Advantage Builder’s Mission Statement:  To provide the vision, resources, direction, and leadership necessary to fulfill the potential of the Advantage Co.

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Posted by:  Tony
Date:  June 28, 2015
Subject:  New business opportunities in 2015 for the Advantage Co.

New Opportunities
Here is my updated list of the remarkable business opportunities that are available to all of us at the Advantage Co right now.  Every time I put together a list like this, I have trouble paring it down.  There are so many other opportunities that interest me, but these are the main opportunities that we would like to invest in this year [along with a few old favorites that are just looking for some love].

Of course, this list is on top of all our current operations that offer a myriad of opportunities that we continue to invest in, but that’s for another report.

Battery Attached
As we continue to make ambitious investments in new opportunities, the only thing missing is you.  You are the battery attached, and without that kind of energy, there will be no success.  Opportunity without someone to make it happen is nothing more than an idle wish.

If you are interested in any of the opportunities that I have profiled below, do not hesitate to jump in.  Be big, be a builder.

1.  Walker Sports Audit [WSA]
This is my #1 project for the second half of 2015.  I want to launch WSA by the end of the year, and we are currently putting together a team to bring this to fruition.  Dave Pfalzgraf is setting up the WSA entity as a Florida C Corporation, and we should be fully engaged in development by July 1st.

Walker Sports Audit will be independent audit service that autonomously evaluates our client’s entire portfolio of endorsements, contracts, investments, compliance, and tax reporting for a fixed or contingency fee.  WSA will also evaluate and rate all of our client’s financial relationships, especially with their agents, lawyers, accountants, coaches, doctors, trainers, advisors, family, and friends.  Additionally, WSA will provide our clients with an independent continuous monitoring service for all of their financial activity.

Our WSA services will be available on a fixed or contingency fee basis.

Most importantly, no WSA service provider will ever be able to be engaged by our clients beyond our WSA engagement.  We will not be looking to solicit clients beyond our stated services.  We will never attempt to replace our client’s accountants, agents, etc., we will simply be offering them a very valuable and necessary audit and evaluation with a degree of separation that ensures no compromising agenda or misplaced loyalties.

Although we will initially be addressing athletes and celebrities [who fill the news every day with horror stories of how they were ruined by embezzlement from their most trusted advisors], we feel our independent audit and continuous monitoring services will also prove valuable to clients who have considerable estates with little personal business acumen or experience.  Estates acquired through inheritance or divorce are particularly at risk from unscrupulous or indifferent fiduciary oversight.

There are three main components of our WSA services:

• WSA Adversarial Audit
• WSA Continuous Financial Monitoring
• WSA Rating Service

2.  The iWolrd Catalog Co
Our troika of offerings for local corporate clients is focused on Giancarlo’s Corporate Catering, Grivani Corporate Gift-Giving, and corporate advertising in our annual iWorld Catalog.  Our transcendent catalog has become the touchstone for all of Western New York’s elite businesses and professional services, and we have been adding services and benefits to add even more value [and enjoyment] to their participation.  We now provide the Advantage Experience throughout the entire year to all of our advertisers.

But the unparalleled iWorld catalog is now more than just a delightful and entertaining resource for our retail customers and advertisers – it has become the defining representation of all that we are [and offer] to everyone we come in contact with internationally.  It is the cynosure of the Advantage Co.  Our distinctive catalog celebrates all of the eclectic Advantage businesses and resources to our customers, clients, partners, suppliers, community, associates, friends, family, supporters, and employees worldwide – and it makes the Advantage Experience readily accessible to all of them.

Our 20+ years of catalog publication and success now finds us assiduously engaged in a year-round commitment to our advertisers.  Based on this activity and success, we are now incorporating The iWorld Catalog Co to be a fully independent business operation.  While our creative director, Jamie, will be spending August, September, and October fully engaged in the design, production, and publishing of our annual catalog – the rest of the staff headed by Kaitlin will work year round on the development of the catalog and the enhancement of our advertisers’ involvement and satisfaction.

Additionally, we will be providing our catalog experience and expertise to clients wishing to publish their own catalog.  From concept to design to production to publishing to generating advertising revenue – the staff at the iWorld Catalog Co will provide an exceptional full-service solution for our clients.

3.  iWorldFundraising.org
iWorldFundraising.org will provide a revolutionary online vehicle to raise money for organizations and events.  iWorldFundraising.org is a free web-enabled fundraising program designed to help facilitate organizations and individuals raise money and create awareness for their cause, all without the hassle of traditional fundraisers and their fees.  Unlike fundraising services like GoFundMe [who charge an 8% service fee], iWorldFundraising.org will charge no fees and take no commission on any transaction.  All of the functionality and support will be donated entirely by the Walker Kids Trust.

