23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

Resource List:

1.     Human Capital- Design: I believe that my productive will be one-of-a-kind because I have yet to hear of anyone selling anything even somewhat similar. 

-       Valuable: extremely, my product will have a better chance at selling since it is unique.

-       Rare: yes, one-of-a-kind.

-       Inimitable: yes, unless I get a patent.

-       Non-substitutable: no other service or product provides what I am offering with my product. 

2.     Human Capital- Creativity: The innovative manner in which I am instilling the information is unique for the moment. 

-       Valuable: extremely, this makes my product stand out making it unique.

-       Rare: yes, no one else has invented something like this.

-       Inimitable: someone can copy or modify the design.

-       Non-substitutable: no, unless someone comes up with a cheaper version than mines.

3.     Social Capital:I am regarded as a respectful and an easy to work with person by many. This is something that will aid my venture when looking for engineers, investors, and other influential people that I will need for my venture. 

-       Valuable: A good business person is a respected person. My personal traits help me achieve this reputation which will be good when doing business because people will trust me and have faith in me. 

-       Rare: several people have this trait probably.

-       Inimitable: others can attempt to achieve the same respectable reputation as me and may be successful in their own way.

-       Non-substitutable: nothing can really substitute good manners, earned loyalty/trust, and respect. 

4.     Human Capital- Relational Capital: I am very well connected with several people from different industries that might be of use to me. 

-       Valuable: Extremely, especially because the product I am trying to build will require knowledge that I don’t have. Also, getting my foot in the door will save me much time. 

-       Rare: One-of-a-kind.

-       Inimitable: I guess people can attempt to make relationships with the people I know, but nothing will ever be same because the relationship I have with these people is unique. 

-       Non-substitutable: Money can substitute for this because money can get you the meetings that normal connections do.  

5.     Personal Resilience: No matter what the product is, with a strong personal resilience, anyone can get any project started. I have always had a determined mindset and get back up when life knocks me down. 

-      Valuable: extremely, probably the most important traits an entrepreneur can have.

-      Rare: No, but few are truly resilient. 

-      Inimitable: others may have this as well.

-      Non-substitutable: probably not.

6.    Marketing Experience: I did an internship with a startup company a few years back as a sales/marketing intern. I dabbled in different social media projects that improved my capabilities in marketing. 

-      Valuable: yes, I became introduced more to what it means to launch a new product of the ground and the marketing tactics behind it. 

-      Rare: No, but not many have worked with a start-up company before. 

-      Inimitable: yes

-      Non-substitutable: debatable.

7.    Sales Experience:I did an internship with a startup company a few years back as a sales/marketing intern. I practiced different tactics for selling and improved this skill.

-      Valuable: yes, I already had some retail sales experience but this helped even more to learn what means to try to sell a new product into the market. 

-      Rare: No, but not many have worked with a start-up company before.

-      Inimitable: yes.

-      Non-substitutable: debatable.

8.    Social Capital- UF Greek Life: I am part of a multicultural sorority on this campus and am known within my community.

-      Valuable: very, I have in-depth knowledge of my target market and connections.

-      Rare: No. 

-      Inimitable: Hard to repeat the same experiences and knowledge I’ve acquired.

-      Non-substitutable: yes

9.    Public Matter Awareness: The issue of college students binge drinking and ending up in hospitals has become relevant in the media. 

-      Valuable: yes, public worry increases public need. 

-      Rare: No, there are many important social issues nowadays

-      Inimitable: yes.

-      Non-substitutable: yes.

10.  Problem Solving: With any business venture, obstacles are sure to come into my way and creative problem solving will be needed. Whether that be through legal, financial, design, or any other types of issues. 

-      Valuable: extremely, very important trait for an entrepreneur to have.

-      Rare: No, but few are truly great problem-solvers. 

-      Inimitable: others may have this as well.

-      Non-substitutable: probably not.

After completing this assignment, I realized that without a patent my product can easily be copied. However, I did realize that I do have some resources that set me apart as an entrepreneur. Additionally, I have experiences and connections that would allow me to begin this venture more easily than other people. Nonetheless, after reflecting, I thought that my most valuable resource is my Social Capital- UF Greek Life. While it is not a rare resource, it is a resource that I can exploit tremendously. My target customers will be people who are interested in the safety of members of Greek Life in campuses like UF. Therefore, I can use my experiences and knowledge as a member of a multicultural sorority to build up my credibility and juice the most out of this worrisome social issue of college students ending up in hospitals due to binge drinking.