My Unfair Advantage

ProgramPlanner2.0 Resources:

1. Capability-ability to create user facing layout: this is valuable because I have the knowledge of how RAs would search for programs on a website and can use this to create a website that is easy to use. It isn't that rare, other people can do it, but they would need to do market research that I have already done and have personal experience with.
2. Social Capital-network of RAs/suppliers: I already know so many RAs and will know even more next year when I will hopefully be a supervisor for RAs. I would be in a rare situation that would allow me to require my RAs to participate and use my website.
3. Social Capital-network of Area Coordinators: I personally know three area coordinators and next year will be in contact with many more. These people will be able to encourage the entire university of RAs to share programs in this website. This is valuable because without a little bit of encouragement, not all people would use this. Only a few other supervisors would have this network, and of those, I doubt any else are interested in building this website.
4. Human Capital-experience: I have had first hand experience of struggling to come up with fun program ideas. This experience has been valuable because it encourages me to continue striving to make this idea a reality.
5. Human Capital-organizational skills: I am very organized and can use this skills to create a website that is easy to use and has search tool organized to produce the best results. This is very valuable when starting a business/website, but not too rare.
6. Social Capital-network of Graduate Hall Directors/market experts: I know six personally now, which is about 20% of the total on UF's campus. Knowing them will help me know all the programs that the RAs host and which categories are most successful. They could help form a focus group that would be really be useful in creating the website. Outsiders would have a very hard time copying this because of the personal connections I have made.
7. Financial Capital-the lack of need for financial resources: I guess this is kind of backwards, but creating the website will not require much financial backing. As long as I can partner with someone, hopefully someone else in housing that would volunteer their services and partner with me to create this website, I would not have to lay out funds to start ProgramPlanner2.0.
8. Capability-access to the current program database: I already have access to the database of previously hosted programs at UF so I could sort through those myself to begin the database for ProgramPlanner2.0. This is pretty rare, only other people in UF's housing has access to this.
9. Human Capital-determination: I am very determined to get this idea off the ground and running.  This is valuable, because if I didn't have this then the website may never take flight, especially if it starts to get difficult to produce. It's not really rare or inimitable, because other people have determination, but I am very determined for this website to happen, unlike others.
10. Organizational Culture-UF Housing has a very collaborative culture: Because I would be creating this website for UF Housing, it is helpful that we already have a very collaborative culture that is keen on sharing ideas and rewarding people for good ideas. This is hard to copy and that's why it is great that I essentially already have it!

My top resource is probably the social capital I have (and will have even more next year) with my prospective suppliers. That is because my prospective suppliers are also my prospective users. The more people that supply the website with successful programs, the more people that will be apt to use the website as a source for programming ideas.

The video above shows how useful my social network is. The RAs continually collaborate with each other to host programs and my website would allow RAs from across campus to do the same thing!