Shannon and Jed Stewart are the Regional Master Franchise Owners for Urban Clean on the Gold Coast, but like every franchise partner, their journey started with a single decision to step into business ownership.
Episode Timeline
- 0:00 – Introduction
- 0:33 – What is Urban Clean
- 1:53 – Buying the business and the first two years in operation
- 3:52 – Jed’s career before commercial cleaning
- 6:47 – Returning to Australia and Jed’s career transition
- 7:46 – Shannon’s background in hospitality and management
- 10:43 – What hospitality taught them about cleaning standards
- 13:44 – How Jed and Shannon met
- 15:34 – Balancing family life and business ownership
- 18:03 – The moment they chose business over property
- 19:32 – How they evaluated business opportunities
- 23:39 – Discovering the commercial cleaning opportunity
- 26:55 – The final decision to commit to Urban Clean
- 29:14 – The 10-year head start you get from franchising
- 31:07 – The growth plan for the Gold Coast region
- 31:58 – Wrap up
Coming from very different backgrounds — Jed from mechanical and operations management, and Shannon from hospitality and venue management — they share how their previous careers shaped the way they now think about systems, people, service quality, and customer experience.
The conversation covers what it’s really like to run a business as a couple, how they moved from considering property investment into buying a business instead, and why they ultimately chose a commercial cleaning franchise over cafes, gyms, and other options they explored.
They also explain how Urban Clean works as a business model, why systems and processes matter more than most new business owners realise, and how franchising can shortcut years of trial-and-error when building a company properly.
