From Cleaner to Business Owner: How Pradeep Launched Fab Cleaning

In 2024, Fresh Desk did something we'd never done before: we helped one of our cleaners launch their own business.

Pradeep Bakthavatsalam had been part of the Fresh Desk team for several years. He'd completed his New Zealand Certificate in Cleaning and had developed a real depth of knowledge — in cleaning standards, health and safety, customer relationships, and what it takes to deliver consistently excellent work. What he also had was ambition. He and his partner Subasri Karthikeyan wanted to run their own cleaning business.

The gap, as we saw it, wasn't skills. It was the bridge between knowing how to clean and knowing how to run a company.

Building the bridge

Fresh Desk piloted a mentoring programme based on the Skills Bridges framework developed by Alice Dimond at Tokona Te Raki — a model that links cleaning skills, income, and professional growth into a clear pathway forward.

Over six months, we provided pro bono mentoring to Pradeep and Subasri: covering business set-up, pricing, customer relationships, employment obligations, and the practicalities of running a Living Wage, eco-certified operation. We also handed on one of our own customers during an auspice period to help them get started with a stable base.

The result

Fab Cleaning launched successfully — and it's going from strength to strength.

Fab is now generating positive cash flow from three customers. They pay the Living Wage to their staff and use Eco Choice Aotearoa certified products. The programme is estimated to have generated over $50,000 in economic and social benefit to the community.

Most importantly: Pradeep and Subasri built something that's theirs.

We're incredibly proud of what they've achieved, and we think it proves something important — that the pathway from cleaner to business owner is real, it's achievable, and it's worth investing in.

Want to support this work?

We're looking to scale this pilot into other regions and would love to partner with a government agency, training provider, or corporate customer who shares our values. Get in touch if that's you.