Resident?s Guide to Fayetteville

The Resident Guide Inc.
Owner: Matt M. Lawrence and Craig Stuart
Address: P.O. Box 8446, Fayetteville 72703
Phone/Fax: 466-6137
Hours: By appointment
Startup date: March 20
Email address: [email protected]

Before launching The Resident Guide, Matt M. Lawrence was working as a local business broker, while his buddy since third grade, Craig Stuart, was in Memphis working as a database administrator. But Stuart wanted to move back to the area and Lawrence wanted to operate his own business, so they decided to start a guide to Fayetteville for renters. That idea quickly expanded.

After gathering support from three of Fayetteville’s top rental companies, who all agreed to distribute the guide to new renters, the pair visited with some Realtors who were also enthusiastic about the new publication. Stuart and Lawrence then decided to expand it for all Fayetteville residents, renters and homeowners. Now they have several real estate companies and rental agencies planning to distribute the consumer-oriented guide to new homeowners and renters.

The first issue comes out in mid-June and a new one will be published every three months.

The history, list of services and other basic information will likely remain the same in future issues, but the list of businesses advertising, the quarterly calendar and the coupons will be updated each issue in the spiral-bound booklet.

Lawrence and Stuart plan to publish 8,500 copies of the book in June and expect to have to increase the number of copies after the first issue. They declined to say what they’ve invested, but they expect a return on their investment with the first issue.