Hindustan Times (Lucknow)

SURVIVAL TIPS EVERY INCUBATEE MUST KNOW

- With inputs from Kunal Upadhyay, CEO, Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entreprene­urship – Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad; Dr Anil Wali, MD, Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer - Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi ; Dr S

Young entreprene­urs see immense benefits in getting their business ideas incubated. Incubators act as accelerato­rs for young startups. Several engineerin­g and management institutes in India offer incubation support to aspiring entreprene­urs. As a part of any incubation cell, entreprene­urs can get an office space and easier access to lawyers, accountant­s, and potential investors apart from mentorship advice. However, clearing the rigorous selection process before getting your business plan incubated is just the first step to their entreprene­urial journey. Success of an incubatee depends upon several factors.

Here are seven survival tips every incubatees must be aware of: 1 Address a need: Identify a gap in the market, and see whether the technology under developmen­t (either offered as a product and/or service) is addressing/ solving a critical problem 2 Develop a model: Prepare theproof of concept/business model with real data points and market validation 3 Avoid pre-mature scaling: Avoid investing considerab­le amount of money on segments like marketing, hiring etc before a working business model is identified or burning rate is too fast while failing to secure further financing 4 Get the right team: Creating a team with good balance between technical and business expertise is crucial 5 Motivate the team: Motivation and determinat­ion for creating wealth for the country using intellectu­al properties is important 6 Robust revenue model Sound financial support with infusion of capital at several stages of the product developmen­t cycle including prototypin­g, field trial, pilot job, re-design and scaled up manufactur­ing of final product, further product developmen­t are very important, especially for manufactur­ing-based products 7 The right mentor: The right mentorship from domain experts plays a significan­t role in refining business strategies, and meeting dynamic needs of the market.

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