
Show HN: Professional personal assistants for $2.99/hr - curiousscallion
http://www.tryaccelerate.com
======
curiousscallion
Hi HN fam!

I recently partnered with other colleagues in finance / consulting / start ups
to launch Accelerate - a service that allows you to find vetted assistants
starting at $2.99 / hr.

Our thesis is that personal assistants should be available to everyone and
that pricing should not be a barrier. Additionally, we are helping the
community by fighting against the the job crisis in Philippines (read about it
in our FAQ page!).

Let us know what you think!

FAQS:

-What's the benefit?: The initial benefits of having a personal assistant is the ability to offload low ROI errands that you MUST do so you can focus your full energy on things you WANT to do. Although it is very simple to look through your email, schedule a meeting, pay your bills, do your taxes, this takes valuable attention and brain power from your passions or top priorities for example, spending time with your family, or coming up with a new idea for a side gig. Imagine trying to work on a new project or starting to work out but having a bunch of small roadblocks before it -- human will power is limited and drained. Thus, if you have an affordable personal assistant, you can enhance your life by minimizing the roadblocks to focus on your highest priorities. It takes 21 minutes to recover your attention from a distraction. Our goal is to reduce these distractions so you can have large blocks of time to focus.

-Can't I do the task faster myself: The beauty of having a dedicated assistant is someone that gradually understands your preferences and will be able to order similar things in the past or recommend things to you in the future. Think Donna from Suits - she is able to give Harvey great suggestions on presents, restaurants etc. while Harvey focuses on what he does best, being a lawyer because she knows him well.

-How much do the assistants get paid?: Our assistants get paid based on how long they've been with the service - after training period, they'd get paid anywhere from $2.50/hr - $5.00/hr (high end for some that work for our platform). Minimum wage in Philippines is ~$1.16 / hr which is typical for a lower paying job such as a personal assistant. The average wage in Philippines is ~$2.50/hr. Keep in mind, this is including higher paying jobs such as engineers, doctors as well as higher wage areas (Manila) etc so we are paying VERY well, especially to the assistants in lower wage areas. We've heard that some government workers in the Philippines get paid less than $2 / hr, causing them to spend more than half of their wages on transportation.

Cost of living in Philippines ranges from ~$490 - $1060/month if you have to
travel to work (main pain point we've heard from our assistants as many
commutes are >4 hours a day) as transport costs ~$150/month due to inflation /
gas prices. However, if they are able to work with us at home, their costs
drastically are reduced (transport costs and decreased food costs) to ~$300 -
$500.

The Accelerate Team

