23A

My Resources

1) My human capital:
Valuable: 20+ years of schooling
Rare: Many people do not graduate high school, yet alone college
Imitable: You cannot imitate knowledge
Nonsubstitutable: You can substitute my knowledge with someone who possesses at least the same amount 


2) My wealth
Valuable: Being young and in college, my wealth at this point in my life is not too valuable
Rare: Not very rare, since I do not have too much money up to this point
Imitable: Cannot imitate wealth, either you have it or you do not
Nonsubstitutable: Can substitute my wealth for someone with more wealth


3) Partnership
Valuable: It will be very valuable to have someone committed to this project with me, which I have
Rare: Not very rare to have a business partner
Imitable: I cannot pretend to have a business partner, either I do or I don't
Nonsubstitutable: I can substitute one partner for another, as long as the former is compensated or bought out


4) Investors
Valuable: Extremely valuable to have investors, that way I am not burdening all of the costs
Rare: Not rare to have investors when starting up a business
Imitable: Cannot pretend to have investors if you do not in reality
Nonsubstitutable: I can always have more and more investors, but I can never have less than zero


5) R&D
Valuable: Good R&D is integral to get a good cost-benefit analysis compared to your competitors
Rare: I hope R&D in starting a company up is not rare..... Otherwise you won't be very successful
Imitable: You cannot fake R&D, the things you are researching will be facts only
Nonsubstitutable: Cannot substitute R&D with anything else, something that must be done


6) Attention to detail
Valuable: I think this is extremely valuable. Attention to detail will lead to more profit in the long run
Rare: I do not think enough people put enough attention to detail as they should
Imitable: You can imitate detail in the short run, but not if you want to be profitable in the long run
Nonsubstitutable: You cannot substitute detail for something else


7) Drive for success
Valuable: Very valuable for small business owners
Rare: I would put this in the not very rare category. Most people that had the drive to start a business also have the drive to sustain it
Imitable: Cannot imitate success with anything. Either you are doing well or you are not
Nonsubstitutable: Cannot substitute for anything else


8) Ability to adapt
Valuable: Very valuable, have to be able to move with what is working for you and the industry as a whole
Rare: Very rare, not everyone is able to be able to see these changes that must be made
Imitable: Can imitate other trends, but will not necessarily lead to success
Nonsubsititutable: Can substitute for other things, but will not always be profitable


9) Understanding of economic principles
Valuable: Very valuable for owning a business
Rare: Very rare, economics is a degree that is on the downturn
Imitable: Cannot imitate knowledge if you do not have it
Nonsubstitutable: Cannot substitute this knowledge with history knowledge


10) Understanding of business concepts
Valuable: Valuable for owning a business
Rare: Not too rare, many people have learned this at some point in their lives
Imitable: Can imitate knowing business ideas, but they may be flawed
Nonsubstitutable: Cannot subsititute

I think my most valuable asset is my extensive knowledge in the field of economics. It is more important than all of my others due to its value to me, the rarity of it nowadays, and the fact that you cannot imitate it or substitute it.