23A - Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

Resources:

·       My sociability

o   Valuable – Allows me to create close relationships with new people

o   Rare – This is not a skill that everyone has, and therefore sets me apart from many others

o   Inimitable – You can practice, but you cannot fully imitate one’s level of sociability or network

o   Non-substitutable – Social ties and networked relationships cannot be repicated

·       Knowing someone that works with materials

o   Valuable – The person that I have made contact with that works with material can help with the design of my product

o   Rare – This is rare because not everyone has this kind of connection

o   Inimitable – No one can 100% copy the nature of the relationship I have with this person

o   Non-substitutable – You cannot replace the relationships that people have with each other, they are naturally formed

·       Specialized target market

o   Valuable – With a specialized target market, the product would be released in a more focused way and I will therefore be able to focus on the specific details that make it work

o   Rare – This is not very rare

o   Inimitable – This can be copied, just not with the same exact product

o   Non-substitutable – You cannot substitute a certain market for another in a perfect way; slight product modifications or large changes are probably needed to change target markets

·       Adaptable to today’s climate

o   Valuable – With everyone staying home, it is important to be capitalizing on this issue

o   Rare – This is not rare, as the pandemic is worldwide

o   Inimitable – This can be copied

o   Non-substitutable – The product cannot be substituted perfectly as global pandemics don’t happen too often

·       Knowing someone with experience in target market (bows)

o   Valuable – This is valuable because this person has extensive knowledge in how to deal with members of my target segment

o   Rare – This is rare because close relationships with people who have expertise in your target segment must be sought out

o   Inimitable – Human relationships cannot be replicated perfectly

o   Non-substitutable – Human relationships also cannot be substituted for others – they happen naturally over time

·       Friends with employee at storage unit facility

o   Valuable – the employee at the storage unit facility could offer helpful advice and insight into security methods for the product

o   Rare – this is rare because it is the result of a specialized event (helping me move out of my apartment) and resulted in a personal line of communication being opened

o   Inimitable – only those that were with me when I was moving out of my apartment can somewhat imitate this

o   Non-substitutable – this may be substituted by another person with experience in security, but that would come with new terrain in regards to networking and rapport creation

·       My education in entrepreneurship at UF

o   Valuable – this is valuable because not everyone has the opportunity to study at UF, an the entrepreneurship class I am taking is offering a more hands-on approach than I believe I would be getting somewhere else

o   Rare – this is rare because not everyone is a Gator and is proud to be a part of the Gator family

o   Inimitable – you cannot imitate a Gator if you are not a Gator

o   Non-substitutable – the UF experience, along with being in this class, cannot be substituted by anything else; however, other students have the same experience, thus giving them similar qualifications

·       Close relationships with people in target market (mother, best friend’s mother, etc.)

o   Valuable – this is valuable because I can get opinions on my product right from the source

o   Rare – it is not often that entrepreneurs have such a close look at members of their target market

o   Inimitable – again, you cannot imitate human relationships

o   Non-substitutable – you cannot fully substitute human relationships, they all come with their own nuances

·       A familial support system

o   Valuable – this is valuable because I know that with every venture, my family and friends will be supporting me

o   Rare – this is not rare, as many people have support systems like this

o   Inimitable – you cannot copy someone else’s familial structure

o   Non-substitutable – substituting these kinds of relationships takes a very long time

·       Social media

o   Valuable – social media allows me to reach very large audiences with minimal effort; I would also have access to many marketing tools and strategies

o   Rare – not rare at all; almost everyone has some form of social media

o   Inimitable – it is very inimitable because it is all out there for everyone to see

o   Non-substitutable – extremely substitutable, duplicate accounts can be made and people can pass as someone they are not

 

My top resource is sociability. I believe it is more important than the others because it is what has led me to many of the relationships that I cite as other resources in this assignment. Furthermore, by practicing social skills and building rapport, anyone (including people who are not entrepreneurs) can begin creating their networks of relationships. Moreover, the relationships that they create can be capitalized on, just as I am doing now, in the future. Lastly, sociability is essential to both the customer experience and to my business venture’s culture. By maintaining a personal a careful interaction with customers, higher levels of satisfaction are to be expected. Then, by maintaining good relationships and team-building sentiments between employees, these customer relationships can be fortified.