There’s not a moment’s hesitation when Shamim Khan is asked what he likes about being his own boss. “It’s the best job I’ve had,” he says firmly.
It’s seven years since he and his wife Sharina bought their CrestClean business in Palmerston North. The couple, who are originally from Fiji, love the freedom it’s given them.
“There’s no one looking over your shoulder. You do your job well and you go home,” says Shamim.
Being able to spend more time with his family is something he treasures. It’s a far cry from when he was an employee at a meat processing plant in Feilding.
Shamim spent 12 years working long days in the slaughtering department, a job that left precious little time for anything else. “Every day I was awake and up at 4.30am and I didn’t get home again until 7pm. There were very long days,” he says.
Although it was “good money” he didn’t get to see a lot of his young children, he says. “When I was going to work the children were sleeping and when I came back it was the same story – I didn’t see much of them.”
Buying a cleaning franchise paved the way to a whole new career for the couple. As well as successful Crest business owners, Shamim and Sharina are the company’s Induction Trainers in Palmerston North.
New franchisees are guided through the basics of cleaning as the first step of a specific programme provided by the Master Cleaners Training Institute. It’s a role that brings a great deal of personal satisfaction for Shamim and Sharina.
“We teach them how to do the work and we are always learning as well,” says Shamim.
“We always tell them if you work hard, do the job properly, you’ll do well.”
Shareen Raj, CrestClean’s Palmerston North/Kapiti Regional Manager, says Shamim and Sharina are very experienced at what they do.
“They are doing a great job for their customers. New franchisees have told me that they are really good trainers and very detailed in how they teach our procedures.”
