What Does a Business Incubator Do?

[rakibul]

What Does a Business Incubator Do?

An incubator should provide diverse benefits to startup entrepreneurs. These benefits can include:

1.Office space - Some incubators offer office space for free or below-market rates to their portfolio companies. This solves several problems for startups. Mainly, it allows them to find a professional space for their employees to work without having to sign a lease -- especially helpful when the company is unsure how quickly they’ll scale production or headcount.

2.Specialized equipment - Some incubators invest in specialized equipment, like modeling software, 3D printers, prototyping equipment, or software development labs. This is a huge advantage for scaling companies in their infancy. Access to costly equipment and simulation programs can be crucial.

3.Experienced mentors - It’s important for startups to limit critical mistakes while scaling. Most incubators offer an experienced staff of savvy industry executives to help the core team stay focused and avoid mistakes. Incubators usually employ mentors with specific startup experience that can help explain process, planning, and decision criteria -- all while steering new entrepreneurs away from costly mistakes they made or witnessed.

4.Group training and education - Many business incubators offer an array of important business training spanning from legal advice on startup documents, incorporation terms, or IP issues to general business challenges like how to ship a product, establish a quality culture, or establish sales and marketing processes.

5.Software discounts - From accounting to project management, incubators typically offer business software that helps their startups scale. Pricing and education are typically vetted and negotiated for a standard rate allowing portfolio companies to get right to work. HubSpot offers this type of arrangement to more than 1000 startup partners worldwide.

6.Shared business services - Much like leveraging software availability and selection, many incubators offer accounting, banking, marketing, and manufacturing services to help companies scale.

7.Community - One of the best attributes of business incubators are the intangibles. Working with a group of like-minded entrepreneurs, using connections for connecting with prospects or customers, and learning from others in your cohort are invaluable parts of incubator life.

Reference:https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/business-incubator