Friday, November 16, 2018

23A - Unfair Advantage



  1. I have an opportunity to test out my product on a few people. My brother and his whole lacrosse team are interested in trying it out. This is valuable and somewhat rare, because it is very important to be able to test your product, but if you have decent connections you too will be able to find test subjects.
  2. I have unique experience in this field. My expertise in supplementation and how it affects exercise is valuable, rare, and inimitable (because it's myself). If I'm going to run a company based around exercise supplements, this is absolutely crucial. Not many people have a real understanding of these things. However, the only reason I don't say this is non-substitutable is because if I truly wanted to, I could just hire someone who also has knowledge.
  3. I have the benefit of being located on a college campus where there are plenty of resources that I can draw on to help me. This is valuable, but not so much the other three.
  4. I have the benefit of being able to test this on myself since I do athletic stuff daily. Again, valuable, but not so much the other three.
  5. My brand has the benefit of being marketed towards athletes instead of the everyman. Athletes are willing to pay a higher price for what they perceive as giving them a competitive edge. This is valuable and rare within the market, since most energy drink companies market their product to gamers and just general dudes. This is non-substitutable, it needs to exist in order for this brand to function the way I envision it and be able to capture a portion of the market that isn't already dominated by Monster and Rockstar. 
  6. My brand has the benefit of cool packaging. It sounds silly, but for a lot of people, the packaging sells it. This is valuable, somewhat rare, and non-substitutable. 
  7. I have the benefit of being young and not having and dependents. This is valuable because if I fail and lose all the money involved in the business, my kids don't starve because I don't have any.
  8. One benefit that my brand is bringing to the table is flavor. Many workout and athletic supplements make a baseline effort to taste okay, but it just ends up tasting like medicine. I'm gonna make my product actually taste good. This is valuable and rare. 
  9. An advantage that I personally have is a lot of free time because I don't have a full-time job currently. This is valuable because I can devote more time and energy to testing and developing my product.
  10. A personal advantage that I have is work ethic. This is valuable, but realistically it's not rare or inimitable. It is however, non-substitutable, there's no substitute for hard work.


I'd say that my top advantage is #5. The way that this brand is presented to the consumers will make or break this idea. It's the single most important thing because without it, the brand will get squashed by big energy drink companies before it even has a chance to get started.

1 comment:

  1. Hi JT,

    I think you have some strong resources for your product! Your answers cut to the chase about the VRIN analysis but that definitely made it easier to read. Good work!

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