Has anyone here ever used a business "incubator"? I have heard that there are places called incubators that will help small businesses get started. The one I heard about helps with office space, office machinery and mentoring. It sounds like it would be very helpful to any new business. Does anyone here have any experience with them?
The business incubators that I am familar with are geared towards a specific type of business. For example, in my region, there are 3 business incubators within an hour of me:
Rochester High Tech - aimed at emergeing technology companies
Canadaigua Infotonics - aimed at photonics and related fab technologies
Alfred Ceramics Corridor - aimed at the ceramics industry
They do provide a centralized support staff and decrease the cost of operations. For the most part, these businesses are int he start-up stage and have venture capital funding. Once they meet a certain size or sales point, these businesses move out to free up space for other new businesses. In many cases, economic development zones are placed to surround incubators in order to give businesses int he center as well as outside supporting businesses tax benefits.
If you have an incubator in your area, I would recommend contacting them to see if your business matches their goals.
