Our Chief Boss Speaks Out: Doing Business the Right Way

This week's feature on Stuff.co.nz pulled the curtain back on what many of us in the cleaning industry already knew and what too many outside of it still don't. Crewcare's practices and the franchise cleaner exploitation issues highlighted aren't just isolated incidents. They're symptoms of a broken system that's been allowed to run unchecked for years.

And now? It's finally getting talked about.

Ethan Gordon, our Founder and Chief Boss, didn't hold back. And why should he? Clean Boss was built to be the complete opposite of everything this article exposes.

While some companies hide behind income guarantees that aren't worth the paper they're printed on or lowball quotes just to win contracts (and then expect franchisees to wear the shortfall), Clean Boss built our model from scratch with one focus: treat people right. That includes our clients, and it definitely includes our Bosses, the franchisees who power this business.

Here's the bit no one wants to admit: quoting a job at $25 to $35 an hour might look like a good deal on the surface. But peel back the layers like admin fees, tax, fuel, and gear, and you have to ask what's left for the person doing the work.

Sometimes it's not even minimum wage. And that's not just bad business. That's wrong.

Ethan said it best in his comments to Stuff:

"If a business model doesn't allow someone to make minimum wage after costs, and they've invested tens of thousands just to get started, how is that ethical, sustainable or even just plain old human? It's not."

At Clean Boss, we do things differently:

• No empty promises. We don't offer fake income guarantees. We offer a Fair Work Guarantee. If a client drops off and it's not your fault, we replace the job. Simple.
• No mystery quotes. We charge what it actually costs to do the job properly. Our commercial cleaning rates go up to $50 – 57 per hour because paying people fairly costs more. We're fine with that.
• No margin on gear. Our Bosses get supplies at wholesale. We're not trying to profit off the basics.
• No bull. We've got a waitlist of franchisees for every region we're in. And we don't spend big on ads to get them, 90 percent come from referrals.

We're not perfect. No business is. But every franchisee who's ever left Clean Boss has had their full franchise fee refunded. That's how you back your people.

And if you're thinking the answer is to treat franchisees as employees? That misses the point entirely.

One of our Bosses turned over $55,000 in a single month. He runs a team and multiple vehicles. Calling him an employee ignores everything he's worked to build. These are people who've taken real risks, worked incredibly hard, and deserve to be recognised as real business owners.

What New Zealand needs is not more vague promises. We need real, enforceable rules like Australia's Franchising Code of Conduct. Until that happens, good operators will keep getting undercut and vulnerable workers will keep getting taken advantage of.

To the companies who say this is too hard or needs another internal review: Put the spreadsheet down and go scrub a toilet.

To everyone else, clients, potential franchisees, and decision-makers, if you want to support a company that does things the right way, back the ones that put people first.

We're Clean Boss. No gimmicks. No exploitation. Just cleaning done right.