A business incubation centre is established to support initial business activities: gaining access to markets, registering trademarks and promoting products.

There are several models of early-stage support for small businesses such as technology parks, research centres, tech hubs, cluster centres, start-up centres, business accelerators etc.

These models help in obtaining funds, recruiting labour, mentoring business ideas, providing legal advice and developing brands.

Business incubation centres have gained world-wide recognition following the current technological revolution.

Young and educated citizens are encouraged to develop their own business plans, decide the nature of their products and work as a corporate entity to market their products to consumers.

The trend of forming business incubation centres in Pakistan is gaining momentum and various public and private sector entities have started offering basic incubation services for energetic entrepreneurs.

The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) has also helped setup such centres in public sector universities. At present, there are twenty business incubation centres working in various public sector universities of Pakistan.

The HEC has defined the structure, objectives, operations and funding of these centres with a view to encouraging the faculty and students to market their research and offer innovative products to consumers.

The focus of a dynamic business incubation centre should always be to market good business ideas from university campuses

These steps on behalf of the HEC are encouraging; however, we need to benchmark the existing services of these centres and adapt best international practices.

To realise their full potential, the organizational structure and working of business incubation centres in public sector universities needs to be thoroughly revised.

A good business incubation centre will require at least three different types of skilled persons: a legal expert for registering copyrights and protecting intellectual property rights; a business development expert capable of refining students’ and faculty’s business proposals; and a marketing expert competent enough to promote the product or idea in the market.

The existing practice of appointing university employees as the administrator or manager of a business incubation centres is not yielding the desired results of promoting entrepreneurs in university campuses.

In their practical forms, the linkage of business incubation centres with industry and market players is necessary as the profitability and growth of various business ideas is ultimately judged by the market.

Industry experts who are working in similar kinds of businesses should be involved in order to suggest improvements and provide a way-forward for the business idea.

Initial business proposals from students and the faculty are generally in a raw form and require considerable mentoring from business development professionals to improve the final shape of their product.

Business incubation centres in public sector universities lack the presence of qualified legal experts who may offer guidance in legal matters, contract formation, sale of goods law, dispute resolution, and competition rules etc.

Lastly, these centres require the presence of a marketing expert who can guide potential entrepreneurs on the best methods to promote their products in the wider market.

A marketing expert will help students and faculty develop realistic marketing plans thereby aiding in placing their products in markets for customers at the right time, place and price.

Such a healthy combination of business development managers, legal experts and marketing professionals will help promote the business ideas of students and faculty and will connect future business leaders with venture capitalists, angel investors, technologists and market players.

The focus of a dynamic business incubation centre should always be to market good business ideas from university campuses in order to create innovative products for consumers at lower rates and better quality.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, July 3rd, 2017