How to Check the Reliability of the Incubation Center: 10 Point Scale

We are on a fast track growth when it comes to startups and promotion of entrepreneurship at all levels, we are competing with the worlds giants in the race and have already reserved our place in top 20 of the world’s best startup destinations.

The honorable government of India is offering multiple benefits to startups through various schemes running both at the state as well as national level. Ease of business initiatives, least paperwork regime since independence, collateral free loans, tax holidays, subsidies, incentives and funds, government is going inside out for supporting the ideas, developing them and taking the new India to the world, a stronger, sharper and more robust India.

In the view of promoting the startups in all sectors and in all regions of the country the government has launched the incubation centers in all states and to provide it further speed they have allowed the private players as well to participate and support this nation building activity. The regional colleges as well the as the underserved and remote districts are also getting connected with the mission and we have seen some really good business ideas in the past coming from the tier II and III towns of the country.

How to select the best Incubation Center

It is really crucial for the startup to get along with the best in the market, but that is not possible in all locations, India being a huge country there are colleges and universities all across and ideas are getting generated from the remotest of the locations into rural entrepreneurship, social projects and technology therefore it is good to atatch with the closest but if you have a choice then here are some of the key elements to look for while making a selection.

“De-agglomeration could well be one of the legacy trends from COVID-19. And this trend is mainly driven by the digital economy where fresh growth is coming from Tier II cities.”

Anonymous

Get in the zone

Entrepreneurship is best flourished within the ecosystem, stand alone startup idea dies fast, and therefore it is a good idea to get in the zone, means reach out to a closest place where you see the things are moving, the happening place nearby, where you can find people from the industry, talking and sharing ideas, developing acumen and talking business. Sooner you get into the ecosystem better you feel with your idea, especially in the early stages.

How to Check the Reliability of the Incubation Center

Location and Accessibility

It is going to be your first office address, your clients may visit you and you would not want your customers to roam around in the busy streets looking for parking, or still not able to find the address.

Pick a central and well connected location within your reach, the location plays a very vital role in ensuring the success of your business as you will get better visibility and you will feel good about sitting there with your first client.

High speed internet

Most of the research work these days is carried out on a laptop sitting in comfort, gone are the days when people used to go to multiple data collection points, and libraries for reading industry journals and news.

If everything is on the internet, then you need one, the fastest and most robust one to support your research, your teams needs and your first business requirement.

Good experienced team

Entrepreneurs are usually young geniuses, but since they are new in the field of business, they lacs experience in the various aspects of business setups therefore they need a strong support and guidance in the core areas of business viz finance, accounting, business planning and strategy.

These people can take over very soon, but initial few months are critical for them to understand the basics of lean startup, managing finances and pitch for funds, they need help and handholding in this area.

Marketing capabilities

The startup needs the in-depth understanding of the customer, the market, competition and price points.

The first partner for the startup is their incubator and therefore the marketer at the incubation center needs to be an experienced and ‘been there did that’ person who can guide the entrepreneurs on the various aspects of commercializing their ideas to the market, the incubator should also have strong connections in the market to help initial push. hands on experience in the digital marketing, SEO etc is always better and if they have a design team, it could be the best.

Training team at the incubator

by far the most important strength of any incubation center is its training capabilities, the experience of the trainers and the industry reach and depth of knowledge to guide properly plays a vital role.

The entrepreneurs needs to learn various skill sets and also learn to run the company as a whole, the cofounders must understand the aspects related to the product or service as well as the understanding of the customer and ways to deal with them on table. How to give presentations at the client site as well as while training their own staff and also how to manage project.

Networking Capabilities

The incubator should be well networked as well as ready to teach networking tips and tricks to the incumbents, moreover the regular events, activities, workshops, industry visits will also help.

The persons running the incubator must be well experienced, preferably from large MNCs and government organizations to help the connections, their industry experience can easily arrange and organize funds, training, support and directions. The investors, the Angels, VCs are all in the game looking for the good projects, all the time, you just need to stick to the right incubator to find your shark.

Data and Analytical capabilities

A good business idea is often researched well and for going a qualitative as well as quantitative research as well as for analysis of the large data from the market, sometimes purchased from independent survey agencies, the incubator must have capabilities to support and teach.

MS Excel is a powerful tool but for advance analysis we have other tools as well to be use and learned, but for most of the office work and basic business analysis MS Excel is good to go. But wait! MS Excel is not all simple, it requires a lot of skills to properly and effectively use the tool, these needed to be developed over time, but start at the incubation period.

Mentorship

Assistance is needed at all levels, if it is in the form of mentorship, it helps the entrepreneurs with early stage ideas to save on their limited funds, it is always great to connect with incubator with deep base of mentors who can offer advise for free.

This is something I personally admire the most, because for the early stage ideas, it is more about getting the handholding for longer period of time before they actually start burning funds, so in the beginning if there is someone who can help as a guide, can help more people join in.

Equipment to use

Printers, Photocopiers, Coffee/Tea machines, meeting tables, conference rooms, meeting rooms, camera and LAN connectivity, Projectors, Large screens for video conferences.

There are too many things to start with, these all are required, but for a startup these are all expenses therefore it is important to find an incubation center already well equipped with all these things and facilities and you can work easily and freely with them.

Funding support

If they are well networked in the industry, with the banks, understand well the government’s policies and schemes you can rest assured of the funding, they can find it for you.

Don’t rely on the incubation centers working only for money, there are a few NGOs around who are also participating in the nation building activity and are supporting startups with their own incubation centers at a very affordable prices as well as they are well connected to find you funds.

The final words are still the same, stay within your area, find something close to you, but do it quickly.