How Remus Baesu escaped across borders, built a construction empire, and created a five- franchise family business spanning Arizona to Hawaii
1989: The Great Escape
Just months before the Romanian Revolution would topple Nicolae Ceaușescu’s communist regime, Remus Baesu made a decision that would change his life forever. Born and raised in Arad, a city in western Romania, Remus couldn’t wait for political change. “I actually decided and crossed the border during that time,” he recalls of his escape through Yugoslavia.
What followed was a year-long odyssey through Germany, where he applied for and waited for his U.S. Visa, while working as a stone mason, an experience that would prove prophetic for his future career.
1991: Landing in America
Baesu arrived in California with little more than determination and a work ethic forged in communist Romania. Like many immigrants, he initially pursued the traditional path of higher education, but college “didn’t work for me,” he admits. Instead, he chose the route that felt more natural: entrepreneurship.
1995: The First Business
By 1995, Baesu had started his first delivery business, establishing a pattern that would define his American experience. “I worked for myself most of the time,” he explains. This wasn’t just preference—it was a survival instinct, honed by someone who had fled for freedom and navigated the complex process of legal immigration to America.
2000: Building an Empire
When Baesu moved to Phoenix, Arizona, he entered the tile installation business with characteristic ambition. Within two years, he had built what could only be described as a construction empire: a custom tile installation company with 40 employees handling everything from residential floors and showers to major commercial projects. “I had like 40 guys under me,” he remembers. “I didn’t have a superintendent so I kind of was running the show and trying to also fix all the jobs at the same time.” This hands-on approach to management meant Baesu was constantly troubleshooting installation problems, personally handling quality control, and learning every aspect of the tile business— including the frustrating reality of grout failures and stone damage.
2002: The Accidental Franchisee
It was this problem-solving experience that led to Baesu’s introduction to grout restoration. “That’s how I got introduced to grout fixing and the stone polishing by just fixing my own jobs,” he explains. Then fate intervened in the form of a newspaper advertisement. A large Grout Doctor franchisee was splitting up his territory into smaller pieces and selling them off.
Baesu saw the ad and recognized an opportunity—even though he “didn’t even know what a franchise was” at the time. The business model made immediate sense to someone who had been paying others to fix grout problems.
Baesu purchased one territory and started from scratch with no existing customer base. The Grout Doctor provided invaluable training on their grouting products and how to position their services to prospects—knowledge that proved crucial for someone transitioning from tile installation to restoration services.
What happened next defied all conventional wisdom about launching a franchise. Within just one month of opening, he became the number one franchisee in the entire Grout Doctor system for sales.
Though Baesu’s construction background was an asset, it demonstrates that success in this franchise doesn’t depend on prior tile experience. The Grout Doctor’s comprehensive training program equips franchisees with all necessary skills in tile and stone refurbishment, making this opportunity accessible to motivated individuals from any background.
2008-Present: Crisis and Expansion
The 2008 housing crisis, which devastated the construction industry, likely accelerated Baesu’s transition from new installation to restoration work. While tile installers watched new construction dry up, the restoration business offered a different value proposition: helping homeowners and businesses maintain what they already had rather than build new.
But Baesu didn’t just survive the crisis—he thrived and expanded. His success with the initial territory led to the acquisition of additional Grout Doctor franchises throughout Arizona, building a regional restoration empire.
The Hawaiian Chapter
What started as a single territory purchase has grown into a five-location Grout Doctor empire. Baesu now operates four Grout Doctor franchises in Arizona and one in Hawaii—an expansion that began with a simple vacation. “We vacationed in Hawaii and fell in love with the place,” Baesu explains. The decision to open a Grout Doctor franchise in paradise wasn’t just about lifestyle—it was a strategic business move that allowed him to manage his Arizona operations remotely while establishing a beachhead in an entirely new market.
Today, Remus and his wife, Diana, operate The Grout Doctor of Honolulu while overseeing their Arizona empire with the help of family members. “It’s a family-run business—you can trust family,” Baesu says, explaining how he’s been able to maintain quality and standards across multiple locations and thousands of miles. The Hawaiian operation offers everything from basic grout cleaning and sealing to complex natural stone restoration and the application of EnduroShield protective coatings, bringing the same expertise that made him the system’s top performer in Hawaii’s unique market of oceanfront condos, luxury resorts, and tropical homes.
Full Circle
The transition from managing 40 employees in Arizona’s construction boom to operating five Grout Doctor franchises across Arizona and Hawaii represents more than just business evolution. It’s the culmination of a journey that began with a desperate border crossing over three decades ago. His multi-state operation demonstrates how a single newspaper ad discovery has evolved into a family business empire built on trust, expertise, and a willingness to pursue opportunities wherever they lead—even to a tropical island 3,000 miles away.
