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| On Incubators and Incubating |
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In Israel's stagnant economy of the early 1990s, they seemed an interesting idea. During the high-tech boom of the mid-'90s, they were a wonderful place for investors to invest. And now, during the parched economic climate, Israel's technology incubators are oases of innovative development.
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Initiated in 1991, the Center of Incubators for Technological Initiatives of the Office of the Chief Scientist of Israel's Ministry of Industry and Trade was established to provide business development opportunities for the influx of highly skilled immigrants, who were arriving in massive numbers from the former Soviet Union.
Since then, the incubator program and the incubators themselves have undergone a series of transformations. While originally targeted to immigrants, the program now recruits projects developed by "native" Israelis, young scientists or engineers, who have retired from high-profile Israeli companies like Rafael, Israel Aircraft Industries, Israel Military Industries, and others.
Just as there are many types of incubator projects, there are also different kinds of entrepreneurs: some consider the incubator project a secure two-year job, while others views it in the true entrepreneurial spirit, as a challenge, a place to make money, a new opportunity, or a whole new career.
| | Eight Days a Week |
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Small, independent companies face operating challenges that are frustrating, disappointing, and downright tiring — even for the most dedicated, driven entrepreneurs and managers. The following lists just some of the tasks and ideal amount of time required for each. |
| Task |
Ideal Amount of Time |
| Manage the company and its staff |
40% |
| Develop product |
85% |
| Raise money |
35% |
| Decide on marketing strategies for the company and its products |
75% |
| Allow for unexpected tasks |
25% |
| Total |
260% |
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It would take a superhuman effort to do everything "right." For entrepreneurs who do try to do it all, some aspect of their business will suffer. It seems that inevitably it is the marketing efforts — so critical to a product's success — that are neglected. While many of the entrepreneurs arrive at the incubator with a long list of professional credits, they may lack actual marketing experience, may not understand the market, may not have any contacts in the market, or even see the value of marketing.
In addition to providing valuable administrative support for the entrepreneur (offices, administrative services, access to office equipment), the incubator also gives marketing assistance.
There is a marketing manager at each incubator to provide assistance for all the companies in the incubator — a task that can be overwhelming at times. Each incubator company also has a project manager (Hebrew: movil) to keep things on track.
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| The Voice of
Experience
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Trendlines has been working with incubator companies from the Golan to Be'ersheva for more than six years. Our work has included qualifying potential projects for the incubator, conducting market research, developing marketing plans and strategies, and writing business plans. We have also arranged a number of business and marketing trips for incubator companies to meet with potential strategic partners and clients.
The incubator program has fostered many successful "graduate" companies. We believe that marketing and R&D go hand in hand, and there could be an increase in the number of success stories if the marketing program is introduced at the onset of the project. The schedule below outlines potential marketing activity for an incubator company.
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| During Year 1 |
| |  | Conduct and prepare a market overview
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Develop corporate identity materials
–logo
–business card
–flyer
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Write a business plan
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| | | Attend trade shows, conferences, and seminars in project-related industry (to gather information, check out the competition, "see and be seen")
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| | During Year 2 |
| | | Continue corporate identity development
–brochure
–product sheets
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Update market overview, if necessary
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Begin efforts to locate a strategic partner
–identify
–qualify
–contact
–negotiate
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| | | Continue to attend shows and conferences
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| | | Conduct market intelligence research
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| | | Continue to seek/develop investors
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This process gives entrepreneurs a suggested road map for their marketing efforts. It helps narrow the gap between gathering information about the market and making contacts in the market. As the gap narrows, the entrepreneur comes closer to developing and delivering a product that is closer to what the customer (the market) needs, thereby improving the chances of success all the way around. (While we know of cases where such a process was not followed, and the company succeeded anyway, that is more the exception than the rule.)
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The Trendletter team welcomes your comments.
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