Assignment 23- Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

Resources in my venture:

1. Being a member of the target audience

2. Social capital

3. Low cost for consumers

4. Easy access from target audience

5. Human capital

6. A young upbeat organizational culture (that will be created)

7. A diverse group of people that will be working within my business

8. Coding capabilities

9. Sales skills

10. Having a business with an extremely flexible nature



VRIN (Value, Rare, Inimitable, Non-substitutional) Analysis:

1. Being a member of the target audience

· V: This is valuable because it gives me direct insight as a member of my target audience (undergrad students at UF) into what students want and need implemented on campus.

· R: This is rare because not every business owner is a member of the audience they wish to sell their product to.

· I: It is hard to copy in the respect that you cannot become someone you are not, yet it is easy to copy if you specifically targeted a group to which you are a part of.

· N: I believe this could be substituted by gathering research on a target market even if you are not a part of it yourself, in fact that is what many businesses must do.



2. Social Capital

· V: This is valuable because it gives me a network of people who possess skills that I don’t necessarily have that will be able to help and assist me when needed.

· R: Social capital is not very rare because most, if not all, businesses have formed a network to get where they are.

· I: It is not hard to copy social capital by gaining a network and forming more contacts by meeting people within on in fields that have to do with yours.

· N: I think social capital would be hard to substitute unless you possess every skill possibly necessary to run your business, which is very unlikely.

3. Low cost for consumers

· V: This is valuable because it entices consumers to purchase the project and allows for a larger customer base since mostly everyone can afford an app for 99 cents.

· R: This is not rare, there are some apps that are free and other products that are also inexpensive for consumers to buy.

· I: Low cost could be copied by companies cutting certain costs in other departments in order to cut the cost of the product that they are selling.

· N: This can be substituted for maybe a product of higher quality that costs a little more.

4. Easy access from target audience

· V: This is valuable because customers are more willing to purchase if the purchase is convenient, and purchasing an app from the app store on one’s phone is as convenient as it gets.

· R: It is not rare for a product to have easy access in the technology industry, but in other industries it can be rare.

· I: Easy access cannot be imitated, it is dependent on the product that is being offered, how it is being offered, and where it is being offered.

· N: This can be substituted for maybe a product that is more prestigious to get and also harder to access, like Yeezy shoes.

5. Human Capital

· V: This is valuable because it gives me knowledge into my business and experience that others may not have, giving me an advantage.

· R: Human capital is not very rare when it comes to owners of business ventures.

· I: This can be imitated possibly, if one acquires knowledge in order to build their own human capital.

· N: You can’t really substitute another skill in place of human capital because it plays such an imperative role in the business.

6. A young upbeat organizational culture (that will be created)

· V: This is valuable because it attracts my target audience and also makes my company an enjoyable one to work at.

· R: It is rare because not every company has this culture. However, there are some that do, so it is not extremely rare.

· I: It can be easily imitated by someone who wants to create such a culture in their business.

· N: You can substitute another company culture in place of this type, as for many customers it may not be a deal breaker.

7. A diverse group of people that will be working within my business

· V: This is valuable because it gives me a group of people to work with who may identify with individuals within my target market that I personally may not be able to identify with. It also gives way to a range of different ideas and opinions.

· R: This is something that many companies have within their internal makeup these days so it is not very rare.

· I: it can easily be imitated by hiring a diverse work force.

· N: This isn’t a resource that can be easily substituted but there are some ways to get around it be participating in diversity training if your workforce isn’t extremely diverse so that way you are familiar with all types of customers.

8. Coding capabilities

· V: This is valuable because it allows me to work first hand on a lot of my app instead of spending money to hire someone to do so.

· R: It is rare because coding skills are not a resource that everyone has.

· I: These skills cannot be easily imitated, they need to be learned and practiced and that can’t be done in a few minutes.

· N: These skills cannot be substituted with something else because no matter what in the app business you will still need someone to code.

9. Sales skills

· V: This is valuable because it will allow me to successfully talk to customers and persuade them that the app will help make their lives easier, ultimately leading my business to more success.

· R: Having sales skills is not extremely rare, although not everyone can do it.

· I: Sales skills can be learned, but it is a process that doesn’t happen right away.

· N: You can substitute other ways to sell products such as ads but you cannot directly substitute the skills.

10. Having a business with an extremely flexible nature

· V: This is valuable because it will allow my business to withstand changes and turbulence within the industry because of its’ flexible nature.

· R: This is rare because not all businesses are flexible.

· I: It cannot be imitated unless a company’s structure and strategy are rebuilt to allow for flexibility.

· N: Flexibility is not easily substituted by another resource of a business.





My Top resource is being a member of the target market that I am selling my app to. I believe this resource outweighs all of the others because it provides me a significant advantage in the industry. It allows me to get into my consumers mind and to know THAT much more about the target audience. Doing so will result in increased success for my business that is rare and is not easily imitated.