When Millard Macairan had a heart attack at the age of 52, he knew something had to change — so he bought a CrestClean franchise.
Millard had been working on dairy farms for 12 years, when the early starts and demanding workload took a serious toll on his health.
“It was three days after my grandson was born. My son had taken a day off and I was alone on the farm,” he recalls.
“I was feeding the cows and there was a break-out, so I had to round them up. I felt like I was running out of breath. I called my wife to give me a hand and after we rounded up the cows I had to sit down. Then I felt my chest tightening up, and I told my wife to call an ambulance. It happened really fast.”
Millard, who had no history of heart problems, was rushed to hospital where he was stabilised and underwent tests to try and determine the cause of the heart attack.
“They found nothing wrong with my heart. Everything was normal and my cholesterol was excellent. The cardiologist concluded it was stress. So, she asked me to take a break and relax for a bit.”
That’s when the couple decided to invest in a CrestClean franchise in Gore.
“A friend had been encouraging us to join CrestClean for five years, but I resisted because I find transitions quite challenging. But after the event I thought ‘okay, this is it’,” says Millard.
He is thankful to CrestClean’s Invercargill Regional Manager Glenn Cockroft, who helped him and Christine build up a solid customer base, which saw them double their turnover in the first six months.
Millard says they are earning more than when they were dairy farming but, more importantly, it’s much less stressful and has given him time to focus on his health and wellness.
“It’s less physical and we operate on our own time. It’s more flexible, not like having to wake at 4am to get the cows in for milking,” he says.
“My wife has been doing yoga for years and now I have the time to join her. It’s definitely helping, especially with my back and flexibility. And I’ve gained about 9kg. I’ve been wanting to gain weight because I’m usually very skinny, so for me it’s good.”
“Christine has been my inspiration and the wind that blows the sail all through this journey. Her support is all that matters to me. Her whole-hearted effort brought forth all the positive feedback we are getting from our customers.”
With a regular income, there is also less financial stress, he adds.
“We can manage our finances more easily. We hope to get a mortgage and buy a house next year,” says Millard.
“Now we are encouraging our friends to join CrestClean. We are hoping they will listen to us!”
Glenn says he continually gets positive feedback from Millard and Christine’s customers and he is grateful to have them on board as franchisees.
“It meant we were finally able to expand further into the region,” he says.
Gore is a big growth area for CrestClean, says Glenn, with another franchisee team due to start there at the end of the month, bringing the total to four teams.
“Millard and Christine were happy to take on additional work to expand their business right from day one. Just 18 months after they purchased their franchise with us their business has grown to a point that they are now turning over three times their original purchase value.”
