Coming up with a great idea for a business is not that difficult these days. You have blogs full of inspiration and AI generating ideas with just a matter of few seconds. However, transforming the idea into reality is the tricky part. People fail at the execution of their ideas or plans due to many reasons. Lack of funding, bureaucracy, limited access to information, absence of support, etc.
Despite these snares, your ideas don’t have to fail. Proper education, know-how sharing from experts and mentoring are among the benefits of joining start-up accelerator or incubator. Let’s have a look at what these programs offer to entrepreneurs.
What is the difference between accelerator and incubator?
Both incubator, and accelerator are designed to help early-stage start-ups to further develop their ideas, prototypes, or MVPs. During the idea and pre-seed stages, start-ups' needs can vary from marketing, product development, protecting intellectual property and more. Incubators and accelerators can support you with all of that.
Accelerating program is primarily for those who need to transform their idea into real business, accelerate it, so it can grow and start earning money. It is an intensive program with experts from various backgrounds, such as marketing, finance, business, or law. Thanks to workshops and lectures, experts and mentors pass their experience and knowledge to start-ups, so they can better tackle the challenges and overcome any pitfalls on their journey to a successful business.
On the other side, incubators last longer, usually they don’t even run on a set schedule. Start-ups join the incubator to nurture ideas, design their business models and eventually build the company. This process can last from several months up to one or even two years. Very often, incubators are established and run by universities.
What do incubators and accelerators have in common?
Incubators and accelerators have a lot in common. They provide mentoring, experts' knowledge sharing and general support. At the end of each program batch, start-ups get an opportunity to present their pitch deck in front of investor(s) and raise the capital.
In both cases, a huge plus is a networking opportunity. The participants can meet other founders, their peers, skilled mentors, and experts, who can later become part of their business either as advisors, members of the board or even investors. The community of the inspiring and ambitious people is the benefit that can’t be put into question.
When is the business idea ready to get its spotlight?
Guess we could say, today! If you have a business idea with a potential to grow and scale fast in the future, there are two accelerating programs just for you. 1,5-month spring pre-accelerator fuelled with free mentoring, lectures, and workshops or 3-month accelerator with an investment opportunity starting this autumn. Both programs are free. All you need to do is to submit your application.
Don’t let the opportunity pass by you. Validate your idea, launch your solution, and move your early-stage start-up to a next level business at AceON accelerator.