“America is absolutely the land of opportunity—way more than any other country in the world.” Remus Baesu
Lessons in Resilience
Baesu’s story illustrates several key entrepreneurial principles that resonate beyond the tile and grout industry:
Necessity breeds innovation: His expertise in grout restoration came from having to fix his own installation problems, turning a frustration into a business opportunity.
Execution trumps planning: Starting from zero customers and becoming the top franchisee system-wide within 30 days demonstrates the power of aggressive action over cautious strategizing.
Adaptation over attachment: When the housing market crashed, he didn’t cling to his large installation company but pivoted to a model better suited to the new economic reality.
Family as foundation: Building a business that spans multiple states requires people you can trust completely—family members who share your vision and commitment to quality.
Geography is no barrier: Successfully managing franchises in Arizona remotely while establishing new markets in Hawaii shows that modern business knows no boundaries.
Learning never stops: From a stone mason in Germany to a tile empire builder in Arizona to record- breaking franchise owner spanning two states, Baesu has continuously evolved his skills and business focus.
“America is very open and Americans are welcoming as long as you work hard and contribute.” Remus Baesu
Advice for Fellow Immigrants
Having built a multi-state business empire from nothing, Baesu offers three pieces of advice for other immigrants looking to start businesses in America:
- First, “America is a huge country and a huge market—way bigger than anywhere else.” The scale of opportunity available in the U.S. market is unmatched globally, providing room for businesses to grow far beyond what might be possible in smaller markets.
- Second, “America is very open and Americans are welcoming as long as you work hard and contribute. If you do, then you have an opportunity to build something big and worthwhile.” His experience shows that merit and effort are recognized and rewarded in American business culture.
- Third, “America is absolutely the land of opportunity—way more than any other country in the world.” He contrasts this with Europe, where he says family members face significant barriers. “I have family in Germany who don’t have the opportunity to build a big business that I have in the U.S. Europe still has too much red tape, regulations, and in certain countries corruption, so that to do anything you have to be in the inner circle and know the right people.”
The Partnership Behind the Success
While Remus’s entrepreneurial drive built the foundation, he’s quick to credit his wife, Diana, as instrumental to their success. “I couldn’t have done it without her,” he says, emphasizing her role as both partner and collaborator in building their business empire. Diana, who emigrated from the same Romanian town when she was seven, brings her own understanding of the immigrant experience to their partnership. The couple met through their local Romanian
church at a community event on Labor Day weekend—a meeting that would prove as transformative for their business as it was for their personal lives.
Today, Diana works alongside Remus in managing their five-location operation, proving that behind every great immigrant success story is often a partnership built on shared values, complementary skills, and mutual trust.
The American Dream, Multiplied
From the determined teenager who fled communist Romania to the successful multi-franchise owner restoring homes across the Southwest and Pacific, Remus and Diana Baesu embody a particular version of the American Dream—one built not on overnight success, but on decades of adaptation, hard work, partnership, and the willingness to reinvent oneself when circumstances demand it.
“We have the cure for that!” reads the tagline on their company website, referring to damaged tile and grout. But in many ways, it could describe the Baesu approach to life: identifying problems, developing solutions, and building businesses around making things better than they were before —whether that’s in a Phoenix suburb or a Honolulu high-rise.
In an era when franchise ownership is often portrayed as a safe, predictable path to business ownership, the Baesu journey reminds us that behind every successful franchise system is a human story of risk, adaptation, and the relentless pursuit of opportunity. Their evolution from a single territory purchase to a five-location family empire proves that with the right combination of skill, timing, partnership, and trust in family, even someone who “didn’t even know what a franchise was” can build something remarkable.
The young man who crossed borders in 1989 and came to America now operates businesses across state lines, employing family members and serving customers from the Arizona desert to the Hawaiian Islands.
Alongside Diana, who made her own journey from Romania as a child, they’ve built something that proves the American Dream isn’t just about individual success— sometimes it’s about building something big enough to share with the people you trust most, while never forgetting the gratitude owed to the country that made it all possible.
Remus Baesu operates five Grout Doctor locations—four in Arizona and one in Hawaii— providing comprehensive tile, grout, and natural stone restoration services.
If you are interested in an opportunity with the Grout Doctor Global Franchise Corporation & want to see if there is an available territory in an area where you live or where you are interested in, call Jenn at 877-579-9555
For more information on Grout Doctor Franchise Opportunities, go to www.groutdoctorfranchise.com
