Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

1.         Safe Drivers

a.         VRIN- extremely valuable as people would only get in car with a stranger they know has been researched and check. A customer feeling safe is very valuable to any business especially with apps like Uber and Lyft having safety scandals. The safe drivers are not too rare since most drivers would not get into any severe accidents. I do not think it is hard to imitate since to have safe employees companies can just conduct a background check. However, it is not substitutable. 

2.         Free Rides

a.         VRIN- I think this is the most valuable part of my company and it is essentially why customers are going to pick it over other ride companies like Uber and Lyft. It is also very rare since most transportation apps cost something. Another app that shares the free ride characteristic is SNAP or the RTS bus, but that is not the same type of ride experience. I think it could be relatively easy to imitate by either having a lot of capital or incentivizing ads. I do not think free rides are substitutable.

3.         Knowledgeable Owners

a.         VRIN- It is extremely valuable to have knowledgeable owners as this makes the entire business run smoothly. They ultimately keep the management and organization in check. I do not think it is rare to have knowledgeable owners as many successful businesses thrive because of them. It is definitely easy to copy the qualities of knowledgeable owners as even books on how to become one exist. Again, this is not substitutable.

4.         Financial Capital

a.         VRIN- I think financial capital is valuable although it is not the most valuable since one can start a successful business without at first having large financial capital, so this means it is substitutable. It is not that rare and definitely imitable.

5.         Social Capital

a.         VRIN- I think my company has immense social capital, I have every form of social media to spread my business and also have a lot of connections, especially here in Gainesville. This is extremely valuable and will be the key to developing my business. I think many businesses lack this social capital and that is why most end up failing. It is not imitable and very hard to substitute.

6.         App efficiency

a.         VRIN- I think this is resource is again extremely valuable, definitely one of the most. If an app is slow or hard to use I immediately delete it so this app has to be very user friendly in order for ADV Carpool to work. I do not think it is rare for an app to efficient as there are many useful apps thousands of people use. It is imitable as one can copy coding or take courses on how to properly develop an app. Again this is not substitutable.

7.         Speed

a.         VRIN- One of the most important resources I have is how fast you can get somewhere you want. Simply imputing a time and destination and being matched up with a driver is all it takes. This is an extremely valuable resource, for example the UF Rideboard has rides scattered everywhere and people posting every hour. It is hard to find a ride efficiently. I think this resource is also fairly rare and not substitutable. Although one can easily imitate how a company properly delivers speed.

8.         Social Media presence

a.         VRIN- Social media is very valuable to an extent. One has to first make sure the internal aspects are good before promoting on social media. But as I said my social media presence would be strong. It is not very rare for a company to have good social media, for example Wendy’s is known for its funny tweets. It is also not a good idea to copy another company’s social media plan as you would just be known as a copier and not an original. It is also hard to find a substitute for a good social media presence in today’s world.

9.         Human resource capabilities

a.         VRIN- Human resource capabilities are valuable since you want customers to be able to have any questions answered and have a great customer service experience. You also want company employees to feel safe at all times. I would have good HR although it is not what my company is most valuable for. This is not rare, many businesses like Wells Fargo have great HR. It is imitable and not substitutable.

10.   College target market

a.         VRIN- I think the fact that my target market is college students is valuable in the sense that they need the service urgently and will definitely use it. However, it is also not as valuable because college students tend to be pretty broke and are not in Gainesville 3-4 months of the year. A product geared just towards college students is not very common, is definitely imitable and substitutable with other products not directly geared towards them.

I think the Free Rides are my most valuable resource because no other business offers this quality for free. It is imitable but nobody else has thought of it before and this will make ADV Carpool stand out the most.