Wednesday, March 23, 2016

My Unfair Advantage

·             Generate a list of all of the resources in your venture (produce a list of at least 10 resources that you already possess). This can include your human capital, social capital, financial capital, and capabilities. You may also discuss the organizational culture you intend to create (but, obviously, it's not a resource that you have, now.) 
  1.  Social acceptance
  2.  Ease of use
  3. Availability
  4. Uniqueness
  5. Determination/Motivation
  6. Focused and driven
  7. Innovative
  8. Extroverted
  9. Easy to work with
  10. Marketing and sales experience


·             Conduct a "VRIN" analysis for each resource. That is, describe, for each resource, how it is valuable, rare, inimitable (how hard it is to copy by others), and non-substitutable (are there other resources that can provide the same benefits?). 

1. Socially acceptable means that I am able to easily interact with others. It is very consistent and something that others pick up on and can imitate.

2. With the app downloaded straight to your phone, and the transactions being cashless, my service is very easily marketable and easy to use. This is an idea taken from other apps but is applicable in my situation.

3. The planned widespread availability of an app and the services it offers is something that will make it unique. This idea is something that can be recreated but would have to be unique to the service it is offering.

4. With nothing like this app or me around, I believe uniqueness is a key in expanding my business and entrepreneurial endeavor. It is non-replicable and something that I believe a lot of people will use.

5. My determination and motivation are extremely unique and beneficial characteristics that will help my business and myself succeed. I am a unique and rare individual that has the drive to do whatever is necessary to allow my idea to grow and succeed.

6. Being focused and able to stick to one task will allow you to effectively and efficiently develop your service. I never lose focus and am constantly trying to set goals to accomplish.

7. Innovative, something that shows creative expression and a desire to create, expand, and succeed. I view myself as an extremely innovative individual and see it influencing my services in a positive manner.

8. Extrovert is someone that is comfortable in their own skin and able to hold conversations and convey their ideas in a brief and efficient manner. Being extroverted is something that a lot of entrepreneurs possess but it is something that has such a wide range of depth.

9. Going off the extroverted aspect of my character, I am extremely easy to work with. This will allow me to work with a wide range of investors, employees, and advisors as I grow and develop my idea.

10. My experience in marketing and sales means I know what to say and when to say it in order to make my idea as attractive as possible. Experience is very valuable and is generally specific to whatever industry you worked in.

·             Remember, not ALL resources will measure up well. That's OK. You just need one. 


·             After conducting the VRIN analysis, determine what your top resource is. Explain why it's more important to your venture than all of the other resources.



My top resource is my extroverted character combined with my background in marketing and sales. Both of these combine to create an individual that displays many of my other unique characteristics. I believe these two aspects create a motivating factor that allows me to efficiently achieve my goals on the path to success.

5 comments:

  1. Your overall post was neat and organized, and I can see that you put a lot of work into this assignment. You literally went step by step with all your qualities in the VRIN analysis. For my assignment post, I placed them all together and listed the most significant aspects of the traits I pointed out. Your extroverted personality and background in marketing and sales are a very good advantage to have in business and innovation. You have a better understanding of how companies work than other competitors do. Good job on this. Here's my link: http://entintheair.blogspot.com/2016/03/my-unfair-advantage.html

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  2. Hello Ethan,
    You did an excellent job evaluating the unique skill set that you bring to the table. You managed to do so in a very organized and easy to follow way.

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  3. Hello Ethan,
    The overall post was very well structured and I could tell you put a lot of time into it. I liked how you went step by step through the VRIN analysis to come up with your own. Here's a link to my blog post: http://flgatorblogging.blogspot.com/2016/03/my-unfair-advantage.html

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  4. You did a good job both listing your advantages and explaining each one. I like how you focused on the ease of use aspects, as those are the best to draw and retain customers. It is also good that you do not have any direct competitors, as that should make it a little easier to get your foot in the door.

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  5. Hey Ethan,
    it seems like you have a lot of confidence in yourself which will definitely help your product succeed. It also seems like you know exactly how you are going to market your business which is pretty much the only way to get your product off the ground. Check out my blog at http://thekigelreport.blogspot.com/2016/03/amazon-whisperer.html

    ReplyDelete