In addition to providing a free venue for direct online cash contributions, iWorldFundraising.org will also provide members access to our iWorldFundraising online store – where the entire revenue from donor purchases will go entirely to their fundraising effort.  Manufacturers and retailers will be encouraged to provide their goods and services through the iWorldFundraising online store at their wholesale cost and to donate the handling and delivery of the donor purchases.  Therefore, all of the profit from the online sale will go entirely and directly to the donor’s chosen recipient.

Supporting worthwhile causes is our top priority with this initiative.  We will be the complete ecommerce solution for an event, organization, or individual’s fundraising efforts.  The days of dangerously selling Girl Scout Cookies door to door are over.  There will no longer be a need to for anyone to handle cash contributions, especially children.  All transactions will be online and fully recognized.  We will provide all fundraisers with full access to our resources.  This is truly a unique fundraising opportunity.  All that’s necessary from the organization is to promote access to their fundraising venue, iWorldFundraising.org.

4.  Smart Resource Library
The Smart Resource Exchange [SREX] will provide a trusted one-stop venue for all of our commercial, institutional, and government clients by enabling direct access to premium resources to facilitate and enhance all of their various business activities.  All of our services, programs, and products will be fully vetted for our clients’ assurance that they are receiving the finest resources befitting their specific needs.

By identifying, certifying, and making available the key resources of our Advantage companies and affiliates in our Smart Resource Library, we will be able to develop a worldwide network of sales agents, as well as providing a more universally accessible resource for our current sales groups.  As the list of our affiliate resources grows in our Smart Resource Library, your opportunities will grow commensurately.

The SREX Resource Center’s Smart Card format will allow us to effectively communicate everything that we have available to sell and how to actually sell it.  The aim of the Smart Card is to make marketing and sales possible.  The Smart Card is a selling resource.  The Smart Card identifies what the selling agent needs to know.  The Smart Card is based on the value proposition for the entire sales channel.

We will build a full SREX Resource Library of the premium offerings that are profitably and effectively provided by the SREX Resource Center.  The Smart Card will detail the certification process, the value proposition, the contact process [subject matter experts], the marketing process, the agent authorization process, the sales process, the client engagement process, the fulfillment process, the payment process, and the commission process of every service and offering that the SREX Center provides.

All of the commissions on sales generated by SREX agents for the certified goods and services of our SREX affiliates will be distributed amongst the listing agent, the sales agent, and SREX.

5.  TW&Co and Smart Resource Exchange [SREX] Centers
We are utilizing our Charter Store program to launch new TW&Co stores nationally [based entirely on our brands and programs].  We will be looking to develop our first two locations in Rochester and Naples.  In both cases, we will be looking for around 4k sq’.  This will allow us to build out a TW boutique that is home to all of our Advantage Brands, along with a cafe’ and SREX HQ.

As for our Advantage Brands, we do not want to necessarily sell them to retailers other than Whole Foods at this time.  Our current strategy is to sell our brands through our new TW&Co stores and the development of key programs such as Fashion Resource Group, Grivani Corporate Gift Giving, iWorldFundraising.org, College Rep Program, and Gift Giving Registry.

As the depth of our product lineup grows, all of the opportunities above have increased potential, and I am excited to build out every one of them.  I believe the true value in our brands lies in the foundation of the programs and stores we can build with them [as well as being a great resource for our TW&Co Fashion Center in Williamsville].

6.  FedDROP
We have the foundation to deliver the most secure object storage solution in the FedCloud Ecosystem.  FedDROP’s primary offering will be a certified-secure cloud-based file storage, synchronization, and sharing product for federal, state, and local government employees.  FedDROP is similar to DropBox and Box, but we will have a more secure environment that can be utilized by all Federal agencies and critical infrastructure industries, especially the medical community.

FedDROP will be unique among cloud-based storage providers in that it will operate on the FedRAMP and DISA accredited ARC-P Federal Cloud Infrastructure, making it the standard for secure cloud engagement.  FedDROP will provide users with universal access to their files through a certified-secure web interface.  The FedDROP services meet federal, state, and local government security requirements, creating an addressable market of over 40 million potential users.

