Mark Verge Balances Family and Business

Westside Rentals founder Mark Verge’s entrepreneur spirit began at a young age. As a kid in Santa Monica, he used to buy and sell avocados and trade baseball cards to make money.   ’I was always starting little businesses,’ said Verge, now a Pacific Palisades resident who established Westside Rentals in 1995 to provide property listings for West Los Angeles and has since expanded his services to all of Southern California.   In addition, Verge owns 17 other businesses, including The Hideout bar and lounge in Santa Monica Canyon, Venice on the Beach Hotel and Cole’s French Dip in downtown Los Angeles. Last year, he launched PerfectBusiness.com, which offers business-training courses to help people start a new business or grow an existing business.   ’My wife says ‘That’s enough,” Verge said during an interview at his Highlands home. ‘But I have so many great ideas!’   Verge and his wife, Lani, fell in love while attending Santa Monica High School and are celebrating 14 years of marriage. They have two children Rex, 6, and Malia, 9, who both attend nearby Calvary Christian School.   Verge’s aunt Cathie Yonke, who has lived in Pacific Palisades for 25 years, encouraged him to move here from Santa Monica 10 years ago. He then convinced his sister, Annette, to move to the Highlands with her husband, Stan Stopka, and their three children: Holden, Kate and Laney.   Verge, 42, said he especially loves the Highlands because it’s always sunny and it’s a safe place to raise kids.   While earning his associate’s degree from Santa Monica College and a bachelor’s degree in history from UCLA, Verge took on his first business venture. He had worked with Bob Goumillion at Wilshire Coin in Santa Monica and when he heard the store was going out-of-business, he decided to take it over, a month before graduating from UCLA in June 1990.   After five years as a retailer, Verge sold the coin store to start Westside Rentals. Upset that a rental company had scammed one of his friends by providing false listings, he figured the city needed a legitimate rental service. He opened his first office on 7th and Santa Monica Boulevard and now has seven offices staffed with 80 employees in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego. He would next like to open offices in San Francisco.   ’We were providing a service, and it was working,’ Verge said of the company’s success. He grew the business by contacting numerous landlords and property management companies. He now has 25,000 listings for condos, houses, guesthouses, apartments, lofts, roommates, garages, storage, offices, and vacation rentals.   Renters pay a membership fee of $60 for 60 days to access the listings, which are available online, over the phone and in the offices. Owners and landlords can list their properties for free. Verge’s staff will take photographs of the properties for the listings and screen applicants for the owners by providing a free credit check.   Verge has hired 20 drivers who travel around Southern California documenting rental signs. His office staff then contacts the owners of those signs, encouraging them to list their properties on Westside Rentals.   To reach renters, Verge hired Phil Parks as the company’s mascot (Rental Man) and human billboard four years ago. He saw Parks dancing at a Santa Monica College basketball game and decided Parks would be great at promoting his company. ‘It was a small crowd, and he was so happy,’ Verge recalled, noting he likes to surround himself with happy people.   In a red cape, jester hat and Rent-Me tee shirt, Parks dances for Westside Rentals on the street and at sporting events.   Westside Rentals leading competitor is Craigslist, which offers property listings for free. ‘[Craigslist] makes me work harder,’ Verge admitted, noting that his staff is always thinking of new ways to grow the company. It offers seminars to educate landlords on marketing and provides corporate accounts that allow companies to assist their employees with relocation. Nearly 100 companies (including Disney, Cedars-Sinair and Google) pay a fee so that their employees can use Westside Rentals for free.   Verge thinks Craigslist is a wonderful tool, but said his company screens postings to prevent scams. Also, people can meet potential roommates at his offices before inviting them into their homes or apartments, which is safer. His company also sends text messages to prospective renters when a place becomes available.   While Verge strives to keep Westside Rentals competitive, he also oversees several motels catering to college students, three restaurants and two bars/night-clubs. ‘I think it’s fun to have different businesses,’ he said, adding that he has a short attention span. ‘I like places that have some historical value, some soul to them.’   Verge purchased the Hideout, located on West Channel Road, because legendary actor and humorist Will Rogers used to frequent the joint when it was Doc Law’s pharmacy, as well as a speakeasy.   In March 2008, he launched PerfectBusiness.com after receiving helpful advice from Cedd Moses, owner of downtown’s Golden Gophers and Seven Grand, on the restaurant business. Verge figured everyone could benefit from good business advice, so his company provides entrepreneurial training courses and business planning software. He has arranged for billionaire Richard Branson to speak at a conference in October at the Ritz-Carlton in Marina del Rey.   When asked how he finds time to stay on top of all his businesses, Verge said it’s about developing good relationships with his managers and giving them incentives. He is also grateful to his wife, who graduated from USC with a degree in accounting, for helping him with the finances.   Most importantly, Verge said his goal is to enjoy life and spend time with his family. ‘I try to work my day around my children’s schedule and if I have anything in the evening I do it after their bedtime.’   This summer, the family once again rented a place near the beach in Del Mar for the horse racing season. Verge owns 10 horses, the most successful of which has been Informed, a $25,000 claimer who won the San Diego Handicap and secured a berth in the $2-million Breeders Cup Mile in November.   A beach lifeguard at 18 (‘My grandfather used to judge the bathing beauty contest at Venice Beach’), Verge loves to share his love of the ocean with his children by taking them to Will Rogers State Beach and Santa Monica Beach. He also spends a lot of time with his kids ‘goofing around the house.’