Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

My List of Resources

1) I'm a student at a university (UF) that has a lot of resources when it comes to starting a business.

2)  I believe that I have a lot of great social connections that could help me find potential employees.

3) I like to save my money for a "rainy day", so I have some money that I could potentially put into my business.

4) I am a finance student at UF, so I believe that I have a good understanding on how to manage a business' budget and financial statements.

5) I am a director of a non-profit organization, so I understand how businesses are/should be run.

6) I have had experience running large programs with an organization that I am a part of, so I have some management skills.

7) I think that I am a pretty fun person to be around, so I think that I would be pretty fun to work for.

8) I think that I am a pretty understanding person, also making me a good person to work for.

9) I think that I have a future oriented attitude, so I think that I would be able to effectively plan out my business' future.

10) I think that I am determined. When I set my mind to something, I will get it done, and my business will always be on my mind.

VRIN Analysis

1) V- I think that it is valuable. UF has a lot of resources that could help me on my journey.
     R- I think that it is somewhat rare. There are other colleges that posses similar resources.
     I- I think that this is somewhat inimitable. Like I said, there are other universities that do similar things, but they do not match the quality of UF's resources.
     N- It is not non-substitutable. There are other colleges that can offer similar resources.

2) V- I think that my social connections are valuable.
     R- It is definitely rare. No one has the same connections that I do.
     I- It is imitable. People can make ties with the same people that I do.
     N- It is substitutable. Social ties come and go and people have different amounts of social capital at one particular time.

3) V- I think that this is valuable. Having money is very important when running a business.
     R- It is not rare. A lot of businesses have money.
     I- It is imitable. Money is everywhere.
     N- It is non-substitutable. Every business needs money in order to succeed.

4) V- I think that it is valuable to have financial knowledge. It can prevent me from having to hire someone to manage my business' finances.
     R- I think that it is kind of rare. There are probably a lot of business owners who have knowledge on finance.
     I- I think that it is imitable, all you have to do is go to UF and study finance.
     N- it is kind of non-substitutable. It is either you manage your business' finances yourself or hire someone to do it for you.

5) V- I think that it is valuable to know how to run a business.
     R- I think that it is rare, not everyone can say they have helped run a business.
     I- I think that it is imitable. You can have any sort of management experience, which would give you the same insight.
     N- It is somewhat non-substitutable. Like I said, you can have management experience and gain the same knowledge.

6) V- I think that it is valuable, management is a critical part of a business.
     R- I think that it is rare, not everyone can say they have run a large program.
     I- I think that it is imitable, there are many ways to gain management experience.
     N- I think that it is non-substitutable, there is only one way to gain management experience and that is by putting yourself in leadership positions.

7) V- I think that this is valuable. People want to work for people who are fun/work for a place that has a good culture.
     R- It is probably not rare, I'm sure there are tons of fun bosses out there.
     I- It is imitable. People are able to create fun environments to work in, look at NS4L.
     N- I think that it is non-substitutable. Nothing can really replace/beat a fun workplace.

8) V- I think it is valuable to be understanding, it increases employee happiness.
     R- I don't think that it is rare, there are tons of understanding bosses out there.
     I- I think that it is hard to imitate. I think that people can't learn to be understanding/sympathetic.
    N- I think that it is substitutable. Other things can increase employee happiness.

9) V- I think that having a future oriented attitude is valuable. It can help you prepare for all roadblocks you might face in the future.
     R- I think that it is rare. I think a lot of people don't actually prepare for the future and those who do end up being successful.
     I- I do think its inimitable. I think that it's something you're born with, not something you can learn.
     N- I think that is kind of non-substitutable. I think the only substitute would be to have a fully fledged business that can always overcome its roadblocks.

10) V- I think that it is valuable. You don't want to be someone who gives up after they reach a roadblock.
       R-  I think its not that rare. I think a lot of people, especially at UF consider themselves determined.
       I- I think its not imitable. I think like everything else, it's something you're born with, not something you can learn.
      N- I think that its non-substitutable. You have to be willing to work hard when the going gets tough. There is no other way around it.

My Most Important Resource

I think that my most important resource is the experience I have managing a business (number 5 and 6). I think that this is the most important part because I have a grasp on how a business should be run. In class, Dr. Pryor talked about entrepreneurship being trial and error to some extent. You have to fail at some points in order to learn from it later. Having run a business, I think that I have had some failures and I now know how to avoid those failures. If I were to start a business now, I can say with certainty that I will not make those mistakes ever again. To sum up, having run a business has given me the necessary experience to run the next one better.