23A- Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

1.      Well-educated staff with prior marine knowledge – very valuable, you need a well-educated and knowledgeable staff in order to start the business. This is very rare to have, as few people fit this description of human capital and the workers would need to have prior marine knowledge. This is capital that is very hard to copy by other businesses, as the demand for well-trained workers is high. No physical resource can provide the same service as a human being who is well trained in his job.

2.      Cleaning skills- valuable for the job, as it is a cleaning service, although it is not rare to have cleaning skills and anybody can possess these skills. Most workers can provide this benefit regardless of previous experience.

3.      Network of boaters- very valuable, as word of mouth is a good way for my business to grow. This is rare and hard to accomplish, but still achievable, as many boat owners have other friends that own boats as well. If they are satisfied with the service that we provide them, it is likely they will tell other people who also own boats. It is just as hard for any business to establish a network of boaters as it would be for my business. Other advertising incentives would provide the same benefit, which is expansion of the business to more and new clientele.

4.      Cosmetic damage repair skills- valuable because this is part of the service that makes it desirable to boat owners. This is rarer to find than basic cleaning skills, but it is still not very rare and anybody can learn cosmetic repair with some practice or previous experience. Others can copy this skill fairly easily.

5.      Marina owners network- I believe this to be rarer than a network of boat owners. The reason that I listed this as social capital is because if one marina owner finds out that his competitor offers my service, he will be more likely to offer it as well to keep up with competition. This would be a valuable network to have, as marina owners are the people that we are signing contracts with. This network would also be hard to establish for us and any other cleaning service, but it is possible.

6.      Contracts- This would be a very valuable part of my business because contracts ensure that I get paid for a certain period of time. They lock in a rate and cost. Anybody can set up contracts with marina owners and boat owners, but my business has the advantage of great personnel that have great social skills and are able to compromise. No other resource can provide the same benefit.

7.      Cleaning supplies- not very rare but valuable to the business as a whole because without cleaning supplies, there would be no cleaning service. Anybody can purchase this capital and it is easily replaced by different cleaning supplies, but it is essential to the success of my business.

8.      Mobile transportation for workers- this is not rare and not very valuable, as part of any workers job is to find a way to get to work so that they can get paid. Every business has this, and it may not need to be a part of the business.

9.      Insurance- This is a cost to the business and it is important to maximize the value and coverage of the insurance plan while still minimizing the cost of the insurance to the business. This is rare and very valuable and cannot be easily replaced by a different option, as insurance is essential to the business.

10.   Heavy supplies- very valuable, as items like a buffer are essential to a cleaning service. Not rare, anybody can purchase this. Anybody can copy this, as it does not take a lot of skill. The only similar resource would be to buffer something by hand, but this is less effective.



I believe that the most important resource to my business is the human capital aspect of the business. What I mean by this is that I believe that it is crucial for my business to employ workers who have a marine background, whether it be prior work at a marina or on a private vessel, or naval experience in the military. It is too large of a liability to employ people without a marine background. Also, having a skilled staff that is superior to our competition is something that no other business can and will have. It is for these reasons that I believe that a well-educated staff with prior marine knowledge is the most important foundation step to creating a successful marine cleaning service. 


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