CrestClean business owner Isha Pyakurel knows the importance of maintaining hygiene and cleanliness around children.
As a mum herself, she has worked at kindergartens as a staff reliever. So when Isha began looking after the cleaning at Lollipops early childhood centre, New Plymouth, the work was second nature to her.
“Maintaining good hygiene is important where young children are concerned. Everything must be left nice and clean,” she says.
Isha and her husband Shahash Adhikary have been looking after the Taranaki centre for more than a year.
Lollipops Manager Sonia Jordan says the couple do a great job and nothing is ever too much trouble. Play activities at the centre can take a heavy toll on the carpeted areas, says Sonia.
“We get playdough trodden into the carpet on a daily basis.” But Isha and Shahash are not fazed by the clean-up task they face each evening, she added. “They work really hard at getting that playdough out of that carpet every night.
“We come in the next day and it’s all clean and ready to start again. Sometime I think ‘oh those poor cleaners!”
Having a reliable and efficient cleaning team gives Sonia peace of mind and allows her staff to concentrate their time on the young children in their care, she says.
“It means we can provide all those amazing messy activities for them and we’re not burdened by having to do all the cleaning. We have more time to interact with the children.”
Sonia particularly likes the way Crest’s Customer Communication Book allows her to leave feedback for Isha and Shahash.
“Any issues they find they will let me know by writing in the book and I can look at what’s been said and make any changes that are necessary,” she says. “I can leave comments for them and it’s just a really easy way of communicating.”
Isha and Shahash moved to New Plymouth from Auckland 14 months ago. They took advantage of CrestClean’s Move to the Regions Programme when buying a franchise. The company provides financial assistance to encourage people to purchase a cleaning business in areas where CrestClean has immediate opportunities.
For Shahash, owning a CrestClean business has been a welcome move from his previous roles in retail and hospitality management. “I was on call all the time and it can be a seven day a week job,” he says.
He likes being his own boss and the freedom it’s brought them. “Now we can plan our days and weekends. This job is so flexible in terms of how and when you do the work,” he says.
Isha says running a cleaning business had been easier than they had imagined. “Crest takes care of everything so it’s less headache and less stress. We are planning to increase the size of our business in the future.”
Apart from the satisfaction of working for themselves, feedback from the customers was an added bonus, she says. “When you work hard and you receive praise from the customers it makes you feel really good.”
CrestClean’s Taranaki Regional Manager Prasun Acharya says Isha and Shahash are focused on doing the best job for the customers. “They’ve had some great feedback about their work.”
