23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

1. Managing money experience: I have been involved in two clubs in the past, Model Un and NHS, where I had to manage extensive budgets 
  • Valuable: I have the ability to balance budgets and create spreadsheets 
  • Rare: Not everyone is good at handling money and keeping track of everything 
  • Inimitable: This can be imitated by other people, but everyone may have their own style of doing it 
  • Non-substitutable: Someone cold be bored for this, but it would cost more, which is not ideal for a start-up 
2.Leadership skills: I was the Co-President of Model United Nations and Treasurer of NHS is high school and I am also a Peer Leader in the business school
  • Valuable: Being able to effectively lead is incredibly important for a start-up
  • Rare: Not everyone is a good leader and poor management can lead to the downfall of a company 
  • Inimitable: While other people are able to lead, I think I bring a healthy sense of bureaucracy into the mix 
  • Non-Substitutable: I don’t think good leadership can be substituted for something else 
3. Public Speaking Experience: I competed in Model Un and Debate competitions, I have also had to give presentations for my fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi. 
  • Valuable: Owners often have to speak at events and not be afraid to support their product/service 
  • Rare: Other people have good speaking skills, but not all business owners do 
  • Inimitable: This can be imitated by others, but not all good public speakers can get people to agree with them/like their idea 
  • Non-substitutable: Someone who is a great speaker cannot be substituted 
4. Greek Life: I am a part of Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity 
  • Valuable:  AKPsi has a lot of connections from its alumni base which I have access to 
  • Rare: Only members of the fraternity have access to these connections
  • Inimitable: Other organizations could have connections, but not the same ones 
  • Non-substitutable: A lot of the alumni go on to be successful people working in big companies, which is not necessarily the same for other organizations 
5. Media Experience: Created my own food magazine and blog 
  • Valuable: Many business ideas these days are marketed through the media 
  • Rare: Other people can also market things, but why pay for it 
  • Inimitable: This can be copied, but it must be applied to a wide range of people 
  • Non-substitutable: Since media experience leads to marketing experience and marketing can’t really be substituted then I don't think this can either 
6. Suppliers: My dad and some of his good friends are in the medical supply industry 
  • Valuable: They have connections to other suppliers in companies such as Johnson & Johnson 
  • Rare: Connections aren't rare, but ones leading to exactly what I need can be 
  • Inimitable: Can be imitated by anyone who has these connections
  • Non-substitutable: I can’t substitute the contact list that m dad and his friends have 
7. Low start-up costs: 
  • Valuable: I wont have to invest as much money as other start-up owners since my idea is more non-profit and i wont be needing to rent out a space 
  • Rare: Not all start-ups have the opportunity to be low cost 
  • Inimitable: This could be imitated by other start-up companies 
  • Non-substitutable: I can’t substitute any of my substitute any of my costs to be even lower 
8. Community Support: 
  • Valuable: With community support I know my idea will be well-received 
  • Rare: Not all start-ups are appreciated by the community and as a result fail 
  • Inimitable: This could be copied by other popular idea 
  • Non-substitutable: support cant be substituted because it is what many start-ups rely on
9.  Entrepreneurs: I know a few entrepreneurs that would be willing to help 
  • Valuable: Start-ups can be hard to do on your own, having people who are willing to help out can always be useful 
  • Rare: I am sure other people can find friends or people to help, but not necessarily to invest 
  • Inimitable: This could be copied by people with a wide connection base 
  • Non-substitutable: having a base of entrepreneurs cannot be substituted for something else 
10.  Contact with restaurants: of the restaurants I have spoken to, all would be willing to be a part of the cause 
  • Valuable: Without the restaurants I wouldn't have a service, so this is incredibly valuable 
  • Rare: It is not often that businesses are successful in the market they are trying to appeal to 
  • Inimitable: If a business idea is successful, this can be imitated 
  • Non-substitutable: I can't substitute the support of my market for something else 


Its a little difficult to pick one top resource because I think that they all worked together to help create a successful start-up. However, if I had to pick just one it would probably be my last one. Knowing that my business idea is supported by restaurants (which is the main thing I need to get my start-up up and running) makes me incredibly helpful. I think that this falls under all aspects of VRIN and can only help me. 

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 11, 2017 at 7:23 AM

    Like you, my top resource was contacting and forming relationships with the "gatekeepers" (for lack of a better word). That was the restaurants for you and gastroenterologists and doctors for me. If we do not have the support of these groups on board, it will make our ideas a little more challenging to grow. However, that is also why were have other resources and the VRIN analysis. If we help obtaining one resource we could use another one. For example, restaurant managers would probably like to hear pitches from great and accomplished speakers and you have that resource through your experiences in Model UN and Debate.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownNovember 11, 2017 at 5:13 PM

    I forgot to list people that I have talked to in past assignment as one of my resources which was dumb on my behalf because I feel that it could be a very strong resource. I like the fact that you listed the restaurants you have talked to as your top resource because they would be how you would operate your business at all. I had a hard time overall creating the list, and had a hard time picking my top resource as well. I am glad it gave me a challenge though because it helps to really think about what all resources I do have.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ShelleyNovember 12, 2017 at 3:26 PM

    I think that you have very many important resources on this list! I also listed leadership experience as one of my resources! I think that this skill could potentially be one of the most important since we will be the ones running our own company. It would be very hard to come in without any prior leadership experience since it is a skill that takes a lot of time and experience to develop.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

14A – Halfway Reflection

Image
 Throughout this course I have improved on my creativity skills to first find an issue that I thought was prevalent and then find a new way to solve it. Discovering issues in society that need to be fixed seems like a simple task, but in hindsight it took a lot of thought and required me to dig deep in order to find an issue and solution that was marketable. Another skill that I have is the value of time-management. Many of the assignments for this class are time consuming and requires one to be proficient about delegating their time so they can finish the assignments.  I felt like giving up last week when we had three assignments due that were all time consuming. Creating the elevator pitch required me to think how I want my idea to be perceived by the audience and then compose what I wanted to say, which is time consuming. Assignment 12A also had an interview requirement which was difficult to fulfill due to an already hectic work. What kept me going was that I know these ...
Read more

13A – Reading Reflection No. 1

What surprised you the most?   I think what surprised me most was the beginning of Steve Job’s life. Jobs was the son of a bi-racial couple John Jandali and Joanna Schieble who used to argue  about their race differences and eventually gave Jobs up for adoption. After being put up for adoption, Jobs was later adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs.  What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? One of the first projects Steve Jobs made was with Steve Wozniak and was called “Blue Box”. Blue Box used frequencies to make long distance calls and was beginning to be very applicable during the technology boom. However, their new invention was stolen from them at gunpoint. I admire how despite this scary instance, the two were still able to work together and create bigger and better products.  What about the entrepreneur did you least admire? Jobs had an unhealthy relationship with Chrisann Brennan for five years and the couple had their first child together in 1978. Howeve...
Read more

15A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

In these interviews, I once again saw the issue at hand/the service I am creating in a new light. Interview 1 realized that this service has the potential to unfairly distribute food to homeless shelters/food banks. His suggestion for fixing this issue was to weigh the amount of food that was being taken to each shelter to ensure that they are all getting the same amount of food in pounds. Another suggestion was to assign restaurants to shelters so the same restaurants provide food to the same places. Interview 2 brought up the fact that since consumers aren't actually paying for the service its not something the public would have to worry about in terms of finance. Lastly, Interview 3 brought up that this is very much a service that would make the public feel good about themselves since it is in turn helping the community. This could then result in boor business for restaurants and if the service really takes off, a slight boom for the economy.  Overall, this segment brought...
Read more