BioStart, Cincinnati's life-science business incubator, is closing its facility in the University of Cincinnati Hoxworth Blood Center in Corryville on Sept. 30 when its lease expires. It began in 1996. What was your business doing then?
I think this was pretty forward thinking for U.C. and BioStart at the time. During the 15 years of operation, BioStart has helped 125 companies launch businesses, build management teams, and raise $180 million in funding.
Now they are evolving. They saw their value added strengths and are staying in business, but are not in need of a laboratory setting. BioStart plans to focus on offering services and coaching expertise to life-science startups. Carol Frankenstein, BioStart president, said laboratory space, like that offered at the Hoxworth building, is less important to startups today with product development outsourcing and commercial real estate space widely available.
When I first read the news article, I wasn't sure how I felt. I see incubators as a critical and large piece to economic recovery. I also see them as one way the U.S. stays a 1/2 step in front of our competitors.
But kudos to Carol and her board for understanding what bioscience clients need and are willing to adjust to provide those services.
This is so critical to keeping a business alive. A pond without fresh water becomes stagnant. Mission and vision statements need to be measured against the panoramic view to see if your company has selected the correct "slice" from that view or has the company evolved. Are you in the same business sector as you once were? Same evaluation process goes for the topic within the sector, and the product/service within the topic.
How often a company needs to go through this evaluation may depend upon the business cluster, but it must be on a regular schedule. And always start at the panoramic view, not at the product/service level.
By so doing, you will be sure you are putting forth fresh ideas and evaluating the concepts and the realities, just like BioStart.
The news article mentioned is below:
http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20110725/BIZ01/107260313/BioStart-move-out-UC?odyssey=nav|head,
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