Every
year, thousands of start-ups are launched only to fizzle out by the
end of the year, unable to sustain the business in the face of
cut-throat competition. That’s where a Business Incubator in the UK comes
into the picture. The role of an incubator is to minimize the chances
of failures that are faced by many early-stage start-ups. They also
help in ensuring the economic viability of the venture and offer
essential support for the growth of the startups.
Reasons
behind setting up of Incubators
The primary reason behind setting up of incubators is to create a strong
entrepreneurial and sustainable support infrastructure while at the
same time enabling young entrepreneurs to get the resources and the support they need to make their start-ups successful. Various
elements are considered like design, space, linkages, partnerships
and network activities. Consultants and service providers
collectively working together, building a holistic environment for
the startup to function.
The recommendation is to choose a partnership with an organization
running entrepreneurship
incubator programs to
host an incubator jointly. It will help the business grow and reach
complete maturity. Organizations within the incubator or who they can
connect the business with can be an investing/funding arm like a
corporate or an angel group or an academic institution. The host
partner plays a vital role by creating links and mechanisms between
incubators. A good incubator builds a network of experts from diverse
fields who can lend their expertise and experience to support
startups.
Space
and Design Elements
The incubator has to leverage design so it can help with the creation of
optimal use of space to encourage innovation. It requires creative,
collaborative and idea-generating areas while at the same time
offering private spaces where entrepreneurs can carry out
confidential discussions and meetings.
Community
Resources
UK
start-up incubators can also support startups by offering them
uninterrupted connectivity that includes power backup, electricity,
and internet, security support, IT infrastructure and even
administrative support. This way, the entire focus of the entrepreneur is on business building instead of fixing and
maintaining their business support resources. One of the biggest time
drains have been with many budding entrepreneurs wasting their time
managing these support elements which diverts their energy to
non-productive activities instead of growing their business.
Incubator
Team
The incubator is managed by a team that is well trained and help
dynamically drive the new business. The incubator can source and
guide with advisors from different fields of business, like investors
and faculty, industry veterans, and more, all who can offer support
about day to day business issues.
Network
Activities
It’s
well known that peer-to-peer network activity adds a lot of value to
a new business rather than conferences and seminars. So startups can
be involved in a variety of events regularly that helps to build up
momentum. Events like pitching, mentoring, knowledge focused talks,
hackathons and workshops can be made available that paves the way for
a startup to grow and become successful.