Niche flatmate matching website

People advertising a room, people searching for a flatmate (via a membership or premium tier), and sometimes local businesses wanting to advertise to renters.

Paid listings, optional premium memberships for extra features, and local advertising or sponsorship once you have an audience.

• Building or managing a simple website
• Online marketing and community building
• Customer service and moderation

• Privacy law: check whether the Privacy Act and Australian Privacy Principles apply to you and how to store personal details safely
• Fake listings and scams: plan how you will verify users and remove bad listings
• Tenancy and agent rules differ by state and territory, so check with your state's fair trading or licensing body that your service is not treated as real estate agency work
• Sending marketing emails needs consent under spam rules
• Large established sites are strong competitors, so a clear niche matters

Startup costs are estimated at typically around $600 to $3,000, depending on how you build the site, your design choices and how much marketing you do at launch. Treat this as an estimate and cost your own plan.

Monthly revenue is estimated at typically around $400 to $2,000, depending on your niche, how many listings and memberships you sell and any local advertising. This is revenue before costs, and the estimate assumes at least about 8 hours a week.

Check whether the Privacy Act and Australian Privacy Principles apply to you and how to store personal details safely. Check with your state's fair trading or licensing body that your service isn't treated as real estate agency work, and get consent before sending marketing emails.