continue to dig into the company's internal affairs, which is actually fine, but in our opinion it is not ethical," said Nada. The sad thing is that Deeptalk experienced it more than once.

Return of capital achieved

As a rent-a-date service provider that looks like an agency, Koibito admitted that the business is actually not significantly profitable, especially when compared to other agencies.

"For us, for now the gross (turnover) is Rp20 million a month. The agency takes 25%, and 75% for the talent. If it is available in all cities in Indonesia, we can achieve Rp100 million," said Daisuke.

As for Deeptalk, Nada revealed that the initial capital for the business came from the owner's pocket and they had earned it back. However, whether it can be called profitable, Nada said it is relative.

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