Nowadays, as we can see around us, more and more people have been creating their own businesses as part of the tech startup craze. This has led to a perceptible increase of the number of startup incubators worldwide. As per a recent study, the US is home to over 1,000 incubators. Now, the question is, what precisely is a startup incubator? Read on for a clear understanding.
Definition of a ‘Startup Incubator’
A ‘Startup Incubator’ can be typically defined as a collaborative program designed to help new startups succeed. Essentially, incubators help entrepreneurs solve some of the problems commonly associated with running a startup by providing workspace, seed funding, mentoring, and training (refer list below for a more extensive list of common incubator services). So it is that, the single purpose of a startup incubator is to help entrepreneurs grow their business.
In most cases, startup incubators are non-profit organizations, which are usually run by both public and private entities. Another important point to be noted is that incubators are often associated with universities, and some business schools (such as Asian School of Businessin Noida, India) allow their students and alumni to take part in these programs. In addition, there are many other incubators that are established by governments, civic groups, startup organizations or successful entrepreneurs.
Despite the fact that most of the media emphasis focuses on tech startups, incubators aren’t just limited to one industry. Indeed, the focus of incubators varies by region. To refer to the earlier mentioned research study conducted in USA – North Carolina, for example, is home to five incubator farms. Considering the strength of its restaurant and fashion industries, NYC is home to several incubators for both food and fashion. Moreover, there are also all-purpose incubators that consider all kinds of startups, regardless of industry.
Granting that many people associate business incubators with the tech boom, but this is really not a new concept. According to the above cited study again, the first startup incubator – the Batavia Industrial Center – was formed in 1959. This Batavia Industrial Center was founded in response to Batavia, NY’s high unemployment rate and as a way to repurpose a vacant industrial building. Considering the origins of the business incubator, it certainly makes sense that the concept is making a huge comeback during the time of the Great Recession.
Some Most Common Startup Incubator Services
Given below is a list of the most common services provided by business incubators:
· Help with business basics
· Networking opportunities
· Marketing assistance
· High-speed Internet access
· Accounting/financial management assistance
· Access to bank loans, loan funds & guarantee programs
· Help with presentation skills
· Connections to higher education resources
· Connections to strategic partners
· Access to angel investors or venture capital
· Comprehensive business training programs
· Advisory boards & mentors
· Management team identification
· Help with business etiquette
· Technology commercialization assistance
· Help with regulatory compliance
· Intellectual property management & legal counsel
The ‘Entrepreneurship Development and Incubation Centre (EDIC)’ at Asian School of Business, Noida
As mentioned earlier, incubators are often associated with universities, and some business schools (such as Asian School of Business in Noida, India) allow their students and alumni to take part in these programs. Let us get to know more about this dedicated ‘Incubation Centre’ – better known as ‘Entrepreneurship Development and Incubation Centre (EDIC)’ – available at Asian School of Business, Noida.
Ranked as the top private BBA/BCA colleges in Delhi NCR, Asian School of Business believes in fostering an entrepreneurial mindset among its BBA & BCA students and for this purpose it has established the ‘Entrepreneurship Development and Incubation Centre (EDIC)’. EDIC aims to enable the students to be more creative and self-confident in taking rational risk in starting an enterprise and encourage innovative business start-ups and facilitate them through research and consultancy. EDIC conducts Entrepreneurship Development Programmes for developing entrepreneurial skills enabling students to take up entrepreneurship as a career choice. It also organizes guest lectures, Awareness Campaigns, Seminars & Workshops, Quizzes and Business Plan Competitions for entrepreneurship development.
Thus it is that the dedicated ‘Incubation Centre’ at ASB assists entrepreneurs with documentation, marketing and recruitment as well as in conducting survey on entrepreneurial opportunities, industry requirements and market potential of the region. In addition, it also provides ‘Seed Funding’ to Start ups from students of Asian School of Business.
In this way, the incubation centre of EDIC facilitates the complete start up process for all students of ASB who are interested in starting their own venture.
