Alice Vysata is the CEO of Heart and Hobby.com, an online dating site with a decidedly different twist. With thousands of dating sites in cyberspace, she feels her endeavor is unique because it allows singles to showcase many interests at once while searching for others who share those same collective interests.
In a recent interview on SBA Radio, the new business owner claimed that there were over 20 million users of online dating services per month. “Believe it or not, in this down economy memberships to online dating sites have actually been on the rise. This is probably due to people going out less and spending less, and not being guaranteed that a night out will lead to any meaningful encounter.”
When further describing the Heart and Hobby “unique selling proposition,” Alice said, “It’s kind of a spin-off of niche websites, which basically are sites devoted to a particular group such as Asian singles, Christian singles, or Tennis singles. But I think those sites are exclusionary so I created a unique site in which all these specific groups are combined into one place. There no longer is a need to join multiple dating sites across all sorts of interests when you can now do this on one site. I’m also hoping to encourage singles to look beyond physical characteristics and to find people who they have more in common with than just surface attraction.”
Vysata has a seemingly unquenchable entrepreneurial zeal for business, which she feels gives her startup its best chance for success.“Being a young, female entrepreneur in difficult economic times is both scary and exciting at the same time. I keep reminding myself that I have a unique idea, and when you have a unique idea then anytime is a good time to start a new venture. It’s well known that a lot of successful businesses that we know of today were actually launched during periods of economic downturn when the cost base was low, such as Walt Disney and Apple, to name a few.”
Miss Vysata stresses the need to compassionately embrace ones vision and to be willing to do things a little differently. “You have to believe in your idea, commit to it, and you can’t be afraid to take risks. You also need to remain focused even when you hear ‘no’ or when others don’t see your vision. You might fail the first few times but you can’t ever be discouraged. In fact, the most successful entrepreneurs have said that failure was never an option, nor were they ever afraid of it.”
When asked about the capital it may take to launch a business, Vysata replied, “If you are on a limited budget, it might be a good idea to keep your current job and work on your new business on nights and weekends. Another way to venture out while on a limited budget is to launch an online business or home-based business, where you can keep overhead low,” she added.
Click here to visit Vysata’s Heart and Hobby website or Facebook page.