Assignment 23A - Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

Assignment 23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

Resources in my venture:

1.     Social Capital: contact with fellow business students who may want to help the company succeed.

a.     Valuable: This is very valuable because it is an easy way to get smart, ambitious, young people involved.

b.     Rare: This is not rare, you could do this at any university.

c.     Inimitable: This is highly inimitable, I’m sure anyone could get their friends or acquaintances to help.

d.     Non-substitutable: This is not as substitutable because the students at UF are of a higher caliber/intelligence than other university students.

2.     Uniqueness of product: There is nothing on the market today quite like my product. There are endless food service and fast food options but nothing that encourages home-cooked meals.

a.     Valuable: Quality home-cooked meals brings the value of health and happiness to your life.

b.     Rare: There is nothing else out there quite like this product.

c.     Inimitable: It would be hard to copy by others because once there is no need for more than one of these companies to exist. It the first one on the market is effective, there is absolutely no need for a second.

d.     Non-substitutable: You can go to fast food places or use a food delivery app, but it still won’t be home-cooked.

3.     Human Capital: I am majoring in accounting and plan to go on to do the Master’s in Accounting program so I will be proficient in accounting practices and will be able to manage the company’s money.

a.     Valuable: I will be knowledgeable about financial decisions and won’t have to illicit help in this area.

b.     Rare: Many entrepreneurial ventures fail because they simply run out of money. They are not CPA’s or financial managers and have no experience with managing money.

c.     Inimitable: It would take over 5 years for other people to imitate this, obtain a CPA license, or go through a master’s program.

d.     Non-substitutable: I could hire an accountant, but this way I am saving money.

4.     Social Capital: Contact with the overall UF community, which may be a pool of potential customers or personal chefs.

a.     Valuable: This is valuable because it would be fairly easy to get customers/employees to sign up.

b.     Rare: This is not very rare because you could do this at any university campus or organization you are apart of.

c.     Inimitable: This is highly inimitable, because you could do this at any university.

d.     Non-substitutable: This is substitutable at any other organization/university/campus.

5.     Human capital: I have a high level of commitment to tasks and ability to follow through. I wouldn’t just give up when times get difficult (which they inevitably will).

a.     Valuable: This is extremely valuable in any entrepreneurial venture because there will be a lot more lows than highs in the beginning. Starting a company takes an extreme level of perseverance and grit.

b.     Rare: This is somewhat rare in today’s age because I don’t think people have as much grit as we used to.

c.     Inimitable: This is inimitable if anyone else has the same level of commitment and perseverance that I do.

d.     Non-substitutable: This is not very substitutable because there is no one else out there that is quite like me, even if they do have high levels of follow-through.

6.     Relevance: This company is highly relevant in today’s society because of the popularity of similar apps like Uber and Lyft, as well as the millennial trend of health and natural foods.

a.     Valuable: Any new company must be relevant in the current society, making this a highly valuable business venture. The fact that it is similar to Uber means people will be familiar with how it will work and even more confident in its purpose.

b.     Rare: It is not very rare simply because it does closely mimic how Uber works, however it deals with completely different subject matter.

c.     Inimitable: I would say it is somewhat inimitable because someone else could very well start the same business venture, if they come up with the idea.

d.     Non-substitutable: There are no other products/services quite like this on the market today, so it is not substitutable.

7.     Human Capital: My organizational and time management skills would allow me to start this business venture while finishing my degree at UF.

a.     Valuable: These skills are highly valuable for any entrepreneur to have, it would definitely contribute to the success of any business.

b.     Rare: This is not very rare, I’m sure a lot of people have these same skills and are able to start things while they are still in college.

c.     Inimitable: This is inimitable because as previously stated, I’m sure a lot of people have these same skills and are able to start things in college.

d.     Non-substitutable: This isn’t as substitutable because no one can have the same unique set of characteristics that I have.

8.     The organizational culture I would create is one of honesty, authenticity, and emphasizing a healthy lifestyle.

a.     Valuable: A company’s culture is an extremely valuable part of the success of the company. I think honesty and authenticity is one of the most important aspects of any business venture because it means that the business is actually concerned with both customer satisfaction and improving people’s lives.

b.     Rare: I wouldn’t say this is a rare aspect of company culture. I’m sure a lot of company’s emphasize honesty and authenticity, as well as emphasizing a healthy lifestyle and providing healthy alternatives.

c.     Inimitable: Other companies can imitate this by simply making honesty and authenticity a priority in their culture.

d.     Non-substitutable: I don’t think this is substitutable because my company culture combined with my product/service is unique and hard to find elsewhere.

9.     Social Capital: My sister is the perfect example of my demographic target market- she is a newly working professional who graduated college only a few years ago. Her contacts, through the people she met at UF, combined with the people she is meeting in her professional life, could all be potential customers.

a.     Valuable: This is valuable because it is a pool of potential customers who are the perfect target market.

b.     Rare: This is not very rare, I’m sure a lot of people have older siblings who are in the same situation.

c.     Inimitable: This is highly inimitable, because like I said previously, a lot of people have older siblings who could help them find potential customers.

d.     Non-substitutable: This is substitutable with anyone else who knows people who could buy my product/service.

10.  Social Capital: My roommate loves to cook and could be my first chef signed up with the program.

a.     Valuable: This is very valuable because business concepts like these are sort of a chicken and egg problem- people won’t sign up for the program if there are no chefs and vice versa. My roommate will start the trend.

b.     Rare: This is not very rare because I’m sure I could find someone else to want to sign up as a chef, if I just asked around.

c.     Inimitable: This is imitable because it’s not very hard to find someone willing to sign up.

d.     Non-substitutable: This is not as substitutable because I didn’t have to look very far for my first chef. No one else can have the same title as her either- the first chef signed up with the program.

I think my top resource is the uniqueness of the product. There is nothing else quite like it on the market today, so it is truly something new in the food delivery/production area. I was able to show how much it was valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable, making it more valuable than all the other resources I mentioned. Every other resource had at least one downfall in the VRIN analysis.