23 - Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

Resources:

• Low production costs - Compared to a high sale price, low costs create more profit and value, not necessarily rare, is inimitable for other companies if the seek to cut costs, with more capital resource substitutes can be analyzed and further cost reduction can be pursued.
• Mission - MetalliStraw's mission to save the environment adds value by making the brand more likable, it is somewhat rare for a company to value it's environmentalist efforts over profit, it is imitable for other companies to focus on this mission but at the sacrifice of profit, our mission cannot be substituted.
• Human Capital - The employees at our company are dedicated and add value to our product, not all companies have a cohesive workforce that shares the company culture making it more rare, this can be mimicked by companies investing in culture and training, there is little substitute for the passionate employees.
• Social Capital - Our social capital adds value to our company, I would not call it rare, it could be replicated, there are many substitutes to our social capital.
• Financial Capital - Our finances are steady to keep our business afloat, our profits and revenues size are not all entirely rare, other companies could match our financial capital with debt financing or investment, the substitute to our finances would be taking on more debt.
• Global need - As the world turns more towards environmentalism our product becomes more valuable, this feature is rare as other companies cannot simply generate global need, it must already exist, there is no substitute for this.
• Unique product - Being unique adds value to the product, there is currently no fully metal straw that is completely machine washable making it rare, it could be replicated by companies thus a patent is needed, substitutes exist but do not serve the purpose of environmentalism.
• Mass Production - A relatively simple product can be mass produced fairly easy, this is rare as it requires infrastructure, companies could imitate this feature by investing in factories and cost-reduction, a substitute may be outsourcing production.
• Network - Our relationships with other businesses, restaurants, and suppliers adds value, it is unique to have the specific relationships we have, other companies have to put in great effort to create these relationships, there is no substitute for our network.
• Warranty - Our lifetime warranty adds valuable, this is rare as few products today have lifetime warranties, companies can mimic this feature but would cost them a lot, a substitute for our warranty could be improved customer service.

I think our mission is our most important feature and drives our success. By focusing on the mission of improving the situation of the environment, rather than trying to make a random product for profit, we ensure we provide the best service related to our goals.