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So, you are a budding entrepreneur, about to start operating as a business, and seeking a place to locate your company. You know you?re going to need some professional help, and it wouldn?t hurt if someone could look over your business plan, assist you in finding service providers such as an accountant or attorney, and recommend some suppliers. (Perhaps you need a small laboratory as well.) You?re in luck! Most of your needs can be met in a business incubator, and there are several of them operating in the state of New Jersey.
What are they? Incubators are rental facilities that offer reasonably priced rents, access to professional services, and have the added benefit of being run by a manager who is skilled in working with early stage companies and whose expertise is yours for the asking (in fact, that?s why he or she is there). A concept that has repeatedly validated itself since the early 1980?s, incubators have the start-up location of literally thousands of companies, and most important, their success rates are truly impressive ? companies that reside in incubators survive the first few years of business more than 85% of the time, and this is quite a contrast to non-incubator companies that tend to fail almost half the time.In New Jersey, most of our incubators are affiliated with state universities and community colleges such as Rutgers, NJIT, Burlington County College, and most recently, New Jersey City University. As a group they possess some of the most experienced and successful managers you could find to act as advisors to your company. They have access to accounting firms, attorneys, marketing consultants, even the business schools, and in many cases, these services are provided free of charge, or at reduced rates to tenants. Of course, all these advantages come to you through an application process that requires you to have spent some time organizing yourself to do business, and that forces you to have at least a bare bones business plan in place.
The best thing about business incubators, however, is that when your company is an incubator tenant you have the credibility of an established entrepreneur, astute enough to recognize the advantages of locating in a facility truly dedicated to business success. Investors and bankers realize the benefits of incubator tenancy and know that having been through the application process, and selected to be a tenant, your company is at least one step ahead of the competition, and better prepared to go to market with your product or service.
Can you make the cut? The best way to find out is to find an incubator in your area, determine if its location and services meet your needs, and call the manager to arrange an appointment. You can find a listing for some of them at www.njbin.org. There are others that don?t appear on that site, so ask the manager for the contact information for others that might be near you. Good luck!
Jeff Milanette is president of Innovative Partners, Inc., a management consulting firm that works with early stage technology companies and organizations providing business incubation services. He may be reached at 908-789-3424 or through the company's
website, www.innovativepartners.com |
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