A Conversation with John Blue of John Blue Realty

Sit Down With Success is a feature of the Huntsville Business Journal on entrepreneurs and their keys to success. To read the full story, please visit the Huntsville Business Journal website.

John Blue’s family moved around a good bit when he was a kid. A proud son of a United States Marine, John was born in San Antonio, Texas, but soon moved around the nation, moving to places like Hawaii and Washington D.C. Eventually, John’s family landed in Huntsville in 1964, where he would attend Huntsville High School and then go on to graduate from the University of Alabama.

John would begin his career in the Real Estate field with Huntsville’s GW Jones & Sons Real Estate, and then moved on to help start Chase Commercial Properties in the late 1980s, which included work on the $75 million development of the Ledges Country Club. Soon after, John decided to venture out for himself and opened John Blue Realty in 1992. Now thirty years later, the com- pany has become a staple for commercial real estate success in Huntsville, and has become a well-respected face of innovation and change in the city.

The Huntsville Business Journal sat down with John to discuss the legacy of his business, give advice for current and future entrepreneurs, and to take a look at the future of his family-owned and operated business. Did you encounter any significant obstacles starting out?

Definitely dealing with the banks, and let me tell you why. In financing, and in trying to second guess where interest rates are going to go: in the last four or five years, the banks have been really constant with interest rates within the 3%-4% range, but now they are in the 6%-8% range.

This all relates to how you propose deals, propose rents to new clients, and build new buildings. Trying to estimate the costs of rental agreements, for example, is all predicated on your interest on your loans.

A 1% interest rate change could honestly make or break your business, and this idea was what I found most difficult, even back in ‘92. It’s still this way today.

What advice would you give to someone who is starting their own business?

You need to have some background in accounting. You need to have some understanding of the figures, because that is what it all boils down to basically. From starting your own business, picking the location, or securing loans and deals with banks, it’s really all about numbers.

You have got to realize and know how to analyze a spreadsheet in reference to your income and your expense statement.

What does it take to jump from working for someone to being an entrepreneur and calling your own shots?

Honestly, it takes some guts and some careful planning. It goes back to numbers. You need to be aware of your

By: Gus Wintzell /

savings and look at how much time you can spend working without getting a steady paycheck.

This is also where the first part comes into play. You need to have the guts to take that step, work without necessarily getting a good steady set of income, and hope you planned your numbers well. You also have to be able to adapt and be patient with unexpected occurrences, like when our economy slowed down back in 2020. w

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