Have you ever wished you had your own butler, like Bruce Wayne’s Alfred? Most people could use a little bit of help with their housework and chores now and again. But few have the money and resources to hire live-in help like Alfred. If you’re one of those people who could use some minor assistance, there’s a new solution that might want to consider.
Startup Alfred, named for the famous butler in Batman, aims to make hiring housework help affordable. At just $99 a month, an Alfred butler will come to your home to perform various chores like cleaning, sorting mail and folding laundry.
The business is also partnering with services like Instacart (a grocery delivery service), Washio (a laundry and dry-cleaning service), and handy (a housecleaning service). Alfred can coordinate and manage those various services so you don’t have to bother with contacting and coordinating with each one individually.
Co-founders Marcela Sapone and Jessica Beck first came up with the idea for Alfred during a brainstorming session at Harvard Business School. After they completed their assignment, they kept working on their idea and eventually dropped out of school to pursue it full time.
The concept of a butler isn’t exactly new. But providing just a little bit of help to ordinary people who could use the extra time during the week is something that seems to have pretty widespread appeal. Sapone told CNN:
“It’s a really good service for parents who work and are juggling a family. [And] for young professionals putting in a lot of hours [or] entrepreneurs who are busy trying to launch what they’re passionate about.”
All of Alfred’s workers have to undergo background checks and multiple rounds of interviews before starting. Currently, the service is only available in New York and Boston. But already the company has some 100 of these personal “Alfreds’ standing by waiting to help busy entrepreneurs, parents and professionals lighten their loads.
Butler Photo via Shutterstock
Aira Bongco
I think that it is a great startup idea not to mention that they named it after Alfred – a famous butler of Batman. It allows the brand to be easily remembered.
Annie Pilon
It’s definitely a memorable name!
ebele
I like the name. It’s memorable whether you’re aware of the association with the film or not. I’m not sure if this is a butler service in the true sense of the word though (I could be wrong), as butlers usually live in, don’t they?
Annie Pilon
Hmm I’m not sure if that’s a qualification of the word or not. But I think using the word butler does make it sound a little fancier, which could draw in more attention/customers.
ebele
Yes, agreed – it definitely makes it sound fancier. And the name Alfred might attract even more folks because of the film.