Making the Grade

FRANCHISING CAN HELP ENTREPRENEURS MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN PEOPLE'S LIVES.

Ken Gibson is a successful entrepreneur, but his success can best be measured by the lives he's changed rather than the dollars he's made. Gibson is founder of LearningRx, a franchise that provides one-on-one training to improve children's cognitive and mental skills. By working with third-through 12th-grades to develop attention, memory, reasoning, logic, and visual and auditory processing, he is offering an effective solution at a time when children's
educational services are more in demand than ever.

"We train the brain to unlock potential in individuals," explains Gibson. The company expects 2005 revenue to reach $4.5 million and will soon have programs available for preschoolers and even senior citizens.

Initially, Gibson thought he could make the largest impact by licensing his 12-to 24-week training programs to the more than 500 health professionals who helped develop and refine them. However, he soon understood it would take much more to get others actively involved. In August 2002, with the help and support of his family, Gibson opened a LearningRx location in Colorado Springs, Colorado, which pulled in more than $250,000 in its first four months. "We realized that showing [people] we could do it wasn't good enough," says Gibson. "We actually had to teach them to market, organize and hire people, and that meant we had to go to franchising."

LearningRx franchises became available in 2003. Interest spread quickly, and 27 were opened in the first year. Gibson plans on increasing the number of locations to 75 by early 2006. And at the age of 60, his life's work is paying off. "The greatest joy comes from the stories [franchisees] tell me of lives that are changed," says Gibson. "They're phenomenal, and I just cry sometimes as they share these stories."

Entrepreneur Magazine September 2005

Experts at LearningRx Teach How To Learn. Their Help Changes Lives.

By Anita Miller
Retailer Staff Reporter

There's energy in the room. It's alive in people's eyes, in the cadence of their speech. They lean forward to listen to each other, their heads nodding approval, their hands furiously taking notes. These people are passionate about what they are doing. They are the trainers, directors and franchisees of LearningRx, a Colorado Springs-headquartered business that is revolutionizing how people learn. Attending a convention at the Wyndham Hotel last month, the group focused on continually improving their methods.

"When we get these people together," says LearningRx founder and president, Dr. Ken Gibson, "it reignites our passion to get the type of help we provide to more and more people."

LearningRx goes after the cause of learning problems

The type of help LearningRx provides is a training system to enhance cognitive learning skills that apply the most recent scientific research on learning. It is cognitive skills that allow students to process sensory information. Processing includes the ability to attend to, discriminate, analyze, evaluate and compare information; to recall past experiences; and to determine a plan of action. Students develop these skills by their interaction with their environment and other people. If cognitive skills aren't developed properly, learning deficiencies can occur.

LearningRx utilizes an assessment battery which identifies and reports skill strengths and weaknesses in several cognitive areas. Once a student's deficiencies are pinpointed, LearningRx trainers develop a customized deficient cognitive skills, LearningRx goes after the cause of the problem, unlike tutoring programs that futilely fight the symptoms.

LearningRx provides consistent, lifelong results

"I've seen so many fantastic results through LearningRx," says Kristen Smith an assistant director and convention attendee from Twinsburg, Ohio. "We are equipping children with the tools they need to be lifelong learners and it is changing their lives." Kristen describes the experience of her high school-aged cousin who benefited from LearningRx. "He was doing poorly in school - academically and socially. After getting help from a LearningRx trainer, his grades improved and so did his self-confidence, which in turn improved his social involvement."

At the convention's round table discussions, it is clear that trainers, directors and franchisees are all seeking to achieve similar results in as many students as they can reach. Tanya Mitchell, National Trainer and daughter of Dr. Gibson, sums it up. "We are consistently changing how people learn, and that's changing their lives."

This growing, national company is represented by a local center in Colorado Springs as well. This is your point of contact to get the learning and reading help you are interested in. To find out more about how LearningRx can change the life of someone you know, call 800-535-5441.

Retailer September 2005