A business with Crest fulfils couple’s dream
Meti Tagica, with her children Lia, Kara, and Seta.
They hadn’t quite bargained for the friendly advice and offers of support that would come in bucket loads from fellow business owners and CrestClean’s Tauranga Regional Manager.
It was that warm welcome in particular that soon had Meti Tagica and her husband Seta feeling settled and part of the CrestClean family, they say.
The couple have been with CrestClean for just over three months and say they are delighted with how it’s going.
“We’ve dreamed of this opportunity to have our own business and this is the greatest opportunity that we’ve had,” Mati added.
Both teachers and working in Fiji, Meti and Seta came to New Zealand five years ago. They made the move for family reasons, says Meti, who had been working at a university training new teachers.
“We thought it was a good opportunity to come to New Zealand and get our kids educated so they could get some good qualifications.”
After arriving in the country it was Auckland where they first settled. Seta found work as a lecturer, teaching automotive engineering at Manukau Institute of Technology.
Meanwhile Meti decided to give teaching a break and initially found employment at a hotel. But looking for somewhere less busy, the family eventually moved to Tauranga and Meti found work at a local hotel.
Seta is still teaching in Auckland but is back at weekends to spend time with Meti and their three children, who help their mum with the cleaning.
CrestClean’s Regional Manager Jan Lichtwark says it’s personally satisfying to see how well the new franchisees are doing.
“They put their heart and soul in their business. They do great work and their customers really like them.
“We get great feedback and they are really model franchisees,” he added. He says the couple and their family are “proactive” in the way they go about their cleaning.
“They will often do extra cleaning tasks that customers might not have been aware needed cleaning.”
Meti says Tauranga is a great place to live and they hope to soon get a foot on the housing ladder. “We like living in Tauranga, it’s a beautiful place. It’s a better place for us and our kids.”
And having her children helping with the business has been a bonus and they are a close-knit family, she says. She is proud they have all done well. Lia is a graphic designer, Kara is an automotive electrician, while Seta, who is named after his dad, is still at school.
“We enjoy cleaning and Crest has been great, especially Jan giving his support. All the franchisees have been helping and giving advice, it’s so nice.”
Recently Meti and her cleaning team carried out a term clean at Omokoroa No.1 School. The thoroughness of the cleaning impressed Jason Cheng, CrestClean’s Waikato/BOP Quality Assurance Co-ordinator.
“I met couple of staff and they said the term clean is amazing. Marks on doors and doorframes had gone and the classroom looked fresh and really clean, they said.”
He added: “We have to maintain our high standards and the auditing process is taken very seriously. It’s important that nothing gets overlooked.”
