Assignment 23A Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

1) My support for Animal Shelters.
Valuable: I can use their help and reputation to promote my product.
Rare: There are many people who support and are involved in animal welfare projects.
Inimitable: This is hard to copy because either you like dogs and cats or you don't.
Non-Substitutable: There are numerous organizations people could support which don't involve animals.

2) Social Capital which includes interacting with pet owners on a daily basis.
Valuable: Yes because by talking with pet owners I can use word of mouth to promote my product.
Rare: Not really because people talk about things they like every day.
Inimitable: This is not hard to copy because people will always talk to each other.
Non-Substitutable: There is no substitute for peoples opinions and feedback.

3) My Father and him extending me a line of credit without having to use a bank.
Valuable: Yes because he is willing to help me and not expect something in return.
Rare: Probably not because there are people who just like to help others without any expectations.
Inimitable: Probably not because people generally have compassion for others.
Non-Substitutable: My dad is my dad, and there is no substitute for him.

4) My Dog.
Valuable: Yes very much so. He could be a walking billboard.
Rare: Probably not animals have been associated with different products in the past.
Inimitable: I would say no because every dog is different and has their own personality.
Non-Substitutable: There are numerous ways to promote my product.

5) Time.
Valuable: Yes because it is my investment in the venture, it shows my commitment.
Rare: Yes time is rare once it passes by you can't get that time back.
Inimitable: No because people use their time differently.
Non-Substitutable: I think you could use money to substitute time and get quicker results.

6) The Internet.
Valuable: Yes because I can use the internet for research without having to leave my house.
Rare: No because anyone can get access to the internet.
Inimitable: This is not hard to copy because anyone can find the same information using the internet.
Non-Substitutable: You could probably substitute a library for the internet, but it would not be as fast.

7) Crowdfunding.
Valuable: Yes because it could provide me money to get started with my venture.
Rare: No anyone can use crowdfunding, and it's free to use on some crowdfunding platforms.
Inimitable: Yes it can be easily copied by others who use crowdfunding.
Non-Substitutable: There are other substitutes for crowdfunding like peer to peer platforms.

8) My House
Valuable: Yes because I don't have to spend extra money to rent an office.
Rare: No people all live somewhere.
Inimitable: Yes because anyone can work out of their house and save money if they're self-employed.
Non-Substitutable: I could rent an office or building to do the same thing I can do in my home.

9) Low Competition.
Valuable: Yes because I don't have to compete with other similar products.
Rare: Very rare there is no other product like the Smart Collar.
Inimitable: Anyone could create a similar product in time that might be better than mine.
Non-Substitutable: You could use a security camera or a baby monitor to do some things my product does.

10) Knowledge about how people consider their pet part of the family.
Valuable: Yes because knowing how much people care about their pets will help sell my product.
Rare: Probably not because people who own a pet care about them.
Inimitable: This can be easily copied just by becoming a pet owner.
Non-Substitutable: There is no substitute for a pets love or loyalty if you own one.

After considering these resources available to me right now and doing the VRIN analysis it surprising that I can use any of them for little or no cost right now. There are two recourses I think that benefit me the most and they are time and my dog. If I had to pick one, I would have to say it's my dog because I think by showing what the Smart Collar does when I'm away from home would be very easy to do just by using my phone to connect to the collar which is on my dog. Anyone could then see exactly what my product does which I think is more valuable than just listening to me describe the product. I could approach anyone that is a pet owner, and by showing them what the Smart Collar does, I think they would be interested in it.