Name: Kenneth Kahn

Franchisee Since: 1996

Territory: Central New Jersey

Before Mad Science: Accountant at Random House Publishing

Kenneth Kahn spent over 30 years in the publishing industry, enduring a two and-a-half hour commute to and from work, five days a week.

"I got tired of it," he says. "So my wife and I we went to a franchise consultant.

After filling out a lengthy summary of his experience, goals and finances, Kahn was presented with the Mad Science concept. With Kahn"s keen interest in education and children, his franchise consultant sensed a perfect fit. Kahn soon left for Montreal to visit Mad Science. A month later, Kenneth Kahn was a Mad Science franchisee.

"Mad Science develops terrific experiments to ensure the children"s excitement. They have also come out with some very good products," says Kahn. "The programs that have been developed are really good; because of that you know you have a good foundation and good products to bring into schools. What you are bringing to the schools is something unique, fun, hands-on and educational.

"We have seen a very good response to our marketing efforts and are having our best season ever right now," he says. "This business has a lot of different facets, and it is about what you choose to make of it. Whichever direction you take it in could work. We know a lot of other franchises, and you might get someone in Los Angeles who does birthday parties and has tremendous business; someone in San Diego might have an amazing after-school science program; someone in New Jersey might conduct a great deal of shows. Each facet of the business has potential for enormous growth. It is exciting—and also a lot of work. It"s a business.

"You have to look at the direction of the company and how they service the franchisees" it just keeps getting better and better. When I take a look at the whole picture, I"m glad I"m where I"m at, and that"s the bottom line. People ask me "Would you do it again knowing what know? I say, Yes.

Name: Russell Unthank

Franchisee Since: 2003

Territory: Columbia, South Carolina

Before Mad Science: Founder and manager of a car rental franchise

Russell Unthank has always been an entertainer at heart. After building a car rental franchise from 10 to over 175 cars, he knew he wanted to do something related to his love of children and entertaining.

"The bottom line is I wanted to do something to make a difference in children"s lives and impact my community," he says. "When I ran across Mad Science it was a perfect avenue for what I wanted to do in life.

"Mad Science fit like a glove because it gave me the opportunity to entertain children and educate them at the same time. Before I purchased my franchise, I called a lot of educators and administrators in my community to give them an idea of the concept, and I got a lot of positive feedback. Educators are desperate to find something unique to do with the science curriculum. They like the uniqueness of the programming, as well as the concept of providing kids with fun science at an early age so they will be inspired and interested when science gets complicated later in school.

Unthank says the feedback from kids and parents has been overwhelmingly positive, and he is pleased to report that he has surpassed his revenue goals.

"We exceeded our first year goals. I feel it is quite an accomplishment. I"m not totally surprised because I have such confidence in Mad Science and we have worked very hard to get where we are. It"s such an easy thing to sell that once I get into a conversation I"ve rarely been turned down, especially in public schools. Now, schools are calling me.

"New franchisees" have really benefited from the hard work of all the older franchisees. All we have to do is work the plan. We have all the resources and tools we need to be successful.

Name: Scott & Robyn Rosen

Franchisees Since: 2002

Territory: Las Vegas

Before Mad Science: Owner of a promotional products company; elementary school teacher

Scott and Robyn Rosen led a comfortable life in Chicago: Scott ran a large promotional products company and Robyn was an elementary school teacher. As the family started to grow, Scott"s business travel requirements and Chicago"s winters quickly became burdensome. Scott and Robyn started to look for a way to work together in a warmer climate.

"It was getting to a point where my travel schedule for work was a little too much," says Scott. "I wanted Robyn to be on the lookout for something that we could do together and have a lot of fun doing. We also wanted to be somewhere warmer."

"We wanted to get out of the cold and do something different," says Robyn. "We liked the idea of a franchise, so we wouldn"t have to reinvent the wheel." Robyn took over the research and soon landed on Mad Science. It seemed like a perfect fit for their respective skills. Scott was skeptical at first.

"My initial reaction was, "Birthday parties and after-school programs? How could we make a living from that?" But we both looked at it and talked to franchise owners and head office, and we quickly realized that Ron and Ariel [Shlien, founders of Mad Science] had really put together something special. It was a tremendous opportunity."

The Rosens bought a Mad Science franchise, packed up the family, and moved to Las Vegas. In their first year, they broke the corporate sales record for new franchisees. The next year, they did it again for a second-year franchisees. "Three months into our third year, we"re the eleventh top-grossing franchise," says Scott. "At year"s end, we will be in the top four. Our goal is to do somewhere between $750,000 and $1 million in sales this year.

The Rosens attribute their success to a combination of hard work and a grassroots marketing strategy that uses word-of-mouth referrals generated by strategic presentations to grow their business. They also cite the marketing materials and support provided by Mad Science"s head office.

"Before we started, we wrote out a business plan that mapped our growth for the coming years," says Robyn. "After six months in business, we surpassed all our second-year projections. We have a great staff, and great Mad Scientists going out and delivering our programs. The key is finding the right people to support and stand behind us.

"We truly believe in Mad Science and are proud of the company, it"s past and future. The company has continually reinvented itself and has taken positive steps to increase its market share, adding value for franchise owners and the consumers of its services.

Just three years into their Mad Science adventure, the Rosens believe their gamble has more than paid off. "I say same thing every morning," says Scott. "I start each day by saying it is a beautiful day in Las Vegas.

And I say, It is a great day at Mad Science,adds Robyn.

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