“Incubation services increase the chance that a start-up will succeed and shorten the time and reduce the cost of establishing and growing its business.”
Design education has seen tremendous growth in the last 5 years, however, the Indian Design industry is still growing gradually (India Design Report, CII), which implies a gap in the demand and supply of Design professionals. In the last decade, there has been a paradigm shift in education and academics in terms of course content, duration of the classes, pedagogy and academic environment. This calls for a co-related shift in the way students are absorbed in the industry through job creation or as entrepreneurs.
For the unseasoned, the word ‘Startup’ and ‘Business Incubation’ may seem newfangled but not for the youth of our country. Since startup companies lack many resources, experience and networks, incubators provide services which help them get through initial challenges in starting up a business. These obstacles may include soft and hard infrastructure amongst other prerequisites for running the business.
There are approximately 900 business incubators nationwide, according to the National Business Incubation Association. Business incubation provides SMEs and start-ups with the nurturing environment needed to develop and grow their businesses. The need of the hour is to provide maximum practical exposure to students.
Business Incubation Cell at ARCH has been established for this very purpose. ARCH is the very first institution in Rajasthan to take an initiative to meet industry requirements, with a vision to create a world-class ecosystem for entrepreneurship for the benefit of our students.
The incubator offers help with business basics, Networking activities Marketing assistance, Market Research, High-speed Internet access, co-working space, help with accounting/financial management, Access to bank loans, loan funds and guarantee programs, help with presentation skills, links to higher education resources, links to strategic partners, access to angel investors or venture capital, comprehensive business training programs Advisory boards and mentors, Management team identification, Help with business etiquette, technology commercialization assistance, Help with regulatory compliance, Intellectual property management.
A research study done by Mr. Pramod Yadav, Director, Projects and highlighted the need for Business incubation services to support the growth of textile /garment designing and manufacturing for new startups in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bhilwara, Pali & Chittorgarh region. From the Rajasthan state more than INR 3500 Cr. export belongs to the Textile and readymade garments exports only. Therefore, the incubator will be helpful to fulfill the requirement of local Indian market as well as to increase the export from the Rajasthan through new startups.
Incubation services increase the chance that a startup will succeed and shorten the time and reduce the cost of establishing and growing its business. In-house incubation services through ARCH help students to develop long term relationships which assist them in Research & Development and building their professional network. To increase awareness, ARCH has organized various student entrepreneurship awareness programs led by experts from the industry with the support of I CREATE, START UP OASIS AND NEN. The goal of business incubation cell at ARCH is to make our students self-reliant and job creators. The socio- cultural impact of grooming individuals to become job creators is beneficial for the overall economy.
Ms. Kiran Maheshwari, Honorable Minister of Higher Education, Rajasthan Government inaugurating the Business Incubator at ARCH College of Design and Business.