| • |
An Incubator is a place where businesses get help to grow. |
|
| • |
The county government funds incubators to help entrepreneurs grow and create jobs in the
county. |
| • |
Entrepreneurs come to them with an idea and.... |
|
| |
 |
They help them prepare their business plan. |
 |
They coach them |
 |
They have space but they are not about space. |
 |
They space is a little below market rate. |
 |
They have lab space for scientific entrepreneurs. |
 |
They provide training programs. |
|
| • |
They look at the viability of the entrepreneurs to have a viable business idea. |
| • |
They have about 150 companies in the program, including: |
| |
 |
Bio Companies |
 |
IT Companies |
 |
Service Companies |
 |
Marketing Companies |
 |
Accounting Firms |
 |
Government Contractors |
 |
International Companies |
 |
Green Tech Companies |
|
| • |
The companies pay $300-$400 a month for office space and all the services are free. The companies also get use of the conference room, copiers, faxes and about 100 free training programs a year. |
| • |
The training can include anything from basic accounting to how to do an IPO. |
| • |
Most come in with very little financing and need more money. They help teach about financing. |
| • |
They have serial entrepreneurs. Some people come back and use the services to start a new business after they sold their first business. |
| • |
There are different kinds of incubators around the country. They are probably the biggest or at least in the top 5. |
| • |
Companies stay from one year to 5 years. |
| • |
The companies can get out of their incubator agreement within 60 days. |
| • |
Small Business Administration data shows that about 80% of businesses fail. In their incubator program, about 85% of them become a success. |
| • |
You have to apply to be accepted by the incubator program. |
| • |
They offer free legal help with Copyright Law, Patent Law and Business Law. This can be worth $10,000 to the incubator business. |
| • |
There are 22 incubators in the state of Maryland alone. |
| • |
National Business Incubator Association (NBIA) is the place to look for incubators around the country. |
| • |
They have graduated over 90 companies in the past 10 years and 83 are still in the country. |
| • |
There are about 60 women and minorities in their programs. |
| • |
You can come from anywhere and they will help you start a business in Montgomery County. |
| • |
They have companies from overseas come and use their program to start a bsusiness in the United States. |
| • |
They also have a network of venture capitalists and angle investors that keep coming to them looking for businesses to invest into. |
| • |
They help their companies with presentations when looking for money. |
| • |
You can move in and take over one office, but then grow into having more offices in the program. |
| • |
The economic downtown creates more entrepreneurs. |
| |
| |
To Find An Incubator Program Near You Contact: National Business Incubator Program |