March 2011
"There are only two
lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots,
the other, wings." Henry Ward Beecher
Jim Bartek (317-614-0792), Business
Development Manager of the Purdue
Technology Center of Indianapolis (PTCI),
offered us advice on whether and how to turn an idea into a business.
Understanding
where your idea fits into the market can help you decide whether starting a
business is worth the effort, whether the juice is worth the squeeze.
- Benefits Who needs help, why do they need it, and how can your business provide them with it?
- Market share What and who do you need to get your product or service to market? What will keep competitors from kicking you out - a patent or trademark, a high start-up cost barring entry of competitors to the market, or a strong business network?
- Business model Who specifically has the money you want and how will you get it - many low-profit sales, or a few high profit sales; a product or service that is new and unique, or that is old and established but manufactured less expensively; addict consumers to free items, then sell them add‑on features?
- SWOT analysis What strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats could affect your business?
A
new business, like every baby, needs care, protection, and help with learning
how to function in society. An incubator helps
a new business quickly grow up happy and healthy by giving it a firm foundation
and social skills needed to turn an invention into innovation, to move an idea into
the market. In exchange for fees or
partial ownership, an incubator typically provides a new business with
inexpensive advice, commercial space, connections to the community, information
and training, services, or tools. Those
benefits save a business owner time and money that can be better spent on developing the
business, a product, or a service.
Incubators
are almost as varied as the small businesses they nurture. Available physically or only virtually. Restricted to a particular technology or open
to all technologies, arts, and crafts. Not-for-profit
(focused on economic development of a community) or for-profit. Unsponsored or sponsored by an economic
development corporation, government, investment group, or university. Many offer, or help find, financial
assistance. Tips on how to select an
incubator are available from Gaebler
Ventures, the National
Business Incubator Association, and the New
York Times ("How to Choose an Incubator" 1/26/2011). The left column of this
blog displays links to some incubators located in Indiana.
PTCI, for example, provides an
incubator that is sponsored directly by the Purdue Research Foundation (a private, nonprofit
entity) and indirectly by Purdue
University. Its main goal is to promote economic growth
of Indiana’s
complex-technology industry. It helps new businesses
that focus on complex technologies (often on
business‑to‑business software) and want a strong relationship with Purdue University. In exchange for reasonable fees, PTCI provides its residential or affiliate
clients with:
- space
- break rooms, conference rooms with 2-way video-conferencing, laboratories, office and storage space, and a location near the Indianapolis airport and the IUPUI campus;
- services
- communications and marketing – advice and help with ads, interviews, and public relations;
- financial assistance – advice on where to find it and help with getting it;
- human resources – recruitment and training of employees and visiting Purdue University students, and help with setting up consultations and research partnerships with Purdue’s faculty and staff;
- information systems – advice on, and technical help with, electronic equipment; and a data center built to support technology‑based and compliancy‑regulated businesses;
- networking opportunities;
- Purdue Portals – advice, information, and training on how to commercialize a product or service;
- shared office services – basic utilities, building security, cleaning services, and receptionist and secretarial support;
- Technical Assistance Program – provides each business with 40 free hours of engineering assistance per year;
- tools
- access to expensive equipment at Purdue University, computers, copiers, fax machines, high-speed internet connections, postage meters, and printers.