Mad Science franchisee Devan Rogers fosters a love of learning for kids in the Maritimes
By Suzanne Bowness
Ask Devan Rogers about his Mad Science franchise and he readily chats away about customer acquisition, team building, and expansion plans. But ask him to describe his favourite science experiments and his voice goes into overdrive, revealing his love for science, performing, and wowing young people. He’s the perfect fit for Mad Science, a franchise system providing after-school programs, workshops, events, camps, and birthday parties that introduce the wonders of science to kids from preschool through grade six.
Rogers, who sometimes goes by his alias Dr. Rocket, describes how the team builds a lesson around dry ice, first grounding the topic in science with a discussion of sublimation (if it’s been a few years since your last science class, that’s when a solid turns directly into a gas). He breaks a big block of dry ice into chunks and adds water to make an intense fog. Then, he uses the pressure of CO2 produced by the sublimation of the dry ice to send a stopper flying to the ceiling. And that’s just one example. Just ask Rogers how kids react to ever-popular experiments like hydrogen balloon explosions and elephant toothpaste.
Dr. Rocket takes off
Rogers got his start as an employee with Mad Science of the Maritimes four years ago, when he was coordinating and delivering programs as an employee before taking over as owner. Now, he’s led the Halifax, Nova Scotia; Moncton, New Brunswick; and Prince Edward Island territories for a year.
Given his long tenure with the franchise, he didn’t need to spend as much time getting accustomed to the daily activities of the business or even his new ownership duties when he became a franchisee. In addition to the franchisor’s on-the-job training, he arranged a longer handover with the previous owner so he could slowly take over running the business. (The previous owner was even on Rogers’ payroll for a while to help with bookkeeping and other administrative duties.)
Despite having learned most of his operational skills via his predecessor (the franchise has been in the area for 20 years), Rogers says the franchisor offers great training and support, including proprietary registration, scheduling systems, and landing pages on the company website, while head office is on call to answer any questions.
Perfecting operations
Despite his years of expertise, Rogers says there were still challenges in his first year as official franchise owner. To begin with, there are a lot of moving parts, such as scheduling school events (like one-off assemblies and six-week lunch or after-school programs), birthday parties (the franchise performed at eight the previous weekend), as well as summer camps and festivals. Rogers has three full-time coordinators in the Halifax office, alongside a handful of part-time staff who run programs. In Moncton, there’s a full-time manager and staff member, and three part-time staffers delivering programs.
In fact, hiring is one of the most challenging elements of the business, especially because it can be difficult to find experienced part-time staff who are enthusiastic about teaching science to kids, while also being available for hour-long lunch sessions or after-school programs. The positions often suit students, retired science teachers, and stay-at-home parents who have that flexibility. To handle this challenge, Rogers posts regularly on job boards, finds opportunities to speak with his target employees, and is planning a pay boost to make the roles more enticing.
Yet another challenge for an events-based business, of course, was the pandemic. Thankfully, the business is nearly back to pre-pandemic enrolment levels, and parents are eager to find new opportunities to make up for learning their kids may have missed, which means the lines are long for Mad Science programming.
While Rogers knows enough about the children’s entertainment business to venture out on his own, he says that franchising is the way to go. Rogers says he values that Mad Science is a global brand, and has the systems to match. “The benefit is that the framework is built, all the branding is available, you can pull any images or logos developed by the marketing team in Montreal, [and] there’s an R&D team to provide lesson plans,” he says.
The research and design team not only develops lesson plans, but also tests them with groups of children. That way, new franchisees can simply pick up and perform the programs that are most likely to be successful. The franchise also offers branded products, such as lab wear and educational items that build on the learning experience that students can bring home after class.
The franchise expansion hypothesis
For Rogers, owning a franchise offers just the right mix of independence and support. “I have wanted to be my own boss for years and have tried a few things but never found anything that’s a good enough idea. Buying into an established business means that I can lean on the 38 years that the franchise has been around,” he says.
While he says he sometimes feels the weight of being fully responsible for his team members’ livelihoods, he’s rewarded by the satisfaction of helping kids enjoy science. “When things are going well, I see kids’ eyes light up, or see an employee that gets it,” says Rogers, articulating the moments he lives for. He adds that he’s even had people apply for jobs who attended Mad Science programs as kids.
Rogers has big plans for his business. He’d like to double the size of his operation in both Moncton and Halifax, and is interested in exploring ways to provide programming in other areas of Nova Scotia, including the Annapolis Valley (where he grew up), Windsor, Truro, Cape Breton, and even Newfoundland, while also leaving time to spend with his own two kids.
In terms of advice for potential Mad Science franchisees, Rogers says that an obvious question is whether you like working with children and if you see value in providing education while making a living. He says once you get into the franchise, reaching out to other business owners and asking questions makes it easier to thrive. “It can be easy to feel like you’re doing it alone, so ask for help and talk to people and use the franchisor and resources,” he says.
