Gary and Marie Amy - Hawkes Bay Franchisees

Several years ago, Gary Amy would have scoffed if told he'd be cleaning for a living. It's no job for blokes - besides, what would his mates think!

Today, Gary and wife Marie are proud of the fact - not just being cleaners; Crest NZQA qualified cleaners - in charge of their own business, their lives and destiny. Better still, they're financially secure, expanding and with a four-year goal to gross $100,000 a year.

Gary thanks Marie for "bringing him around". A mother of five and housewife, cleaning was second nature and it was Marie who first checked out a cleaning franchise. But even she's learned heaps from Crest's training. Gary has an IT background, but a sports injury had reduced him to a sickness benefit. And with children now aged six to 18, life was tough - financially and emotionally.

" I couldn't find employment," recalls Gary. " We weren't getting anywhere; at a dead end, in a rut."

When Marie found Crest on the internet, Gary procrastinated - initial thoughts about cleaning clouding his feelings. "It took me a while," Gary admits. "

It was Crest's NZQA qualifications that brought me around." Marie liked that Crest found customers. Gary liked the fact they didn't have to chase money; that Crest handled the bookwork. All they had to do was clean.

After contacting Crest, Hawke's Bay regional manager Ross Keats visited the Amys to explain Crest's systems and how Crest had changed his own life. "We saw how easy it was and the money you could make," says Gary. They opted for a $27,000 franchise with six clients and gross turnover of $60,000 - using equity in their house to borrow $35,000 from Kiwi Bank. By July 2009, after two weeks of training and NZQA papers under their belts, the Amys were ready for their clients - a school, childcare, offices, and the Hastings RSA - Gary's favourite!

Within 12 months, they were better off financially than ever. The couple works as a team - supported by their children and older teens baby sitting at night. In the Amy household, family comes first and Gary and Marie love working their own hours. There's money for luxuries now too. " Before, we would have had to put things on HP," says Gary. " Now we can pay cash and go out as a family."

At 18, their eldest son is looking at becoming security checked through Crest to work in the family business - already appreciating the future opportunity for himself. Crest has made huge changes to the Amy household. But there're bigger rewards too. Gary now sees no stigma with cleaning. Quite the reverse, he gets immense satisfaction from it. "There's a lot of respect and praise from customers ."

Was it hard getting started? Apart from initial nerves and stepping out of their comfort zone, Marie says the hardest aspect was setting a routine with children. Life is structured around them - kids come first. But Gary and Marie do have a couple of personal goals - house renovation and a small cruise in a couple of years. For now, they're happy to work every day, building up business to hit that $100 grand.

Their advice to anyone stuck in a rut and wanting a better life - "just go for it". " On a benefit and with a back injury," says Gary, "If we can do it, anyone can."

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