The number of business incubators established to help start-up entities has increased over time, and it’s easy to see why 87 % of incubator-supported start-ups survive after five years. That’s almost double the success rate of self-funded start-ups.
Furthermore, 84% of incubated start-ups remain in the same culture as the incubator, which is a compelling proposition for communities looking to boost business innovation and economic development.
Many incubators, on the other hand, are struggling to stay competitive and figure out how to attract, maintain, and graduate the best and brightest start-ups. Following is the list of how incubators can rewire their practices for the greatest start up success.
The mandate of the Incubator Manager:
Excellent selection criteria and programming must be paired with a dedicated support resource for the incubator‘s start-ups. There are many cases where there is no incubator manager or just a part-time incubator manager.
However reducing the incubator manager’s function or having a dual-purpose incubator manager and reception desk administrator would result in increased productivity at the expense of effectiveness.
The incubator manager’s position is vital to the overall success of the incubator and start-up. It’s important to act as the incubator’s operator, as well as a mentor and counsellor to the start-ups. The incubator manager should keep track of participation and set goals, as well as report on the start-up’s progress and intervene as needed.
Way of Measuring:
It is discovered that the way incubators have been measured has changed over time. Previously, incubators were evaluated based on their ability, the number of start-ups in their cohorts, and the number of start-ups that graduated.
This is no longer sufficient, given the fierce competition among incubators to attract the best start-ups. Incubators should track start up involvement in events and programming, job creation, revenue growth, number of completed sales (or clients), outside funding, whether the business plan was advanced, the fundamental metrics of successful incubation processes and overall satisfaction with the incubation experience.
Selection change:
Start-ups are often chosen by incubators based on their concept. They consider whether the idea is viable and whether they have the necessary skills to back the start-up’s concept. These factors are significant, but they aren’t necessary. Two additional aspects that need to be considered are the degree of involvement and the characteristics of the creator. Read more