Nurzhan Kozhekov’s company has eight workers but currently handles around fifteen orders a month. He wants to offer people with hearing impairments stable employment. To achieve that, the cleaning business needs to grow.
Nurzhan Kozhekov started a window-cleaning business at eighteen. His company, EcoVibe, now cleans apartments, deep-cleans furniture and carries out minor repairs. Its team includes deaf and hard-of-hearing workers. Two work regularly, while another six take assignments as freelancers.
The idea grew out of personal experience: Nurzhan’s parents are deaf, and he works as a sign language interpreter. He knows how difficult it can be for a person with a hearing impairment to find work requiring constant conversations with clients.
A cleaner receives 15,000 tenge from a 25,000-tenge job
In an interview with Kursiv, Nurzhan said EcoVibe’s monthly turnover is around 500,000 tenge. It completes approximately fifteen orders in that time, although the number varies.
He gave an example: of a 25,000-tenge cleaning charge, 15,000 goes to the employee doing the work. The remainder covers company expenses, taxes and development. The founder says he currently takes no income from the cleaning business himself.
EcoVibe’s website offers applicants the opportunity to earn 150,000–300,000 tenge a month, depending on workload. These are advertised vacancy terms, not figures showing current employee earnings. The central question is whether the company can find enough orders to provide steady work.
How cleaning works when the cleaner cannot hear the client
EcoVibe handles customer communication. When an order is placed, it clarifies what needs cleaning and passes the assignment to the employee. Details that need to be agreed on-site can be discussed through WhatsApp messages. The company describes this workflow on its website.
Nurzhan does not want people to order cleaning out of pity. He aims to compete on price and service quality. For the customer, it is an ordinary cleaning order; for the employee, it is a chance to work in a team with communication arrangements already in place.
A minister’s call has not yet produced a branch
According to Nurzhan, Minister of Labor and Social Protection Askarbek Yertayev called him after a report about the company. He told Kursiv he was offered help with an office and recruiting staff, as well as a grant of around 1.75 million tenge to open an Almaty branch.
The branch has not opened. Nurzhan estimates he still needs roughly one million tenge of his own funds. He also has a three-million-tenge debt from an earlier unsuccessful plant-based milk business. He believes launching in Almaty will take at least six months.
State employment support is not automatic either: the Labor Ministry says employers must apply and meet program conditions. There is no confirmation that EcoVibe has already received a grant or subsidy.
The minister’s call drew attention to the company. Its further growth, however, depends on a simpler measure: how many orders EcoVibe can complete each month and how much work that provides for employees.
