Week 6 Reading Reflection

What I found was the most surprising about the reading were the advantages of incumbents. I had never thought of these advantages when thinking of the threats facing new ventures. Its easy to believe that by providing a superior product one can easily compete with existing competitors, but the connections made within a community can be an incumbent's best asset.

I didn't find any thing in the reading confusing, the article was well written and the concepts presented are easy to understand.

My questions to the author would include: "What would be the best method of reducing the threat of rivalries forming among competitors in an industry?" The author claims that rivalry is destructive to an industry. Another question would be: "How would you determine the ideal industry growth rate as an investor?"

I found nothing in the article that I disagree with. I have read of the five forces before in other classes I have taken and nothing here has contradicted what I know.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1. I have worked in the signage industry now for over three years. While that time period isn't long, especially compared to my co-workers, it has netted me valuable experience in understanding what the customers needs are in this field. I am fortunate in that I have experience in every task in our little shop. I have experience in production, design, sales and installation. As far as my aspirations go, had the question been asked a year or so ago I would have been able to give a clear and detailed answer, now however I am not so sure. This business concept is one I have thought about since before taking this class, and should it become a reality I believe it would be the primary focus of my life.
2. My company's purpose is to provide high quality signage to customers anywhere in the world. I have seen the current quality of online signage and I find it lacking. 
3. My customer is a business person. I have determined both from my experiences at work and from my interviews that the average private citizen has little use for signage in their personal lives. The only call I have for signage for people not connected with a business entity is generally a birthday or anniversary banner, or perhaps a small vinyl decal for the back window of their car. Entrepreneurs and managers are the main purchasers of signage, and they are my target.
4. Customers will pay for my product because it will be of a higher quality than they can currently receive from an online sign company. While I may not beat the prices of places like Vista Print, I will beat their quality. In my current job I have many out of state customers whom I have never met face to face and likely never will. They communicate with us via email or phone and then we ship them their finished signage. My business will provide the same quality of product and service to the end user without the waste of a brick and mortar storefront. In addition, by providing an web based store front with an emphasis on user-friendliness, my company will be just as readily accessible and mass-marketable as my competitors.  
5. My core competency that sets me above my competition is a personal belief that if you deliver a quality product to the customer then they will come back. A sign isn't like most retail products. A sign is as unique as the person or company who has commissioned it. It is not mass produced (unless it's a bandit coroplast) and has to truly represent the identity of the company whose logo is on it. 

I believe these elements fit together well. While I do not have the most experience in the world, I do have drive. I know the clientele I am after and I know how to meet their needs.  The only weakness that I see is to be able to prove the difference I am offering. This will be the greatest challenge I think. My concept is to prove that I can provide a higher quality product at a comparable price, which is difficult in an online setting as there is an aspect of signage that is kinesthetic, people need to be able to see and touch the product to truly understand it's value.