This is a user generated content for MyStory, a YourStory initiative to enable its community to contribute and have their voices heard. The views and writings here reflect that of the author and not of YourStory.

How is an Incubator asset for your start-up?

Business incubators have evolved by leaps and bounds from the 70's, when the concept was first conceptualized to the current day and age.

Shobana Mahansaria 3 Stories

Friday April 21, 2017 , 3 min Read

Today, from a budding start-up to a multi-national corporate, all business entities are reaping the benefits of an incubator. For start-ups especially, incubators have proven to harvest a perfect environment and help them reach their to the greatest potential, leading them to a higher growth trajectory. Along with being the best of the source and guidance, they are one stop solution to venture capitalists, angle investors, mentors and also offer tangible resources such as accounting services, dealing with legal matters and also temporary office spaces. This enables start-ups to target their focus more on the business itself, the product or service, rather than investing time and effort in everyday administrative dealings that slow down the actual business.

At every stage of life, we all need a person or an institute who can guide us; a person who can stand by your side and help you to grow. This is exactly what an incubator does; it not only guides entrepreneurs in taking wise, informed decisions but also helps them in finding the right resources for their firm, identifying their weaknesses and helping them overcome it.

Compared to other business formats, a start-up needs more support as the idea of the start-up is always different from the one which is into existence. In the initial phase, finding resources is a difficult task and moreover, finding the RIGHT resource is almost impossible. At this point, the incubator acts as an asset to the start-up as they already have relevant experience and links in the industry to provide support to the start-up. An incubator also helps a start-up to validate the ideas if it’s good to start or not. The actual role of the incubator is not only finding the possibility for an idea to be well executed they also need to check the long term feasibility of that idea.

One of the many benefits of an incubator is the ability to tap into a strong network of business partners. Especially when it comes to marketing and PR, there is only so much one can do as a start-up with a limited marketing and PR budget. However, entrepreneurs can gain traction and step into the spotlight with the right incubator.

Undoubtedly, incubators bring numerous advantages for all stakeholders in the organization. Entrepreneurs gain a range of benefits that help them increase their chances of creating sustainable companies, and simultaneously early-stage investors gain access to a bundle of high-quality start-ups that have already received professional advice.

Currently we lag good incubators in the industry as everyone is running for short term funding; they make money and fade out within a short span of five years. Incubator institute should realize and visualize long term growth and they must work in order to provide stability to the start-up rather than focussing on funding. To conclude, it would be wide adding that an asset can only remain as an asset till it is not being misused.