The Root Keeps Growing

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screen-shot-2016-10-01-at-9-18-25-amhttps://tonywalkerpost.com/root-philosophy/

Originally Posted: January 1, 2017
Last Updated:  January 17, 2026

From the very beginning in 1978, it has been my goal to provide the vision, resources, and confidence necessary for the development of the Advantage Co as a business experience for those willing to take the full measure of the challenge.  This approach has energized our Root Philosophy for over 40 years, and it has been our good fortune to build a number of world-class businesses.

Note:  The Advantage Co is not an operating entity; it is simply an informal name that has evolved over 40 years to reference the eclectic mix of independently owned and operated businesses and partnerships that I am involved with in some manner.  Likewise, there is no Tony Walker.  It is also a legacy name that has evolved over the years as my nom de plume, starting with my authorship of The Third Factor [The Advantage Co Handbook].

Here is a short list of the independently owned and operated businesses we have started or helped to start over the years. [157 and counting].  The businesses in italics are partnerships. The businesses in bold are currently operational.  Each one has been visited by success and failure.  Some businesses never really got off the ground, while others have been thriving for decades.  One of these nights, I’ll start filling in the stories.   The really good news is that over 40 of the businesses we have helped to launch are thriving enterprises.

All told, we estimate there have been over 8,000 participants in the building of these opportunities.  If you have a backstory for any of them, why not share it with us?  I’ll take the good with the bad [they all have their share].  It is never meant to be easy, but it is always meant to be rewarding.

A man who says he never had a chance is a man who never took one.  Be big, be a builder.

Advantage Co Businesses

  1. Advantage Brands Group
  2. Advantage Catalog
  3. Advantage Computer Co.
  4. Advantage Global Resources
  5. Advantage Home Theater
  6. Advantage Outlet
  7. Advantage Properties
  8. Advantage TI
  9. Advantage Trade Group
  10. Advacovery
  11. Ana Blu Mediterranean Pizzeria
  12. Aussie T Co
  13. Bogavia
  14. Brinkley Builders
  15. Chuggs
  16. Computer Head Start
  17. Giancarlo’s Sicilian Steakhouse
  18. Grivani Gift Giving Registry
  19. Grivani
  20. Grivani Wine Cellar
  21. Grivani Wine 
  22. House of Cotton
  23. Forrestel Clothing Co
  24. iFul
  25. iSport
  26. iWorldFundraising.org
  27. iWorld Shopping Center
  28. King Finley
  29. Lab to Beauty
  30. Leave It To Alison**
  31. Lifetime Service Trust
  32. Love Pink & Green
  33. Luxuri Link
  34. Merwin & Payne
  35. Modern Luxuri
  36. MyWarehouse.org
  37. Nantucket Clothing
  38. Naples Properties
  39. PALM Investments
  40. Piece Apparel
  41. Pioneer Home Theater
  42. Porta Via Cafe
  43. Pure + Fresh
  44. Scotch Boots of Holland
  45. Smart Car Store
  46. Smart House Cafe**
  47. Smart Squad Design
  48. Smart Squad Install*
  49. SmartLinks
  50. Sneaker Advantage
  51. SONY Home Theater
  52. Stereo Advantage
  53. Stereo Advantage [Olean]
  54. JVC Home Theater
  55. Taplin Marketing
  56. Tiny Walker
  57. Touche’
  58. TW Outlet [Niagara Falls]**
  59. TW&Co
  60. Walker Center
  61. Walker Kids Trust
  62. Walker Global Funding

