1. Marketing expertise
Valuable: A product is only as good as the marketing done for it so without a solid marketing/promotion plan behind the product, the business will not be a success.
Rare: While this may not seem rare, no one has had the exact experiences I have had. I have been studying marketing for 6 years and have competed internationally with my marketing plans. I have also had many marketing internships to give me real world experience that I could apply to my own business.
Inimitable: While anyone can study marketing, not everyone can follow the exact path as I did and not everyone can garner the education and real world experience that I did.
Non-substitutable: There is no substitute for good marketing, you either can or cannot market and it will show in how successful the business is. The only option would be to hire someone who has a lot of marketing experience if you cannot do it yourself.
2. Connections with influencers
Valuable: I have many connections to online influencers, specifically many YouTubers. These individuals have platforms with anywhere from 400,000 to 5 million subscribers so it is extremely valuable because they have the ability to influence the purchases of a large number of people.
Rare: Having these connections is fairly rare because influencers are often hard to contact so starting out with connections like this could really help a business.
Inimitable: Someone could contact these individuals and request that they promote their product or business, but often these individuals are so busy that the emails go unread so it helps to have a personal connection.
Non-substitutable: There really is no substitute for having connections to influencers. The only thing that comes close is an advertisement placed on TV that would reach a large number of consumers, but influencers have a more direct effect on their audience and are more influential than a generic television ad that often gets muted or skipped.
3. Funding
Valuable: Having funding to make my product is crucial in the development of my business so it is very valuable. I have many connections that would be able to provide funding for this business and support me in the making of my product.
Rare: Having the ability to receive funding is not rare, but I would be able to get funding without expectation of return and without having to trade a percentage of my business ownership which is rare.
Inimitable: This is not completely inimitable, but it does again come down to who I know that others wouldn't so it gives me an advantage others may not have.
Non-substitutable: The only substitute would be loans or investors who would request interest or a percentage of the business, which I would not have so it is not an equivalent substitute.
4. Business branding connection
Valuable: As a result of doing past favors, I would be able to get free business cards and other promotional materials developed for me for free, which is very valuable because proper branding is crucial for a business.
Rare: Getting it for free is the rare part, having proper branding as a whole is not. But getting these materials for free would help me to reduce start-up costs that would not be done for competitors.
Inimitable: The branding could be replicated, but not the pricing unless someone else knew their own graphic design firm and could get the same favor as me.
Non-substitutable: The only substitute would be to pay a high price to have a brand developed and materials printed.
5. Technologically savvy connections
Valuable: Knowing people who are very good with technology is crucial for a business, which makes it very valuable.
Rare: I have connections with the CEO, COO, and CTO of a top of the line development company, which puts me at an advantage above competitors. Having connections like these and access to a very good team of technologically savvy individuals is very rare and very helpful.
Inimitable: Having these kind of connections to a tech firm is not necessarily inimitable, but it is also not something easily replicated by others so it would definitely give me an advantage over competitors.
Non-substitutable: The only substitute would be to hire developers and other technologically savvy individuals, but having a friendship with these individuals is much better because it gets someone faster turnaround on projects and better pricing deals that simply hiring someone would not get you.
6. Knowledge of industry and consumer needs
Valuable: Knowing the customer is extremely valuable in a business because without this knowledge the business will fail.
Rare: In my industry, it would not be rare to know individuals in the market and therefore know the consumer needs, but being able to really empathize with and understand consumers is a relatively rare ability that I possess.
Inimitable: It would be imitable to an extent, but every individual has different observational abilities and people skills so it is not a fully replicable resource.
Non-substitutable: The only substitute would be to hire consultants and people who really know the market instead of being able to study the behavior of the consumer directly for free like I have been able to do.
Valuable: Having a mentor, as many successful individuals will tell you, is absolutely crucial for any venture which makes having access to one very valuable.
Rare: Finding a mentor is not rare, but having access to successful entrepreneurs like I do is the rare part.
Inimitable: Being able to be the mentee of the individuals I know is not imitable because these individuals do not typically mentor people.
