23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

List of My Business's Resources:

1. I have professional photography equipment, thus I have less startup cost

- it is valuable, you can't take photos without. Professional cameras and photo equipment are expensive, so it's not the same as regular cameras. Not inimitable. And there aren't other cameras that are as good as a professional camera. 

2. I have a special photo session package that makes it attractive for potential customers such as $50 mini 20-minute photo shoot session. 

-it's valuable, it can be used as a distinction between other vendors. It's rare, I don't see other vendors do it. It is unfortunately inimitable. It's not substitutable because others are not offering it. 

3. I, myself, am an important human capital and an asset of the business because I will personally shoot the photos, thus I don't need to hire a photographer. 

-Yes, I'm valuable, because my photo skill is the core business asset. Photographers with the same skills aren't hard to find. Every photographer has their own styles of photos, so it's not easily inimitable. Other vendors can hire similarly experienced photographer if they want, so it's substitutable.

4. I have years of experience and knowledge in taking quality pictures, thus this is part of human capital I have. 

- same as No.3

5. I also understand what customers want based on the experience and I have countless satisfied customer reviews I can share as well. Thus, I have customer service skills that can be applied to make the company successful. 

-Customer service skill is very valuable skills to have. It can be a rare value if I provide an exceptional service that goes above and beyond. Inimitable and not, because other photographers can try to raise their service bar, but it's not easily done. It isn't easily substitutable because it may be hard for vendors to find a photographer who is experienced and have good customer service skills.  

6. I have an in-depth relationship with vendors in hospitality fields such as hotels and resorts in which they've shown their interest in partnering with me. Thus, I can use the vendors in my network to form a partnership which will boost my business.

-Valuable, landing a partnership with a resort can bring a huge profit. Rare, because it takes an effort to build quality networks through networking. Not inimitable because other vendors do it as well. Non-substitutable, it's not easy to build such networks. 

7. I also have experienced photo editing skills with a certificate of Adobe Indesign, Adobe Lightroom, and Photoshop, thus, I won't have to outsource for those work which saves business expenses. 

-Valuable, because it saves money and photo editing skills are completely different than photography skills. Not rare because most photographers can edit photos. Inimitable and not, because other vendors can use automated editing software or outsource it but the photo results are not as good quality as mine. Substitutable because other vendors can hire someone who has experience in editing. 

8. Since all of my shoots will be outdoor photos, I won't necessarily need to rent an office to run the business. Thus, I'll be working out of my own home, which saves business expenses.

- It's valuable because it saves business expenses. It's not rare, because there are other freelance photographers who do the same. Thus, it's not inimitable and it's substitutable. 

9. I will have other than the company's own website to interact with customers more often such as managing social media pages like Instagram and Facebook to have at least one photo a day so it creates an opportunity to be closer to potential customers. 

-Valuable, it's important to have social media sites for the business. It's not rare, because so many other vendors do the same, thus it's not inimitable and it's substitutable. 

10. I will create a  generous reference reward system where my customers refer my business to their friends and family and those customers take a picture, then I can provide my previous customers a voucher that they can use towards their next shoot. 

-Valuable, it gives customers a reason to come back to me in the future. It's not rare because other studios have similar programs as such. Thus, it's not inimitable and it's substitutable. 

My top resource is my photography skill because it won't cost me to hire any employees else to take a photo, which is a big expense in the business. My photography skills and experiences are the core competencies of my business. Customers come to me because they recognize the quality of photos and good customer service. That's why my skill is the No.1 resource for my business.