The best kind of friends are free.
Shoji Morimoto, 39, has been hired more than 4,000 times since he started his exclusive “people for hire” business in 2018 and, until recently, was paid to “do nothing.”
But now, the creative entrepreneur has revealed that he has stopped charging his clients money to spend time with him.
“We are starting a service called ‘People who don’t rent anything,’” Morimoto aware in X in September.
“Use it in situations where the presence of only one person is required, such as stores that are difficult to enter alone, adjusting the number of people for games, and finding a place to view cherry blossoms. The price is free.”
Clients now have the luxury of allowing Morimoto to grace them with his presence by simply reimbursing him for their travel expenses and any food and drinks consumed during their meeting.
Shoji Morimoto started his exclusive “people for rent” business in 2018.
Unfortunately, those looking for a deep conversation or to build a personal relationship are out of luck.
“I can’t do anything but give you a very simple answer,” the Japanese businessman wrote in his post.
The reason for the change in business strategy stems from Morimoto’s self-interest: It’s just fun for him, he revealed in his recently published memoir, “Rental Person Who Does Nothing.”
“Do-nothing renting offers me a similar kind of passive entertainment, although in this case I am the provider of the service and not the user of the service,” he wrote in his book, according to Business Insider.
Given his success, Morimoto has revealed that he has stopped charging his clients money to spend time with him. REUTERS
Morimoto used to charge around $68 per session (10,000 Japanese yen) to date multiple clients for various reasons.
Before COVID-19, Morimoto revealed that he earned almost $300 a day.
As the end of the pandemic came to an end and lockdown restrictions eased, his business began to recover.
Over the years, clients have hired him for everything from regular coffee meetings and social interactions to more bizarre sessions.
He detailed how he was once hired to watch a wife search the trenches of online dating sites to find her husband.
Morimoto chats with his client, Aruna Chida, at a cafe in Tokyo, Japan August 31, 2022. REUTERS
“She screamed (like in her DM) about every 10 minutes. At one point, she made a mistake on an app by clicking “Like” for a man she wanted to skip. She looked at the ceiling and seemed very upset,” Morimoto wrote, according to Business Insider.
However, he said he had “an excellent afternoon tea and really enjoyed himself” during their meeting.
Morimoto also wrote that he once had to accompany a client to file his divorce papers in court.
Oddly enough, he was also hired to be there for clients during deeply personal moments.
Over the years, clients have hired him for everything from regular coffee meetings and social interactions to more bizarre sessions. REUTERS
He shared that he once had to say goodbye to a client as he left a train station, while on another occasion he greeted a client at the finish line of a marathon.
Even though critics label him a “new-age gigolo,” the savvy businessman has limits when it comes to his clients.
For one thing, no sex.
Morimoto, a married man with children, revealed in his book that he once rejected a client who asked him to have sex with him.
Before COVID-19, Morimoto revealed that he earned almost $300 a day. Instagram/Shoji Morimoto
Another forbidden point for him: pop concerts.
“I’ve also turned down several requests to go to pop concerts,” he wrote.
“I don’t know much about music, and most of the concerts I was invited to were by artists I had never heard of.”
He also turned down jobs moving a refrigerator and traveling to Cambodia.
Clients now have the luxury of allowing Morimoto to grace them with his presence by simply reimbursing him for their travel expenses and any food and beverages consumed during their meeting. Instagram/Shoji Morimoto
The self-described “introvert” alluded that being hired to provide company to people fit perfectly with his personality.
“The client wants to do something and I just accept it. Deep commitment is not expected nor personality required,” he wrote in his memoirs.
One of his clients, Aruna Chida, a 27-year-old Japanese data analyst, explained that she hired him for her company so she wouldn’t feel the need to “entertain him” like she would with her real friends.
“With my friends, I feel like I have to entertain them,” Chida said of Morimoto’s service in 2022. “But with the rental guy, I don’t feel the need to talk.”
“It’s funny that someone like Rental Person is in demand. “I guess you could say that my lack of individuality has become my ‘product,'” Morimoto wrote.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn