The incubation model that has been implemented for more than 10 years in Mexico seems to be that it has not changed much in some of the institutions that today promote the creation of startups. Business incubators have allowed the development, maturation, linking of entrepreneurs that, otherwise, would be impossible and in the worst case would lead to failure; According to figures from Small Business Trends , 90% of new startups fail or die, and those with the highest mortality rate are the information technology, construction and manufacturing industries. In the particular case of Mexico, according to data from The Failure Institude, 75% of startups die within two years, generally due to not knowing how to run the business.
The support of a startup incubator has been so crucial that until 2018, the National Entrepreneur Institute recognized around 70 high-impact incubators through which it supported various startups, specialized in projects that had a degree of innovation, called disruptive, technological, scalable and replicable, which promised an impact on thousands of people.
However, the process by which they develop their model to date is not always the most successful for companies. And it is that, working with a pool of companies in the same process, which do not necessarily have the same profile of entrepreneurs, or level of maturity, industry, knowledge or needs may not bring the expected results for all. If to this we add that for more than ten years the incubation model for many has remained the same; that many incubators have disappeared because they only survived due to the availability of public resources, now non-existent and that sometimes the entrepreneur is not so benefited, allows an understanding that the incubation model we know at least in Mexico has great opportunity to evolve and improve in favor of entrepreneurship.
As an entrepreneur you should know that, if you are in your initial stages and you are in search of an incubation process, you need to take into consideration certain recommendations that you cannot ignore.
1. Not always starting an incubation process with other startups is the best decision, each startup has its specific needs, its level of maturity. When a company presents its idea or project, it is evident that the shortcomings of the project are unique, so we suggest you join an incubation model that works in a personalized way, adjusted to your times and your needs and that preferably does not stop your activities for vacation periods, as it will also stop your process.
If you consider that you need all the mentoring or methodologies that will be taught in this process, join in, otherwise do not waste time and focus on the real and specific needs of your startup.
2. There are incubators that acquire a percentage of your company, be very careful with this, it does not mean that it is bad; However, take care of the percentage that you are going to give up, since in the future, it could bring you complications if your objective is to raise capital. Investors are interested in the startup being in the hands of the founders and not third parties in the early stages. Do not allow an incubator to become a founding member due to ignorance, to make decisions that are not in the best interests of your company; If you are going to do it, analyze the impact and that the benefits have the same value as what you are going to give up.
3. Know through an expert the weaknesses and strengths of your business, through a diagnosis he will know how to guide you on what are the weaknesses and where you have to redouble your efforts, you may not require an incubation process because you already have a developed product But you need a commercial strategy that allows you to understand your market and how to reach it. As we discussed, company needs are unique, so work on them and take your company to the next step.