4: The Basic Design: Fundamental Questions

This chapter will cover the various types of incubators, how to attract residents and how to determine service needs for member clients. As the numbers of incubators increases, there are clearly reasons to segment this market and understand the needs of the different industries. In the early days, incubators were predominantly for technology companies or were labelled research parks or economic development parks. Support was generic and limited to space that may or may not be appropriate for the residents within. In the last decade however, incubators have proliferated and become quite diverse in focus and strategy. This presents the various types of incubators and how they contribute to local communities and encourageeconomic progress.