23A) Unfair Advantage

1.      Customer service experience. So far, all my work experience is related to customer service, and I have excelled at my job.

·        Valuable: I think it is a valuable resource because this tells me that it will be a strong factor to differentiate myself, and to gain and retain customers.

·        Rare: It is not a rare quality, since many people can have customer service experience.

·        Imitable: No, customer service experience is easy to acquire and learn, but it takes time to understand the different possible situations

·        Non-substitutable: Yes, I think it cannot be substituted because it is a service business, which means that customer service is one of the pillars for the success of the company.

2.      Direct and personal customer service. Since it is a small company, I will be able to have a more personal and fast approach to customer service.

·        Valuable: Yes, I would say it is not the most important quality, but it adds up with other resources to increase customer satisfaction.

·        Rare: No, it is common to see companies that have many ways to communicate with their clients, but the bigger the company, the harder it becomes to keep this trait.

·        Imitable: No, everything it takes is to pay a person (or more) to only take care of communicating with customers.

·        Non-substitutable: There have been may tries to substitute this with automatic phone messages, and computerized responses (on the phone or online), but I would say that it hasn’t been that successful.

3.      Easy to approach my target market. Since I live in the same town, and I fulfil the characteristics of the segment I am targeting, it is easier for me to understand my clients, get in touch with them.

·        Valuable: Partially, like at said before, it is not my main strength, but it adds up with the rest to give a better competitive advantage.

·        Rare: In my area I would say that yes, the only housekeeping services that exist are managed by people in their 30’s and older, and they don’t target the same market.

·        Imitable: It is copied by having a founder/chief sharing many similarities with customers or by adding diversity to the staff, which is more effective in bigger companies.

·        Non-substitutable: yes, it cannot be substituted.

4.      Openness to listen to customer requests. I aim to differentiate my service by making it more personal, therefore, taking into account requests and suggestions

·        Valuable: yes, college students tend to be very diverse in what they want and like. It will help me maintain a higher customer satisfaction.

·        Rare: Yes, usually these types of business have a rigid structure that allows them to reduce the human error and be more efficient.

·        Imitable: It can be copied but it increases cost

·        Non-substitutable: No, it is a capability that is offered or not.

5.      Lack of direct competitors. There are similar services to mine in Gainesville, but the difference is that they don’t target the same segment.

·        Valuable: Yes, I think it is one of the most valuable qualities I have right now.

·        Rare: Yes, usually the lack of competitors is not often in a country like USA, specially in a industry with low entrance barriers.

·        Imitable: Yes, could be imitable, but it requires to forgo a greater profit margin, at east for a period of time.

·        Non-substitutable: No, it is a very important aspect.

6.      Narrow target market. I have a very specific description of the demographics of my customers

·        Valuable: Yes, this trait allows me to be in a market without direct competitors

·        Rare: No, usually companies try to target a narrow market segment. The problem is when it overlaps with other companies.

·        Imitable: Yes, but what makes it harder is that to target my same market segment means to forgo great profit margins (which I did to be able to solve the need of thousands of students)

·        Non-substitutable: Yes, because the characteristics of students sharing apartment is completely different to adults and families living in their own home.

7.      Even though I seek a narrow segment of the population (local students in Gainesville, living in apartment complexes and sharing apartment), it is the predominant demographic in the area.

·        Valuable: Yes, I focused in that segment, which is hard to sell to due to financial limitations, but it is a huge segment here in Gainesville

·        Rare: It is rare for housekeeping services, but not for other business.

·        Imitable: Yes, but again, it brings costs and profits to the discussion table

·        Non-substitutable: No, it is key to my success.

8.      Cost efficient structure. I plan to approach a system where I only target apartment complexes and condos, which saves me time and travel expenses. Also, it means that my responsiveness will be better, and it will be free advertising.

·        Valuable: Yes, it is basically the key to my business model. It is what allows me to target this tough market segment and keep the competition away. It also triggers other key qualities.

·        Rare: Yes, it has not been done by any other housekeeping service in town

·        Imitable: It could be copied, but not by itself, it requires the price of the service to be low, so college students pay for it.

·        Non-substitutable: No, it is the most important element to keep costs low.

9.      Low price supplier. My price is $40-55 a month per person, while competitors charge about $65 an hour. I am able to do this thanks to my business model.

·        Valuable: Yes, it is valuable to be able to sell to my customers, but at the same time it is the reason why my profit margins are low.

·        Rare: Yes, I mentioned before other companies’ prices and they are way higher.

·        Imitable: To be copied, companies need to make changes to their structure.

·        Non-substitutable: Yes, it cannot be substituted because it means that students will not be able to pay for it.

10.   Diversification of services. I plan to expand my business to offer other services, like a mobile car wash, and probably some chores like the purchase of basics for the apartment.

·        Valuable: Yes, it will add value to the company, specially if I know how to manage the expansion, if I can be effective targeting the correct customers and creating more dependency of customer on my company

·        Rare: Not really, it is something that I have seen other companies do (but not the car wash though)

·        Imitable: Yes, it is imitable, in fact, I am copying it from other companies.

·        Non-substitutable: No, it is something that is decided by the owner of the company and depends om the market research done.

My most important characteristic is how I shaped my business model, to have a cost-effective structure. By targeting specific people, in specific places. By having this specific structure, I am able to deliver an outstanding service at a low price (even lower than competitors) and is the main reason why I can offer this to college students. Also, it is key to the success of my diversification plan since I will have big groups of clients in the same place.