Self-Employment has become a fad today. With so many emerging start-ups running successfully and the desire in today’s young and old alike for entrepreneurship has given rise to business incubators.
Business incubators can simply be stated as a company that guides start-ups in their bid to develop and run their business by providing different services, like physical space to operate be it training to develop them for the required skills or networking solutions for startups a better business model and so on.
Entrepreneurship is not a skill that can only be learned in any B-school. A degree in business does not guarantee you success in entrepreneurship. Business acumen is what separates the successful business men and women from others and it could be developed. Sometimes a winning idea is not enough for a successful business. The real test is to ultimately, culminate that idea into reality. Being said that, not all business incubators will provide you with the right kind of incubation. One should try and find incubators which would best suit their business.
So here is the list of five ‘must-haves’ that every startup should look for before joining an incubator.
A business incubator helps you do just that for its helps you to develop skills and provide the necessary resources to survive in this cut-throat corporate structure.
You should look out for these five things before joining an incubator:
1. A strong and supportive Community…
One of the important things for an incubator is its community. Starting a new business is a daunting task, which takes its own sweet time to get a steady result. Hence, you should look for an incubator with a community environment where you can help others, and people can help you as well. An incubator community that backs you in your failure and joins you in your success is what separates good incubators from others.
2. Will they mentor me?
Mentorship panel is an important factor to consider while looking for an incubator. Guidance from people who have created a niche for themselves in the startup corporate world will go a long way to helping you succeed. A good incubator is a great resource for you to tap into the mentor networks you need. A good mentorship will help you successfully devise and develop your business model, ideas and plans. You should look for mentors who have an idea about start-ups and their functioning.
3. Networking is the key….
Networking is an important asset for any entrepreneur. Make sure that the incubator that you wish to join provides you with ample opportunities for networking so that you can meet contacts to further increase your business. Start-up events organised by the incubator is the right way to judge this trait. You should also look to develop relationships past the point of just networking.
4. Funding, of course…
Funding is, needless to say, very important aspect for any start-up. A good business incubator will always provide you with good financing plans and strategies to raise funds.
5. Impressive management..
Any good business or company needs a formidable leader. He or she should be someone who can inspire confidence in his investors, clients or even employees. Needless to say, this is also the case of any good business incubator. Look for an incubator with an impressive management.
If you too have entrepreneurial dreams, you need to have faith in your Chatur Idea. You will always wonder who will fund this idea and from where will you find investors. In that case, you can participate in the #BeAChatur Contest and not only be mentored, but also stand a chance to win a whopping Rs.10 Lac funding for your dream startup idea.
