23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

1. Uniqueness: Not many people have the knowledge, drive, nor desire to create a service of this nature because they assume people know what they want and where they want without taking into account every factor including but not limited to financial factors, preferences, location, availability, etc.
• Valuable: This can be very valuable because it often means less competition.
• Rare: It is fairly rare but it is probably not a new idea.
• Inimitable: This could be imitated through the right networking and by working closely with people in the industry.
• Non-substitutable: Don't believe this service could be substitutable.
2. Location: I live in South Florida which surprisingly enough has a large demand for places such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities which are the ones I would be working closely with.
• Valuable: This is extremely valuable because location plays a big role in this industry, amongst other things.
• Rare: It may not be so rare in Florida given the demographics but it would be rare compared to other states that don't have such a big population of elders.
• Inimitable: Not easily imitated, however, one could move to South Florida if they wanted to.
• Non-substitutable: I would say it's non-substitutable.
3. Social Capital- Guidance: My father and uncle have business partners and friends that have their own businesses and have offered me their advice if needed for my business venture. 
• Valuable: I consider this very valuable since it could definitely give me an edge over others.
• Rare: Fairly rare.
• Inimitable: Could be imitated through networking if done correctly.
• Non-substitutable: One could substitute this though it is in my best interest not to.
4. Peaked Interest in Healthcare: Since the population in Florida is growing older and is actually taking over in comparison with the younger folk, it is a great idea to get into this kind of business venture. 
• Valuable: This is very valuable when it comes to finding potential customers since the demand is prone to be high.
• Rare: This is not too rare considering times will change and the elder demographic will eventually die down.
• Inimitable: Anyone with a big enough influence can spark interest.
• Non-substitutable: This would be hard to substitute.
5. Communication Skills: I believe I really good at not only forming but also maintaining relationships/connections with people as well as networking thanks to my communication skills and caring personality.
• Valuable: This is very valuable as it helps me to convey my venture to potential customers.
• Rare: Although probably not rare, there are many people who tend to be too shy to try to network with others.
• Inimitable: This could probably be imitated if one has enough practice.
• Non-substitutable: Can be substituted. 
6. Social Media: Social media is a great platform to rely on in terms of sharing/promoting one's products or services and thus influence the targeted audience. I am a very frequent social media user and know how to use it for business purposes. 
• Valuable: Not that valuable but very helpful if used correctly.
• Rare: Not rare considering there are many platforms and a tremendous amount of users.
• Inimitable: It is so easy to create a social media account that it is easily imitable.
• Non-substitutable: Could be substituted fairly easily.
7. Social Capital- Connections: I know multiple people that work in many different "departments" that relate to my kind of business venture as discussed in the previously written assignment.  So I have multiple connections that I could use for reference. In addition, my father works in this industry as well.
• Valuable: This is very valuable considering the importance of relationships in business.
• Rare: Relatively rare.
• Inimitable: Could probably be imitated through networking, though not so easy but possible.
• Non-substitutable: Don't believe this could be substitutable.
8. Personal Experience: I have grown up surrounded by multiple family members that work in the healthcare industry so this idea means a lot to me. I have also gone to meetings with some of these family members so I have experience on the matter to some extent.
• Valuable: My personal experiences within the cruise industry make this service very important to me.
• Rare: I would say relatively rare because not many have connections to healthcare unless they work in it.
• Inimitable: This could be imitated but not easily. 
• Non-substitutable: This could most likely not be substituted.
9. Human Capital - Strong Work Ethic: Successful business ventures, whether by selling products or services, need to have a strong driving force to push the idea which is typically characterized by work ethic which is a source I possess.
• Valuable: This is very valuable and required for a service like mine to be successful.
• Rare: Relatively rare, even though there are many people with a strong work ethic, not all of them are seeking to start a business.
• Inimitable: It is relatively imitable assuming the person has passion and desire for his/her product/service to succeed.
• Non-substitutable: Don't believe there is a substitute.
10. Company Culture: My business will operate based on integrity, excellence, and honesty. Having this set of values could potentially set a high standard for other businesses that may want to enter the market thus making it harder to do so.
• Valuable: Company culture is very valuable if it is a positive one, such as the one I have envisioned for my business.
• Rare: Company culture is rare to a company itself but some cultures, in general, may not be rare to all successful businesses.
• Inimitable: This could be imitated by others but it would be fairly hard to do.
• Non-substitutable: Don't believe this can be substitutable considering most successful businesses have some kind of company culture that works for them.

I have deemed my personal experience (#8) to be my top resource. This is because not only does this give my service a personal connection, but also a purpose. It is due to my personal experience in the field that I feel overly connected to my service which only furthers my other resource being my strong work ethic (#9) and ambition to perfect my service and business venture. If this connection was absent, I believe it would be fairly difficult to be successful in this industry.