Klarion

Klarion was established by Tsungai Mukushi, the principal of the Minerva Law Group. Tsungai approached Combined Arms Consulting via Peter Singer with the intention of creating a series of learning modules targeting individuals who were contemplating going into a franchise. The motivation for the model was that it was observed that within the Minerva Law Group’s practice, many clients who were approaching the firm sought some sort of legal redress as a result of conflicts that had been experienced within their particular franchise experience. Tsungai sought to circumvent that by creating a series of workshops that would prepare these potential franchisees with the management and intellectual tools that could address any conflicts before they could manifest. Combined Arms' challenge was creating a business model from scratch, developing the IP, creating the pedagogy, and establishing the marketing message that needed to be communicated to a yet-to-be-established market profile

Based upon a sound academic and experiential model, Combined Arms Consultancy created a series of workshops that embraced two days of intensive content-rich sessions. These sessions were encapsulated in a workshop booklet and embraced the following disciplines:

1. Self – understanding one’s own profile and motivational drivers that are directing you into the world of franchising. Is it right for you?
2. Leadership & team building – exploring the nature of leadership and the role leadership plays in creating a business and the supporting team around that business.
3. Ethics and culture – how does one create a “righteous” organization culture in a world where, in many instances, the quick gain is emphasized.
4. Strategy creation and planning – exploring the essence of strategy and how a clear and defined strategy is the linchpin for an effective plan.
5. Design thinking – the question of how you create an environment that facilitates innovation will be explored. In line with this conversation will be the understanding of alignment with the client’s needs to what we offer.
6. Marketing and communication – Marketing is more than a shiny logo, it embraces the “shorthand” message of the franchise, both in terms of “what is said” & “how it is said”. We will look at the marketing mix and how a franchisee can connect effectively to their client base.
7. Innovation and the Learning Organization –based on Peter Senge’s work, we will explore the acceptance of error and how that awareness fosters creativity.
8. The final session will be an overall discussion of the workshop content to gain an awareness of how all elements fit into the franchise equation. We will also gain insight into the content via an interactive case study

A second homework booklet was also created to be completed and submitted to Tsungai a fortnight after the workshop’s completion to ensure that the knowledge transfer had taken place and, where needed, follow-up activities could take place.

In addition to the intellectual content and associated pedagogy created by Combined Arms Consultancy developed, in concert with Tsungai, the key marketing message, supporting paraphernalia, and associated support structures. Combined Arms Consultancy was also involved in the planning and execution of Klarion’s involvement with the franchise expo, manning a stall at the function and speaking at the event.

Tsungai was extremely happy with the outcome of the assignment as it met and exceeded his expectations. Of real interest was expanding the outcomes to embrace the franchisors, offering them training modules for their potential franchisees. The challenge at the moment is that Tsungai has had to refocus his energies on his legal practice, and the Klarion expansion will be revisited in the future.