Those who wish they had more time to take care of errands will be happy to hear about a new subscription service that provides you with the 21st century version of a butler.
The service, called Alfred, gives you a personal assistant to handle chores like buying groceries, dropping off dry cleaning and laundry, for $99 a month, and the assistant will come by once a week for a main visit and a second time a couple days later to make sure errands are completed, according The Next Web.
The goal for Alfred is to anticipate what you need to have done by learning your habits and preferences.
Alfred has been in its beta form for almost a year, and it will be initially available in New York and Boston, PC Magazine reported. Those who sign up will have to fill out a questionnaire about their homes and desires, and the personal assistant will receive a copy of their house keys.
Other services available on Alfred's list include running pharmacy errands, supervising home cleaning and receiving packages.
Users will initially communicate with their assistants through email, but they will soon be able to communicate with a mobile app the startup is looking to release sometime in 2015, PC Magazine reported.
Marcela Sapone, co-founder and CEO of Alfred, said the assistants work from between two and five days a week for anywhere between $18 and $25 per hour, and that working more than 30 hours per week makes them eligible for healthcare benefits. She added that the startup runs background, criminal and reference checks on all Alfreds.
Alfred's hiring of part-time and full-time employees separates the startup from most service economy startups that hire independent employees, The Next Web reported.
"It's not about delivering everything to your door the fastest, it's about keeping quality consistent week after week after week," Sapone said.