Non-substitutable: The only substitute would be to find a different mentor, which every mentor-mentee relationship is different so it would not be the same experience for everyone.
8. Managerial expertise
Valuable: knowing how to manage a business is absolutely necessary for the survival of the business. I have had the good fortune to have internships in project management so I understand what it takes to run a business effectively and efficiently.
Rare: As I said before, individuals may have management internships themselves, but no one will follow the exact path I did so my individual experience is rare.
Inimitable: It can only be imitated in a sense that one could go get a management internship and study management, but they will not experience exactly what I did.
Non-substitutable: The only substitute would be to hire a manager for your business, which is just another added expense for competitors who do not have management experience.
9. Business knowledge
Valuable: having an education in business is absolutely needed in order to fully understand how to run the business, especially when it comes to managing the businesses finances and various business components. Having gone to UF has provided me a well rounded education in business that enables me to know all areas of business.
Rare: Having this education is not rare, but each person who goes through the major takes different classes and pays attention at different levels. So really each individual experience is different.
Inimitable: Anyone can go to college and get a degree in business, but going to UF and really paying attention and joining business related organizations is what makes the experience unique and harder to replicate.
Non-substitutable: The only substitute for an education is to hire those who got the education or to learn from mistakes made while experiencing the business world, both of which would cost individuals in their business ventures.
10. Type A/ENTJ personality
Valuable: These personality traits allow me to be a great manager and organizer and give me the personality it takes to make a business successful which is extremely valuable. I put hard work and drive into everything I do, which is a valuable asset to a business.
Rare: Only 1% of the population are ENTJ personalities, which makes people like me fairly rare. Also a strong type a personality is less rare, but still not entirely common.
Inimitable: Within each category, people are at different extremes on the scale. I am personally 100% J (judging) which means I am very organized and like to plan, which is a major asset of my personality. So while one may be the same personality traits as me, they may not act the same way I do.
My top resource
I would say my top resource is my connections to influencers. It is not only the strongest in the VRIN analysis, but it is also one of the most helpful of my resources that others would not be able to provide in a business. It isn't what you know, it is who you know and the people I know could seriously help in promoting my product, which would directly correlate with sales and the success of my overall business. Without strong promotions and connections, the business would not work which is why I consider this to be my most valuable resource.
Hi Katia!
ReplyDeleteInteresting VRIN analysis. I think you carefully thought out all of your analysis factors, although I don’t agree with a few of your conclusions. As in, there is much more involved in business branding than free business cards and promotional materials. Can your connections help develop logos and other such items for you? Can they help you develop an organizational culture, which might also become part of your brand? And friendship with technologically savvy individuals does not necessarily mean faster turnaround on your projects- if these people are busy with paying clients they will probably serve their paying clients before doing free favors for people. After all, no matter how much they like you, they have to eat, don’t they? Giving free favors won’t support them and their families. Another thing about the tech-savvy people is they may not be savvy in the areas you need them to be. Perhaps they can hook up the hardware for you, but can they then help you with the problem you are having with your accounting software?
I would have liked to see you briefly discuss each resource that you possess. How are you in contact with YouTube influencers? Which ones do you think might be most valuable to you? How in particular will you acquire funding? What makes you think they will fund you? Internships in project management is not the same as managing an entire business. You addressed some of these items in your analyses, but I think a brief introductory paragraph might have been helpful, to let readers see how you have acquired your resources.
I also think that once you graduate UF you might find that the “book knowledge” that UF gives you and real-world experience are not the same thing. Which of course is the purpose of doing internships- you are wise to have done some internships.
Hey Katia,
ReplyDeleteUpon reading your list, I found a correlation between some of your most valuable resources and I figured I would share to see if you made the same connections. Many of your most important resources are from connections that you have made from over the years. You said that you could have financial capital and funding from past favors people that you have built relationships with through favors and such. Two of your other resources were connection based as well. I think that it is great that you have made so many useful connections to help you on your journey.
-Dakota Horlocker