Why a Restaurateur Left Fine Dining For Chem-Dry Carpet Cleaning Franchise

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Meet John St. John, our new franchisee in the Charleston, S.C., area

John St. John recently opened a Chem-Dry location in the Charleston, S.C., area, where he had been managing a fine dining restaurant.

John St. John, our new franchisee in the Charleston, S.C., area, illustrates how entrepreneurs of any age and from any background can find what they?re looking for in a Chem-Dry carpet cleaning franchise.

John spent his entire career in restaurants, starting as a teenaged cook in Florida and eventually managing fine dining eateries in Atlanta and Charleston. But after a quarter-century in hospitality, St. John found himself thinking about going into business for himself ? and that didn?t mean opening a restaurant.

?I decided that restaurants were great when I was younger,? he said. ?But I began wanting a more secure financial future, plus more control and flexibility over my schedule.?

That?s something we hear over and over again from our new franchisees, and we?re happy to tell them they?ve come to the right place. Chem-Dry is an ideal franchise for a beginning entrepreneur because of its low investment ? as little as $9,995 down and $30,345 overall ? simplicity and superb support from our experienced team of franchise professionals. It?s a highly scalable business, too. We have numerous franchisees who started with one van and graduated to several territories as their businesses grew.

St. John Chem-Dry, as John has named his business, opened last month and serves the greater Charleston area, including Mount Pleasant, North Charleston, James Island and Summerville. His opening is part of our aggressive expansion east of the Mississippi; we recently opened a regional headquarters in Nashville, Tenn., to help build out our franchise base, which is stronger out West.

John is originally from Westchester County, N.Y., but grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where he began working in restaurants while still in high school. Over the next two decades, he worked his way up to management, serving as a managing partner at The Capital Grille in Atlanta and general manager of High Cotton, a fine-dining restaurant in downtown Charleston.

When he realized he was ready to leave restaurants, St. John began exploring service and hospitality franchises he could run from his home in Mount Pleasant, just across the Cooper River from Charleston. ?That’s where my strengths lie because I?m used to dealing with the public, and that gave me a comfort level in doing that with Chem-Dry,? John says.

John St. John

?I spoke to some of the other franchisees. The consensus was very good, and financially it’s solid. Investment-wise, it’s a good move. The introductory fees are very reasonable, and there?s opportunity to grow,? he says. ?What it came down to for me was, if you want to stay at just one van, you can do that, or if you decide you want to have several vans operating across multiple territories, you can do that, too. You can be as big or as small as you want to be because of the options involved, and I love having that freedom and flexibility.?

We?re happy to welcome John to the Chem-Dry team of franchisees, not just because he?s helping us grow in a target area but because he?s a seasoned (no pun intended) professional with the kind of managerial and customer service skills that are great tools for any Chem-Dry franchise owner.

If his story rings true for you ? if you?re ready to make a big shift from a career that?s just not working for you anymore ? we?d love to talk with you about you can build a thriving, low-investment small business through Chem-Dry. Download our free franchise information report from this website to learn all about our systems, products and value proposition, then let?s start talking!