It’s not the most common career path for a college grad, so when Dan Lundstedt told friends and family that he planned to clean grout after graduation, he got a few strange looks. But the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign business student was intent on launching a Sir Grout tile-cleaning franchise. So in March 2008, a few months after commencement, he moved to the north side of Chicago and began scrubbing and sealing tile lines. A little more than three years later, he has two vans, four technicians, a sales staff of two and a lot of happy customers.
Lundstedt’s fascination with grout didn’t come out of the blue. The summer after his sophomore year, he went home to Connecticut, where his dad hooked him up with Tom Lindberg, a friend who needed a laborer for his new grout-cleaning business. Lundstedt liked the work and kept in touch with Lindberg and his partner, Jeff Gill, as the two franchised their business. As the end of school neared, getting into the grout game seemed like a good option.