23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

Resources in my venture

1.      Publicity: Public awareness: Mental health is a big topic of discussion now. With everything going on in the media right now it’s a great resource.

·       Valuable: It gives the product a platform to be exposed on.

·       Rare: Since mental health is getting a lot of attention in media, it would be rare resource unless a product with similar media attention is launched

·       Inimitable:  It is an easy “bandwagon” to jump on once a product like this hits media.

·       Non-substitutable: It would be easy to do regular advertisements and commercials, but with the hyped media coverage on mental health this would be better. A news outlet would want to be the first on covering something that would help others.

2.       Social Capital: UF student in mental health clubs on campus

·       Valuable: This is valuable as students will try it out themselves and then recommend it to other students.

·       Rare: This is not rare as many people have communities they can promote their venture in.

·       Inimitable: Very easy to imitate

·       Non-substitutable: There are other people that would be willing to support my service

3.       Financial resource: I have previous experience raising money for clubs

·       Valuable: This is very valuable as I need finances to keep the service running

·       Rare: This is not rare as many people are able to do this

·       Inimitable: This can be imitated, it would be slightly changed depending on the product or service.

·       Non-substitutable: Hire an agency to help, but that would be a waste

4.       Human capital: Ability to work together

·       Valuable:  The company will start out large and then continue to grow. Being able to work with different types of people will be very valuable.  When hiring it is so valuable that I develop this kind of environment.

·       Rare: It could be rare. Some people have a very hard time with working with others or become very authoritative in their position

·       Inimitable: yes

·       Non-substitutable:  This cannot be substituted with anything else.

5.       Social capital: I have connections with psychologists that would be willing to help build up the company

·       Valuable: I need a team of employees and this is where I would start.

·       Rare: this can be rare as finding people to work in such a specified area is hard. Also, it is new technology, so some may not be willing to get involved right away

·       Inimitable: not really. Such a specialized position

·       Non-substitutable: I need people to work. There is no substitution.

6.       Financial resources: Since I do work in the real estate world, I have connections with banks.

·       Valuable: If I can’t raise my fund on my own, I will have to get a loan from a bank. Someone I know will be able to do it themselves or find someone who can.

·       Rare: This is rare as some banks can be tough when giving out loans because they want to make the most profit and get their money back.

·       Inimitable: This can be as others can have bank connections.

·       Non-substitutable: This can be substituted as I could get a loan from another place or person

7.       Background in Mental Health: Since starting college I have immersed myself in the research of mental health and was able to use this to start a club on UF’s campus.

·       Valuable: I see this as a very valuable resource because I am not going into this blind. I have knowledge of mental health and am able to use this to meet consumer needs.

·       Rare: It is not very rare. Anyone could research and learn about mental health

·       Inimitable: My knowledge and opinion of mental health cannot be imitated.

·       Non-substitutable: I could hire someone to have the knowledge but then I would have to pay them. And I could be taken advantage of this way.

8.       Lack of competitors: There is one other competitor that has a service similar to mine, but it does not have as many features as mine. Their service seems a little scattered and harder to use.

·       Valuable: This is valuable because it will make going into the market a little easier than have 15 competitors.

·       Rare: not rare. Other products or services could have minimal competitors.

·       Inimitable: My service can be copied.

·       Non-substitutable: My service can be substituted but the substitute would not be as helpful.

9.       Personal relationships: My mother and father both starts and run their own business. My boss that I work closely with also is the starter and owner of his business.

·       Valuable: This is very valuable to me starting my own business. They can assist me with any questions or concerns I might have.

·       Rare:  I believe it is rare for one person to have a lot of successful entrepreneurs around them.

·       Inimitable: Cannot be imitated. Personal relationship.

·       Non-substitutable: Someone with more experience in my specialized service.

10.   Human capital: organization: This will be key when starting the business.

·       Valuable: This is extremely valuable when in comes to keeping patient information organized and confidential

·       Rare: not rare. Many people have this skill.

·       Inimitable: The type of organization this service will take is going to be specific to it and could be difficult to replicate.

·       Non-substitutable: cannot be substituted. I must be organized. I could employ someone else, but I still have to be organized.

Top Resource. My top resource is having the background in mental health and being very interested in the topic. This make me more dedicated and able to connect with the service. This is important to the venture because my knowledge will help me double check that the plan is perfect for those in need.

Ultimately, I won’t have to have someone looking over everything. I will be doing this myself and thus protecting myself from the risks of having another person in charge.