Throughout the U.S. and Canada, business incubators have become a popular way for towns and cities to support and grow home-grown startups.

If you’re considering starting a business incubator or entrepreneur centre, it’s important to consider if your city needs it, or will benefit from it, before you get started.

1. Are There Other Business Incubators or Accelerators in Your City?

You can be fairly sure your city is ready for an incubator or accelerator if one or more is already operating. There should be many businesses to support, so it’s wise to narrow your focus. You can specialize in a specific type of business, business stage, or a specific kind of support. Consider becoming as targeted as Clean Tech Open, which specializes in early-stage support for green technology start-ups.

2. Is There a University in Your Town?

If you intend to focus on start-ups, a university is a great place to find them. Universities with strong tech and business programs are especially likely to attract the entrepreneurs you’re looking to support. However, most universities will already have some sort of startup support system, so be sure to speak with local college students and recent graduates to see if there is a demand for more.

3. How Many New Businesses Open in Your City?

Not everyone can be in Silicon Valley or Waterloo, Ontario. If you’re not in a tech hub, you can focus your business incubator on existing small businesses instead of start-ups. It’s wise to find out how many new businesses are started in your city annually if that is your plan. That will let you know if there are enough businesses that may need your services in the area.

4. Are There Nearby Mentors and Investors?

You can use the internet to connect your clients with mentors and investors from other cities, but you’ll have a harder time keeping them interested. Investors prefer to be near their investments, so that they can be more involved with them. Plus, the best mentors are very busy and may not always be able to travel out to meet your clients in person.

Before you take on businesses or start-ups, reach out to those who might be good investors or mentors for the type of client you want to attract. That way, you can gauge their commitment level and find out how you can fill their shoes if they aren’t interested.

5. Does Your City Have the Right Resources?

Business incubators often offer several resources to their client’s businesses. You’ll need those resources close at hand, including law firms that have experience with businesses, office space, accounting firms, and excellent internet connections. As they may not have these resources, very small and very rural cities may not be the right choice for your incubator.

Other Options

If you find that your city doesn’t need a business incubator, you have other options. If you enjoy connecting businesses and fostering entrepreneurs, consider starting a co-working environment.

Or, if you’re looking to support businesses in a more meaningful way, consider becoming a ShopCity.com City Manager. Our platform works great with a wide variety of cities and can become profitable in a fraction of the time. Click here to learn more about the opportunity, or request your information packet now.