7.  Grivani Wine Cellar
The Grivani wine collection will be the main focus of our new premium wine shop located in the Walker Center nestled between TW&Co and Giancarlo’s Sicilian Steakhouse.  The Grivani Wine Cellar will provide cross-marketing and selling opportunities with Giancarlo’s Corporate Catering and Grivani Corporate Gift Giving.  Our target opening is September 1, 2016.

8.  Fashion Resource Group
The fashion industry has been dismissive of boutiques ever since the recession of 2008 wiped out most of them.  There is an opportunity for us to organize the premium boutiques into a powerful buying group.  What makes us so uniquely prepared to offer this type of association to premium boutiques is the wide variety of services and resources we can offer in addition to buying power.

Here are some of the services and resources we can offer premium boutiques:

• Negotiate a group discount for members with every vendor.
• Negotiate for the acquisition of lines for individual accounts as well as for the entire group.
• Negotiate the terms of every aspect of the vendor relationship.
• Develop proprietary and exclusive products with vendors for the group.
• Purchase the entire end-of-life product at a substantial discount for the group exclusively.
• Create products for members only.
• Create proprietary brands for members.
• Unique access to all Advantage Brands with additional discounts.
• Brand Online Partnership.
• Instant access to authorized inventory [Never Lose A Sale with Mywarehouse.org].
• Design for websites, emails, brochures, catalogs, handouts, videos, signs, etc.
• Supply purchasing resource.
• Accounting, legal, tax preparation, and all backend support.
• Health Care and Benefits.
• Corporate Sales.
• Training Seminars and Assistance.
• Seamstress services.

9.  Never Lose A Sale
Vendors are increasingly dismissive of their smaller accounts.  Specialty stores and boutiques are being compromised by the internet, big box retailers, and their actual suppliers, as well.  MyWarehouse.org’s Never Lose A Sale program provides a cost-effective solution to the pervasive disconnect that is undermining brands at the grass-root level.  MyWarehouse.org can be a part of the Fashion Resource Group or operate independently.

10.  Grivani Corporate Gift Giving
Corporate gift giving is big business, and Grivani will continue to develop a world-class lineup of product specifically for that market.

11.  TW Gift Giving Registry
Our gift giving registry will allow participants to identify all gift giving events and plan accordingly – and it will all be handled online.

The TW Gift Giving Registry concierge will alert the registered gift giver to an upcoming event and provide gift suggestions based on that particular event’s registered criteria for gifting.  The concierge will then source, gift wrap, and ship the chosen gift.  And this concierge gift-giving service is free.  I think that along with our jumpsite strategy there is no greater opportunity for generating sales internationally.

12.  The College Rep Program
The College Rep Program lives on in my heart.  I can’t help but think of what an incredible marketing resource it would be to have a thousand or so college reps spread out across the campuses of America [and the world].

One of our first college reps is now the Secretary of Labor for the United States.  Back in the ’70s, as a college rep for FAD Co. in New Jersey, I was able to sell Technics and Pioneer product, and it is what led to the Stereo Advantage’s success.  Today, we have the premium product lineup that will allow us to launch the premier online experience for college reps worldwide.  We have the product to support the profitability that will be attainable for college reps nationally and internationally.

13.  Advantage Global Resources [AGR]
Butch will be promoting the development of these services through Advantage Global Resources [AGR].  Although AGR is specifically for our Advantage businesses and partnerships, the Root Philosophy cannot be denied the opportunity that our outstanding back-end resources provide.

• Advantage Insurance.  We are in the process of choosing a co-branding partner.
• Advantage Legal.  Personal Injury, Divorce, and Plaintiff Action.
• Advantage Real Estate.  This will follow Advantage Legal.
• Advantage Properties.  We already efficiently manage our own properties.

14.  The Christian Co-Op
Providing services to charitable organizations can also include a buying service.  As we build our expertise with Gift Giving Registry, Fashion Resource Group, and various other sourcing operations, we can easily translate that skill set into a buying service that will give organizations a reliable clearinghouse for all purchases.  It will be a contingency fee-based business.  Our fee will simply be 25% of the savings we generate for our clients.

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Mission Statement:  It is my goal to provide the vision, resources, and confidence necessary to enable the development of our company as a merchant experience for those willing to take the full measure of the challenge.

Job Description:  Build and support a flexible matrix that enables, encourages, and ensures ongoing paradigm shifts through the simple restructuring of elements providing maximum speed to benefit and cross-platform recognition.

Responsibility:  Create an environment where everyone is motivated to give a 100% effort toward the desired result [while making certain that the desired result is recognizable, achievable, and beneficial to the company].

Summer Job:  Create, innovate, renovate, and expand.