PAs for the rest of us

With a few notable exceptions (such as student-oriented Precious Time), concierge services and personal assistants are a luxury that tends to be beyond the reach of all but the most well-heeled members of society. Not so with Sunday, a request-based service that offers 24/7 personal assistance by internet or phone. New York-based Sunday lets busy people in the US, Canada and the UK delegate chores as they arise, with monthly fees starting at just USD 29 and no cost to join. The site’s agents are available 24/7 by email or phone, ready to make outbound calls, arrange travel plans, set dinner reservations, enable remote access to numerous websites and take action in emergency situations—virtually anything that can be handled remotely. The proprietary Sunday Portal facilitates interactions between members and agents by saving member information such as contacts and encrypted login details to leading websites such as Yahoo, Google, Seamlessweb, Zipcar and Fandango, to name just a few. Messenger and errand services are also available in New York City. Sunday’s Silver membership plan, priced at USD 29 monthly, includes 30 requests per month, with a charge of USD 2 for each request beyond that. The Gold plan is USD 49 for 50 requests per month, and USD 1.50 for each thereafter; it also gives members the ability to have Sunday make international calls on their behalf. It should come as no surprise that Sunday’s low prices are made possible by outsourcing most of the work to agents in India. Sunday was founded in 2006, and plans to expand to other major cities around the world. In this time-starved era, it’s hard to imagine a place where the concept wouldn’t succeed, especially with lifestyle gurus like Tim Ferriss promoting personal outsourcing. Next challenge, or rather, opportunity: bringing similar services to non-English speaking countries. (Related: Bidding system for domestic outsourcing.) Spotted by: Susanna Haynie