Entrepreneurship

Business
incubators :
how to
boost your
entrepreneurial
project

Business incubators help to stimulate entrepreneurship and to increase the survival rate of young businesses by providing them with work space and various services.

In addition to offering an incubation service, certain incubators also offer an acceleration program, usually a short-term concept for slightly more mature businesses seeking to accelerate their growth. One such example is Espace-inc, an incubator-accelerator located in Sherbrooke.

We recently had the opportunity to speak with Jean-René Bélanger, CEO of Imeka, a research company specialized in medical imaging which is currently participating in the Espace-inc. acceleration program. We asked him to share his experience with us in order to better understand how incubation and acceleration can contribute to a company's success.

Benefit from shared services

Being part of an incubator reduces the company's operating expenses by benefitting from shared services offered by the organization. “We pay rent for on-site offices, but it includes access to the Internet, a printing service, a bookkeeping service and we even have an agreement with a web hosting company,” says Jean-René Bélanger.

Be part of a community

According to Jean-René, “One of the most rewarding things about conducting our operations from Espace-inc offices is having the opportunity to be part of an extremely diversified entrepreneurial community. There are companies that make electric vehicles, beer, software, etc. That makes for some pretty fascinating discussions during breaks in the common areas.”

He continues by explaining that, even though the entrepreneurs in the incubator come from a very wide variety of business sectors, they have to deal with similar issues. Being in close proximity allows everyone to share their way of looking at a specific problem and to benefit from this pooling of ideas.

Working closely with other entrepreneurs from various fields also helps to build a strong professional network. Jean-René Bélanger emphasizes this aspect: “In the incubator, if you need a specific resource, all you have to do is raise your hand. Everyone knows someone who knows someone.” The community aspect of the incubator experience definitely helps in the fight against the loneliness of entrepreneurship.

Benefit from the experience of mentors and coaches

Like we explain in another article, mentoring significantly increases a company's chances of success. That's why having experienced mentors and coaches in incubators makes a big difference.

“One of the main factors for inclusion in Espace-inc is to be coachable, to have the desire to be helped,” says Jean-René Bélanger. “We are surrounded by people with a great deal of business experience. The big advantage in that is that it prevents us from doing too much trial and error. When you start your business, you often have a thousand paths to take. Using the advice and feedback from coaches and mentors can bring it down to 20,” he says.

With the backing of coaches, you can periodically review the essential aspects of the company, such as the financial forecasts, marketing strategy and communication plan. They can also help entrepreneurs to edit their business model and perfect their arguments to present their project to investors.

Make it easier to get financing

Obtaining financing is a crucial part of an entrepreneurial project and business incubators can help to facilitate the process for startup businesses. Like Jean-René points out “There are financing organizations that are connected to incubators like Espace-inc. They trust the incubator selection process. And being accepted in the organization gives your business a certain amount of additional credibility with investors.”

A favourable environment to develop your sense of entrepreneurship

In addition to helping your business get started and grow, a session in an incubator is the opportunity to immerse yourself in a true community of entrepreneurs selected for their personality, the quality of their entrepreneurial project and, for Espace-inc, their propensity for having a strong economic, social or environmental impact.

The difference between an incubator and an accelerator is not always clear. To help you choose the formula that best suits your business, we recommend the excellent article published by Devenir entrepreneur.