[Checklist] Who Runs the GIKI Incubator?

Structure of the Business Proposal at GIKI Incubator

1. Executive Summary
2. Introduction
3. Business objectives and its relationship with sector objectives
4. Description; justification; technical parameters;
5. Technology Transfer
6. Socio-economic benefits
7. Unique Selling points/Key innovations
8. Market Size and Nature
9. Market Demand/Customer Validation
10. Complete Business Model (including, environmental analysis, competitor’s analysis, supply
chain and processes)
11. Capital cost estimates
12. Annual operating and maintenance cost after completion of the Startup
13. Demand and supply analysis
14. Financial plan and mode of financing
15. Startup benefits and analysis
16. Startup Implementation
17. Management structure and manpower requirements including specialized skills during
construction and operational phases
18. Additional decisions required to maximize socio-economic benefits from the proposed startup
19. Future Growth
20. References

Applicants should be final year students or fresh graduates in any field. Notwithstanding, if a founder thinks through all these things and tries to come up with genuine answers then there are chances he’ll be better prepared and his startup will succeed. Planning is the most important aspect of any business. You’d be surprised what start ups go through. Knowing your product and market is bare basics. Incubators will help, but as an entrepreneur one shouldn’t expect to be spoon fed. Incubators are not business schools.  All of the above comes in to generic business related knowledge and research. These are best-practices. Some of it is debatable but it’s better to have the knowledge than simply say ‘what is incubator for?’ Entrepreneurs can’t have such a lax attitude.

Related: Best Tech Startups GIKI

GIKI incubator is flashy

They don’t ask such questions even in Y Combinator. These are the questions that one figure out during the incubation cycle. How on earth is a first-time founder supposed to know this, without any guidance, content, or material? They are still stuck in theory and books. The one with the ‘Will’ always finds the path he wants to walk on along meeting like minded people and collaborating with them for further expansion. Don’t fall in this pit. This is true in all parts of the world, not just our country. Stop reading and start doing!

We get a lot of “just give us your money” proposals

- PKR 25000/- per month stipend
- Free Accommodation
- Office space, conference room
- High tech labs
- Library
- Sports complex
- Identification of financial resources
- Networking with potential investors
- Mentorship and training, networking and access to GIK resources

Lean startup canvas is more practical though. In fairness I think they are asking for the right kind of stuff for all this but could’ve done it with less jargon. A company who knows these details will showcase a good skill set and learn a lot by doing the research to answer these questions. From the incubator perspective it weeds out the ‘We’re bored, let’s try and get incubated’ clan. I’d still highly recommend you look into all the points mentioned regardless of whether you sign up with any incubator or not. If you think hard and do your research you CAN come up with this. Haven’t you made your business plan? All this goes there anyway. Please don’t tell me you decoded to jump into your startup without giving a thought to at least most if not all of these points finding loopholes of sustaining on your own praying things went gradually up with satisfaction at its core.