23A: Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

1.     Time:

·      Valuable: time is a limited resource which makes having time to dedicate to my entrepreneurial idea valuable.

·      Rare: time is not rare, everyone has it.

·      Inimitable: no, time will always be a resource

·      Non-substitutable: I can hire someone to do a task that I don’t have the time to do

2.     Driven:

·       Valuable: Very valuable because my product and service won’t succeed if I don’t put in the effort

·       Rare: Not rare, most entrepreneurs are driven and what their products to succeed

·       Inimitable: Not inimitable, anyone can be very hard working and compelled to accomplish a goal

·       Non-substitutable: Non-substitutable, making your product succeed interests you so you need to be driven to make it happen.

3. Good company culture:

·      Valuable: Very valuable, a good company culture attracts talent, breeds productivity, and encourages innovation.

·      Rare: Not rare, many companies all over the world have good company culture. But bad company culture isn’t rare either.

·      Inimitable: yes, it’s difficult to establish a good company culture with strong team dynamics.

·      Non-substitutable: no, just like there’s more than one way to get the correct answer to a math problem, there’s more than one corporate culture that breeds success.

4. Knowledge of people that would use it

·      Valuable: yes, I know that there is a need in the market for my product

·      Rare: no, it’s possible to find potential customers for practically any product

·      Inimitable: no

·      Non-substitutable: no

5. Friends with software and hardware design abilities:

·      Valuable: very valuable, the HD screens on my product will need to have appealing and user-friendly software

·      Rare: not rare, many people have contacts with software and hardware design abilities

·      Inimitable: no

·      Non-substitutable: no, this can’t be substituted. Software and hardware designs are a crucial part of my fitness machine.

6. The fitness industry is booming worldwide

·      Valuable: very valuable, means my product has a large prospective market

·      Rare: somewhat, the industry is growing quickly meaning there’s market share and opportunity  

·      Inimitable: yes, these are unique historical conditions

·      Non-substitutable: yes

7. Communication skills

·      Valuable: this is very important because I can communicate my ideas to others in a way they can understand them and ask for feedback.

·      Rare: somewhat rare

·      Inimitable: no, people can gain communication skills with time and practice

·      Non-substitutable: yes, this skill can be substituted with social capital

8. Access to UF resources

·      Valuable: very valuable, UF has many great resources and a vast alumni network

·      Rare: not rare, everyone that goes to the University of Florida has access to these resources

·      Inimitable: not entirely, many universities have similar resources

·      Non-substitutable: yes, no school has the exact same resources and alumni network that UF has.

9. Have a director of a fitness center in my personal network

·      Valuable: yes, Meg has great insight in the fitness industry and contacts

·      Rare: yes

·      Inimitable: yes, no one has the same relationship with Meg that I do  

·      Non-substitutable: no, it’s possible to form relationships with people that are experts in the field.

10. Personal experience in fitness industry:

·      Valuable: yes, I’ve worked as a trainer at a gym and know what people look for in their fitness equipment.

·      Rare: not necessarily, many people have had this profession

·      Inimitable: no, anyone who has worked as a coach at a gym can pick up on this knowledge.

·      Non-substitutable: no

I would say my top resource is my network. I have contacts in the fitness industry that can help me finetune ideas for my product. I also have contacts in the computer software and hardware industries that can help me come up with appealing and user-friendly software/ hardware for my product.