23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage
My product is the ZipStrip. It is a strip of fabric with zippers on both sides that you can zip up into a normal jacket. After the last round of feedback, I am now just targeting the "Fan" group of customers and hope to partner with UF to reach specifically the Gators as my first test.
These ten strengths set it apart from other ideas and will let me uniquely help customers.
1. A new idea
- Valuable - people pay for novelty, and the market is open
- Rare - no one I interviewed had heard of something like this
- Inimitable - it will be easy to copy, but if I successfully brand with UF then that would change
- Non-Substitutable - this is much cheaper than most clothing accessories
- Valuable - low manufacturing cost and few components will mean we can make a profit
- Rare - most products are mor complicated and involve more steps to manufacture
- Inimitable - again, this can be copied
- Non-Substitutable - nothing else fills the same niche
- Valuable - selling on campus to UF fans would give an instant market and use team spirit for free advertising of the concept
- Rare - UF has a great community with millions of fans, alumni, students, and employees
- Inimitable - few communities are as large or strong as the Gators
- Non-Substitutable - people could make a similar product but could not capitalize on the UF fans for the same need
- Valuable - I changed my idea several times after the different interviews and video feedback, making it stronger and clearer than when I started
- Rare - first time entrepreneur can get wrapped up in their idea and stray from what the customer actually wants
- Inimitable - it would be very difficult to speak to all the same people I did and get the same feedback, even if one had the same idea
- Non-Substitutable - the combined feedback and thoughts of everyone I've interviewed is near guaranteed to create ideas that could not be found another way because it was a natural process through many different conversations
- Valuable - taking the first step if usually my weak point, and a previous assignment forced me to do what I would have done last before
- Rare - I think that most students would not jump straight to contacting UF
- Inimitable - because I contacted them first any other product that did so is much less compelling
- Non-Substitutable - to target the fan audience of UF there is no legal alternative
- Valuable - he can act as experience on demand and has been willing to help students
- Rare - this class even without a qualified teacher is rare
- Inimitable - people have unique personal experience and thoughts
- Non-Substitutable - no source of advice could be as good as an expert
- Valuable - a global platform and set of tools to sell, research, build relationships with customers, and do so much more speaks for itself
- Rare - there is only one internet
- Inimitable - creative use of information is hard to match
- Non-Substitutable - no other medium is as fast, responsive, or convenient
- Valuable - if the current plan to target my "Fan" customer, I can switch gears and go after the "Customizers" and "Tough Fits"
- Rare - not many starting businesses have back up plans
- Inimitable - these are three almost unrelated groups so few products will target all three
- Non-Substitutable - having large, but easily defined targets is an important step for a good business idea
- Valuable - I am a hard worker with a positive outlook, healthy drive, strong communication skills, and a willingness to advocate for myself and assert my ideas
- Rare - I have worked as a strange list of jobs: Education Technician at a Non-Profit, lifeguard, swim instructor, bike technician, Environmental Steward (teaching, nature conservation, and community service)
- Inimitable - it is my personal experience, and I wouldn't even recommend trying to copy a few parts
- Non-Substitutable - the idea for the ZipStrip came from a personal experience where my friend couldn't zip up his jacket in the winter
- Valuable - I have already used it to help show what I am making in interviews and my pitch videos
- Rare - just looking at the pitches and blogs for this class, I do not see many people with something they can show to their customers or potential partners
- Inimitable - my prototype would be very easy to copy (I made it in less than 20 minutes)
- Non-Substitutable - a visual aid is usually much more effective than most alternatives
Conclusion: After looking at the strengths pf my project, I think my strongest point is simply having a new idea. I think it is really rare and compelling for the ZipStrip that no one I have talked to knew about something similar, and yet everyone could clearly picture and understand what I was trying to do with this new product.
Hey Paul!
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I like the title of your post. It’s very original and serves as a great headline for readers. After reading through your list of resources, your best resource is definitely having the new idea. Without the new idea, none of these other resources that you have gathered would have been possible. All in all, your post is well written and detailed! Great job!