Incubator Director

The Incubator director should seek to spend as much time as possible, 50 per cent or more, working with businesses and helping the entrepreneurs move their companies through the early and difficult stages of development. The director's job should include: counseling, preparing  entrepreneurs to take advantage of external resources, linking businesses to external resources and providing the intensity and persistence necessary to get client businesses to make the best use of counseling and access to resources.

Incubator Staff

The number of staff which can be employed by an incubator to provide direct assistance to client businesses is primarily limited by the cash flow from its operations.

It is desirable that an incubator, in addition to the director, should have support from an operations or business manager, someone who can deal with administrative problems: property management, leasing, maintenance of shared services and have some specific expertise (e.g. finance, specific technology), and a receptionist who is crucial to the incubator's success by running the shared facilities and dealing with client businesses on a daily basis.

The operations manager might be part-time, a loaned executive or a volunteer. The receptionist needs to be full time.

Apart from these the incubator, given its financial constraints, needs to encourage under-graduate or graduate placement schemes whereby students can gain experience and the incubator/client businesses can gain motivated and knowledgeable staff.

Incubator Services

There is no one set of services that are "right" or ensure success, rather their are a range of resources that an incubator will need to offer. These are: -

• the incubator director's and staff's knowledge, experience and skills as well as emotional support;
• close proximity to other entrepreneurs from whom experience and skills can be gained;
• access to business training and education programmes;
• access to systems which can provide financial support or investment;
• the knowledge, skills and experience of a network of 'experts' in business or technology etc.;
• access to resources and expertise through a network of contacts, both national and international;
• the physical services of the incubator's facility;
• an atmosphere or culture of business innovation and growth;
• a clear and marketable image which adds credibility and enhances the image of client businesses.

Networking

It is important for an incubator to have links and relationships with other organisations which can promote and sustain the interests of its client businesses. Such networking needs to be targeted so as to maximise the benefits while minimising the effort :