23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage
1. Flexibly present: the ability to live fully in each moment, doing my best, without fear of changing my mind.
- Valuable: Incredibly so. It allows me to be fully submerged in each activity I partake in.
- Rare: Yes.
- Imitable: Yes. Requires being very mindful.
- Non-substitutable: This cannot be replaced.
2. Creative: thinking outside the box
- Valuable: Yes, Helps come up with original ideas
- Rare: not so much
- Imitable: everyone's creativity is a bit different
- Non-substitutable: creativity cannot be replaced
3. Accountable: I like to uphold the activities I say I will accomplish.
- Valuable: Indeed, helps with staying on track.
- Rare: No
- Imitable: Being accountable is Imitable
- Non-substitutable: Maybe with a staff to keep me in check, but intrinsically no.
4. Detail Oriented: I like to be neat, organized, and have my works be as perfect as possible by making sure all small details excel.
- Valuable: I think its important in setting up a business and building products
- Rare: No, someone could be hired to do this.
- Imitable: Yes, but individually and uniquely.
- Non-substitutable: not intrinsically.
5. Personable: In most situations, I will find a way to make friends.
- Valuable: Yes. This allows me to make meaningful relationships.
- Rare: To a degree yes.
- Imitable: No, no one can imitate being as personable as you.
- Non-substitutable: No
6. Financial Capital: I have finacial backing
- Valuable: Yes. Money gives us a jump starts.
- Rare: No, money is pretty common.
- Imitable: Yes, there are other resources that can accomplish what money can.
- Non-substitutable: Can be replaced.
7. Social connections: Connections with the community that buys my products.
- Valuable: Yes. I have an honest place to get feedback and advice.
- Rare: Yes. Not everyone is involved in their businesses communities.
- Imitable: Yes, other companies could do the same.
- Non-substitutable: No.
8. E-commerce mentors: Mentors who can help me build a successful e-commerce business.
- Valuable: Yes. This is needed to learn the ins and outs of how to set up a shop.
- Rare: Someone this person close to me, yes..
- Imitable: Yes, you can learn this online.
- Non-substitutable: No, you need this skill.
9. Social Desire: There is a social desire for my product
- Valuable: This helps my product be wanted naturally
- Rare: No, there are many products with natural desire
- Imitable: No, you can build campaigns to get your product desired like this.
- Non-substitutable: Yes, you can substitute this, other resources that make your product wanted. Maybe necessity.
10. Science-backed: My product has science backing the negatives of the opposition.
- Valuable: Yes, scientifical data proving the benefits of your product is valuable.
- Rare: A bit, it cost a lot of money to conduct science experiments.
- Imitable: Yes, through science.
- Non-substitutable: Yes, there is only one actual scientific process.
I believe my best resources to give me an unfair advantage is my "e-commerce mentor". Through good marketing, any product can be sold and by having this relationship with someone so experienced in selling things online I can grow the online business I want.
I like how your first five VRIN resources are more about human capital and then you move into financial and social capital. I think that because we are starting out we mostly have human capital and social capital but as we continue to grow our concepts, our resources will increase too, including our human and social capitals as well. My best resource was also knowing people that could help me in the future.
ReplyDeleteHi Cristian,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your choice for your top resource. It is hard to find someone who is an expert in your field AND willing to work with you to advance your idea without expecting much in return like a mentor. I also find it interesting that half of your skills pertain to you specifically. When I did this activity, I thought more about the traits of my business but human capital is certainly just as important in B2B transactions because it will help you strike up deals with suppliers and distibutors as well as in customer service (B2C).
Thanks for sharing!
Tess
Hello Cristian!
ReplyDeleteThis is an awesome post! Your mentors really are going to be indispensable resources in building your business (which seems to be coming together quite well actually). It is rather difficult to find someone to guide you along the way a little bit. You'll basically get to skip, at least, most of the trial and error head bumps that you would've had to face without one.
Thank you for sharing!
Joshua