23A- Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

23A- Your Venture's Unfair Advantage 

1.  Large Consumer base: Thousands of students are out of state students attending the University of Florida.  The Gainesville airport is lacking direct flights to many of these places, especially New York.

  • Valuable:  My prototypical customer base is already relevant 
  • Rare:  This is not rare, many people attend Florida as out of state students 
  • Inimitable:  My customer base can be copied for specific locations
  • Non-substitutable:  The Orlando Airport provides direct flights to these locations, however, the 2 hour drive is inevitable 
2.  Proximity within Campus: The Gainesville airport is 15 minutes away from campus.  The Uber ride there is so much cheaper, and people would rather catch a flight there then drive or spend $250 on an Uber in addition to their flight. 
  • Valuable:  It's location is superior to the other airports
  • Rare:  There is only one airport in Gainesville 
  • Inimitable:  There are other airports within the state of Florida, but none in the town of Gainesville besides the current one that exists
  • Non- substitutable:  No other airport offers a cheap and quick Uber ride
3.  Social Capital:  I am a prototypical customer of my own opportunity.  I am friends with many of the people who desire direct flights from Gainesville. 
  • Valuable:  I have a personal and direct relationship with many prototypical customers
  • Rare:  It is somewhat rare that I have the ability to pick up my phone and text or call many of my prototypical customers. 
  • Inimitable:  Someone else who is also from New York, or a popular out of state area and knows a lot of people could imitate this
  • Non- substitutable:  This can only be substituted with not knowing any prototypical customers 
4.  Experience:  I have experienced taking an Uber ride to Orlando airport for a direct flight to New York, as well as taking a connecting flight at the Gainesville airport. 
  • Valuable:  I am aware of the prices, sizes of each airport, size of the plane, variable costs, etc
  • Rare:  This is not rare, I am sure many students have traveled to and from both airports
  • Inimitable: This can be imitated if people want to experience it
  • Non-substitutable:  Experience can not be substituted 
5.  My major: I plan on majoring in Finance.
  • Valuable:  This will enable me to calculate the finances and costs of certain ideas and situations.
  • Rare:  Finance is a weed out course at UF, not a lot of people pass it
  • Inimitable:  This can be imitated as long as you pass the courses necessary to become a finance major
  • Non-substitutable:  A finance degree is a specific degree
6. Passion:  In general, I am very passionate about whatever it is I am doing in life. 
  • Valuable: Passion is the catalyst behind success in some instances 
  • Rare:  It is hard to find something you are both good at and passionate about
  • Inimitable:  Not everyone has the same passion
  • Non-substitutable:  It is hard to find someone as passionate as myself about this particular opportunity and in general. 
7. Network:  My uncle works for the airlines and has been working in airports for years. 
  • Valuable:  He can tell me how realistic my opportunity is and can set me up with the correct people to talk to 
  • Rare:  Not a lot of people have a direct family member who works with the airport and airlines
  • Inimitable: Low 
  • Non-substitutable: Customer service can help with questions, but it would not be nearly as personal or direct/ easy to get in contact with the right people
8.  Supportive College Campus:  UF is always looking to make its students happier and less stressed.
  • Valuable: If the university is on board, they can provide funds and work together with the Gainesville regional airport
  • Rare:  It is lucky to have a university that is so supporting and aware of it's students wants and needs
  • Inimitable: Low
  • Non-substitutable:  UF is different from other universities
9.  Time management:  With the schedule I currently follow, I have time to immerse myself in opportunities and investments.
  • Valuable: High, I have the time available that is needed to make my opportunity work
  • Rare:  Not a lot of people have as flexible as a schedule as me
  • Inimitable:  Depending on the course load 
  • Non-substitutable:  Low 
10.  Friends with Travel Agents:  I know a lot of people who would advertise for the Gainesville airport/ book people specifically to fly with them increasing their profits 
  • Valuable:  I have an in
  • Rare: Not a lot of people are friends with travel agents 
  • Inimitable:  High if they are aware of someone who is a travel agent
  • Non-substitutable: Low 
After doing the VRIN analysis, I believe my main advantage is the large customer base/ student base that is in need of my opportunity.  

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 19, 2018 at 6:01 PM

    Hi Sarah! You did a really great job on the VRIN analysis! You definitely touched all of the points for each one of your advantages. I definitely agree from your analyses that the large customer base/student base is your opportunity point. Growing your connections with people could lead you to having even more advantages to make this venture work! Great Job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Allison SullivanNovember 19, 2018 at 8:49 PM

      Hi Sarah!
      Your VRIN is very detailed, yet to the point! It looks like you have a lot of useful advantages. I think its really great that you have a lot of networking going on with your opportunity. I agree that that is very valuable, especially for your opportunity. I also like that you included passion as an advantage. I do believe that being passionate about an idea motivates you to do anything to accomplish it.

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