Advantage Co Partnerships

  1. Advantage Business Exchange
  2. Advantage Legal & Fiduciary
  3. Advantage Marketing & Incentives
  4. Advantage Systems Professionals [now iWorld Professionals]
  5. Advantage Woodshop*
  6. American Wireless
  7. AP Charlotte
  8. AP Cincinnati
  9. AP Cleveland
  10. AP Denver
  11. APHQ 
  12. AP Metro**
  13. AP Professionals Phoenix
  14. AP Rochester [sold to Matt Taylor]*
  15. AP Solutions
  16. AP Syracuse
  17. AP Tampa
  18. AP Washington DC
  19. AP Executive Staffing
  20. Arcivium for Azure
  21. At Your Service
  22. Aussie Outfitters
  23. Autonomic Resources [sold to CSC]*
  24. Bellus Development
  25. BizHop [support only]
  26. Black Progress Matters
  27. Black Progress Executive Resources
  28. BPX Executive Staffing
  29. BPM Minority-Owned Business Incubator
  30. Butler Chemical
  31. Cascade Point**
  32. c1 Advantage
  33. c1 Secure
  34. Carolina Clothing Co
  35. Capax Alpha 
  36. Capax Discovery LLC
  37. Capax Global [sold to Hitachi Data Systems]*
  38. Capax India
  39. Capax Resource Management*
  40. CARES Act ADVISORY
  41. Chiampou Travis Besaw & Kershner*
  42. Christeus
  43. Cleary & Sullivan
  44. Cleary Travel
  45. Cocoa by CeCe
  46. Consilium1 
  47. Cross Pointe**
  48. Delta Road Properties
  49. Duke Fund**
  50. Free Trade Consultants
  51. Gauntlet Design
  52. Greenview Landscaping*
  53. Hudson Walker
  54. Images & Graphics
  55. Inspired Global Resources*
  56. iWorld Professionals
  57. JALMAR Graphics
  58. JNorman & Co
  59. KATINI Skin
  60. King Finley
  61. LeCleanse Officiel
  62. LD World Resources
  63. Lifetime EndPoint Resources
  64. M&L Devine Resources
  65. Manzella Productions [support only]
  66. My Personal Advisor
  67. Mode*
  68. One Global Culture
  69. Outback Paging [AdTel Worldwide]
  70. Phroket
  71. Pizza Shoppe
  72. PremCloud Resources
  73. Ragusa Executive Solutions
  74. Real Properties Services
  75. Sceven
  76. SmartLink [Bailey & Kensington]
  77. SmartLink [Main Place Mall]
  78. Sozae
  79. Stereo Advantage [Phoenix]
  80. Stereo Shops [3 Rochester stores]**
  81. Strategic Finance
  82. Taplin Design
  83. Tony Walker Golf Club [4 locations nationally]
  84. Total Health & Fitness
  85. Trend Depot
  86. TW Charter Stores [92 Aussie Outfitter stores nationally]
  87. UnBiasIt
  88. UnCarbonIt
  89. Walker Sports Audit
  90. Watch Commander Data Resources
  91. Wellingtin Resources
  92. White & Co
  93. Wynnovation Labs
  94. Zantaz Data Resources
  95. ZNZ Resources
  96. Zovy Cloud

Coming Sooner or Later or Never

  1. Advantage PEO
  2. Aussie T Co [Retro]
  3. 2 Girls 1 Deal
  4. 2×4 Office Anywhere
  5. Bambini Beauty
  6. Balance Bra
  7. Beach to Beauty
  8. Bedtime Monster Spray
  9. Christian Coop
  10. Church of the Good
  11. Clean Your Closets For Kids
  12. College Rep Program
  13. CopDrop
  14. The Fantasy League
  15. FedDrop
  16. FedSecure Data Centers
  17. FedCloud Vault
  18. FedCLOUD Resources
  19. Forrestel Clothing Co [Retro]
  20. Giancarlo’s Boutique Hotel
  21. GoToCloud Express
  22. Greenskeeper Coop
  23. Grivani Golf
  24. International Transfer Pricing
  25. iWolrd Accounting
  26. Life Source Insurance
  27. OffShore Data Secure
  28. Scrubs
  29. Walker University

* No longer involved in this partnership.
**Ended successfully.

There are three worlds: the one we are given, the one we are stuck with, and the one we bend to our will.

Theodore Roosevelt’s famous Man in the Arena speech.  ‘It is not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done them better.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause and who, if he fails, at least fails while bearing greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.’

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