Kaile Warren knows how to satisfy a woman. For that, he has been transformed from a sad sack sleeping on a sofa at his failing home-remodeling company to an entrepreneur with franchises on both sides of the Atlantic. Warren's story, more Home Improvement than Boogie Nights, began on a grim evening in May 1996. Despondent over his business troubles and the end of his three-year marriage, he prayed for a break. At 3 a.m., he says, he awoke to a three-word vision: Rent-a-Husband. "I was a little bit in awe of it," says Warren, 38, of Portland, Maine.
And why not? Warren's service provides 10 "husbands" who are all work and no whine. For $25 an hour they do everything from screw in a lightbulb to build a back porch. "They're every woman's dream—tall, dark and handy," boasts Warren. And profitable. He expects revenues in his Portland office to top $500,000 this year and has recently signed contracts for 17 U.S. franchises and 2 in England.
Born to parents in the construction business, Warren began working part-time by his father's side at age 8. Later, as a home remodeler, Warren was struck by how couples bickered over household chores. "I wanted to figure out how to tap into that need, and the words never came to me," he says. Until Rent-a-Husband. Still, he needed a few good men—carpenters, electricians and all around Mr. Fix-Its—who wouldn't expect dinner or leave the toilet seat up. "It's really hard to find a good husband," he muses. "But once you do, you hold onto him for life."
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