“Place exerts powerful influence over the jobs and careers we have access to, the people we meet, our ‘mating markets’ and our ability to lead happy and fulfilled lives. Place is more important than ever.” — Richard Florida, author of the Creative Class series
For the new breed of entrepreneurs who inhabit Richard Florida’s Creative Class world, place takes on a special meaning: It’s a community of inventors, innovators, small business owners, scientists, freelancers and the next generation of serial e n t r e p r e n e u r s launching their first ventures — all banded together in pursuit of success.
These people are computerized, connected, content-crazy, community oriented, communicating, collaborating and, increasingly, centrally concentrated in resource-rich environments that contribute to their success.
What characterizes entrepreneurial ventures more than anything else is a desire for growth — growth well beyond that of a one-person lifestyle business, growth that stretches the entrepreneur beyond sometimes self-imposed limitations of success, and growth in sales well beyond society’s somewhat conservative expectations for the “normal” venture.
The operative word in startup and early-stage entrepreneurship is “access” — access to capital, access to knowledge catalysts/hubs, access to human and physical infrastructure and access to a vibrant environment that embraces entrepreneurial values and an innovation-rich ecosystem. Often, the most efficient way to gain access to the elements necessary for that growth is for entrepreneurial founders to congregate in communities that support and share their common goals and aspirations, a place where entrepreneurial values are the norm.
What incubators, small business development centers and other entrepreneurial services providers do above alleles is to “level the playing field” with access and connections to resources, expertise and capabilities that give startup and early-stage companies the advantages they would not normally have if they tried to do everything themselves. When deciding on who best can help your venture, ask the entrepreneurial service providers you interview the following types of questions:
- What specific services do you provide entrepreneurial ventures, particularly for startups or spinoffs?
- What networking opportunities do you provide that can help me grow my venture?
- How will you improve my odds of success?
- How will you help me achieve my personal goals/dreams and business aspirations?
- How will I be part of an entrepreneurial community- something bigger than me to leave as a legacy for my
children or for the community at large? - How do I know if I have the attitude, technical and soft skills to be successful running my own venture?
Business incubation has been around nearly 50 years. Business incubators have a demonstrated track record of reducing the time to market for new ventures and increasing their likelihood of success. For example, in the 9.5 years the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center has been incubating and accelerating companies, our rolling five-year survivability rate is 91.8 percent, far in excess of the national average of 26 percent. Nationwide, 87 percent of ventures started in an incubator are still in business five years later.
Other important attributes and benefits of business incubators include:
- Keeping you in control of your venture by taking your lead and direction. You’re the boss!;
- Magnifying your professional image with people who care and who can help make positive first impressions with customers, prospects, investors and potential employees;
- Interactions with people like you who are building their own dreams and may be experiencing or have experienced what you are going through in pursuit of yours.
Over the past five decades, incubators have been helping entrepreneurs turn their ideas into viable businesses, promoting innovation and creating jobs by providing emerging companies with business support services and resources tailored to their needs and demands. Simply, business incubators are an entrepreneurial community with access to the support, coaching, business development services, peer-to –peer mentorship and professional expertise that will increase the likelihood of success, all in one place.
Of course, no one can guarantee startup success, but an incubator can improve your odds and accelerate your idea-to=market time, giving you significant scale advantages.
So if you are thinking of starting a business, evaluating the feasibility of your idea or trying to take your venture to the next level of performance, business incubators provide the “one-stop” shop, connections and knowledge neighborhood for access to the services and resources you need most when they matter most.