29-Year-Old Private Equity Professional Transitions to Franchise Ownership With ServiceMaster Restore

After beginning his career in investment banking and private equity, Sachin Bettadapur reached a turning point. Rather than spending his career evaluating businesses, he wanted to build one himself. Ready to move from investing in businesses to actually running one, Bettadapur first looked at acquiring independent commercial service companies. He was skeptical that a franchise would give him the flexibility he wanted. But as he learned more about the restoration industry, he saw that the right system could offer national resources while still leaving room to operate and grow the business his way. In December 2025, he acquired existing ServiceMaster Restore locations in Fletcher, North Carolina, and Spartanburg, South Carolina, with plans to expand throughout the Southeast.

Bettadapur sat down with 1851 Franchise to discuss why he traded private equity for entrepreneurship, how franchising changed his perspective and why operational freedom mattered when choosing a brand. Here's what he had to say:

1851 Franchise: Frame your personal story for us. What do you want us to know?

Sachin Bettadapur: I am originally from California and went to UNC Chapel Hill for college. I started my career in finance, working in investment banking and private equity. I ultimately decided that while it was a good learning experience, I wanted to get some real operating experience and, most importantly, be an entrepreneur, which was an itch I think I'd had for a long time. I started looking at businesses to acquire in the residential, commercial and industrial services space and sort of stumbled into restoration.

1851: What did you do before franchising, and how did you decide franchising made sense for you?

Bettadapur: Right before this, I was working at a private equity firm on the investment team. I was investing in businesses across different industries, working on acquisitions as well as overseeing portfolio companies. I was actually mostly not looking at franchises originally; I was looking at independent operating businesses once I went out on my own. But based on the opportunity at hand, and specifically ServiceMaster's size and scale, I realized restoration has a unique dynamic in franchising. In order to pay a franchise royalty, it actually has to make financial and operational sense, and restoration has a dynamic where it does. For what I was looking to accomplish, which was building a real, scaled regional platform, it felt like ServiceMaster was the right place to do that.

1851: What was your perception of franchising prior to becoming a franchisee, and what do you want people to know about franchising now that you are in it?

Bettadapur: My perception of franchising was that it was mostly food chains. That’s what most people know, and I hadn't really dug too much into franchising within the service sector. In certain home services, I see people enter franchises where it doesn't actually make sense for that industry. But in the right system with the right brand that has been around for a long time, provides support to its franchisees, and has a true reason for existing and growing like ServiceMaster does, it's great for a first-time operator. You come into the system of a nationally recognized brand with lead generation already in place. Support from both the corporate team and the network of other franchisees is a huge bonus for me.

1851: What made you pick this brand? What excites you most about this company?

Bettadapur: I evaluated a couple of the major home restoration brands. One of them was huge and already very well-trafficked, but it didn't exactly have the type of ownership dynamics or reputation that I liked. The other brand I was looking at was very restrictive in what they allowed their franchisees to do, somewhat in the operation of a business, but also in the acquisition of businesses and how they would allow you to expand. I wanted to be in a system that was big enough and well-recognized enough that it would give me the freedom to keep expanding and growing, but also had a good growth path ahead of it and a good reputation. ServiceMaster struck both of those for me.

1851: What do you hope to achieve with your business? What are your plans for growth?

Bettadapur: Growth is very much going to be a part of the strategy. We're looking to build a regional platform with real scale in the Southeast generally, focused on the Carolinas, but ideally throughout the Southeast eventually.

1851: What advice do you have for other people thinking about becoming franchise owners?

Bettadapur: Do your due diligence on the brand and talk to as many franchisees as you can up front, because they'll tell you the real stories. Then also, once you get in the network, talk to as many people as you can because they're going to be a great resource for you and hopefully a relationship that you have for a long time.

About ServiceMaster Restore®: 

With approximately 2,000 franchised and licensed locations around the world, ServiceMaster Restore and ServiceMaster Recovery Management (SRM) serve customers through a global network of franchises available 24/7/365 to provide residential and commercial restoration services resulting from damage caused by water, fire, smoke or mold. SRM is the large-scale commercial catastrophic disaster restoration unit of ServiceMaster Restore. ServiceMaster Restore is a business unit of Atlanta-based ServiceMaster® Brands, a leading franchise provider of needs-based residential and commercial services. More information can be found at servicemasterrestore.com and srmcat.com.

About ServiceMaster® Brands: 

ServiceMaster® Brands is a leading franchisor of residential and commercial services in the restoration, cleaning, moving, junk removal, and bioremediation industries. Founded in 1929, the company is home to over 3,200 franchisees across 4,600+ locations serving over 1 million homes and businesses each year. ServiceMaster was founded with a deep commitment to its franchisees and has franchise opportunities available in ServiceMaster Restore®, ServiceMaster Clean®, Merry Maids®, TWO MEN AND A TRUCK*®, and TWO MEN AND A JUNK TRUCK®. Visit servicemaster.com/franchising to learn more.