WHAT
CAN THE
What you can and
can not expect from the
The Franklin Business Incubator can
provide some very valuable services to your company but, when all is said and
done; if you succeed it’ll be because you have the drive, talent, insight and
luck to do so.
What we can and will do:
♦ Help you question your assumptions and
refine your business model: Every
new business endeavor needs help thinking through, and hopefully justifying,
the fundamental assumptions that underlie its business model. Every entrepreneur needs someone to challenge
him or her to find answers to difficult questions.
♦ Help you get ready to seek capital: No
new endeavor is prepared to seek outside capital until they have their story
properly articulated. You will need the
proper written and oral presentation tools in place before you begin your
search.
♦ Help you plan where to look for capital:
Most new endeavors use the same approach to capital, i.e. write a business plan
and send it to everyone they have ever known in hopes that someone is “crazy”
enough to send them a check. You need to
develop a more focused approach, and we can help.
♦ Help you figure out your market: Some
entrepreneurs know their market from top to bottom. Most just think they do. We can help you get access to resources that
will let you discover how much you really know, and then where to learn the
rest.
♦ Help you plan your business future: A
business is more than just a Business Plan, its management, staffing, marketing
and sales, product rollout, strategic alliances, contingency planning, and a
few hundred other things. We can’t do it
for you, but we can help you make sure you’ve thought through the key issues.
♦ Network, network, network: You need
advisors, staff, investors, service providers, advocates, customers, and
friends. You won’t find any of them
sitting in your spare bedroom. Instead you need to get out and meet people,
talk to the Chamber of Commerce, attend educational opportunities and make
yourself visible in the community. This is where we can help.
♦ Help you set milestones and measure your
progress: Franklin Business Incubator establishes a series of milestones
for each tenant company. Incubator staff
helps the tenant establish action plans to reach these milestones and measures
the tenant’s progress and makes suggestions.
♦ Help you get training to succeed:
Franklin Business Incubator provides tenants with opportunities to learn the
subtleties of entrepreneurship.
Individual advice, group training sessions, and a library are all part
of the Incubator program.
What we can not and will not do:
♦ Fund your start-up: Franklin Business Incubator is not a
venture capital fund, Angel network, a slush fund, or a philanthropist. We do not have any money to lend or give you.
♦ Find you funding: The Franklin Business
Incubator is designed to help you get ready to seek funding, but you will have
to do the searching yourself. We will
help you design a funding plan and we will introduce you to local and regional
funding sources, but it will always be your responsibility to decide how and
where to seek the funding that makes sense for your business.
♦ Write your Business Plan: A company’s
business plan is the founding document that reflects the management’s vision of
the future. We will provide guidance and
review, but you have to write your own plan.
♦ Do your books, write your agreements,
recruit your staff, and run your business: If you expect to become a real
company, you will eventually have to put in place the basic business processes
that keep companies running smoothly.
You need to do it eventually, so you might as well start now.