Who‘s business is it, anyway? Business incubation lessons learned in CIS Kiev, April 2008 Stefan Schandera, infoDev business incubator initiative regional facilitator for the ECA region

History of business incubation in CIS Georgia and others Armenia Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz R. Ukraine, Belarus Uzbekistan Russia 1990 1995 2000 2005 2

~ 300 History of business incubation in CIS Georgia and others Armenia Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz R. Ukraine, Belarus Uzbekistan Incubators in CIS 2008: ~ 300 simplified estimation Russia 1990 1995 2000 2005 3

~ 100 History of business incubation in CIS Georgia and others Armenia Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz R. Ukraine, Belarus Uzbekistan Incubators in CIS 2008: ~ 100 simplified estimation Russia 1990 1995 2000 2005 4

Business incubation in CIS: 100 Why (not) Became business centers, doing well with rental fees Have lost buildings, and permanent clients (tenants) Donor or government support dried out Busy with their future, not with their clients Why Facility and knowledge services Positioning and local networking Policy drivers 5

Business incubation in CIS: 100   -    ? Private/NGO Governm. Donors Academy relevance  Impact and sustainability tendency Funding Private/NGO Governm. Academy Donors Management 6

Business incubation in CIS: 100 Sustainability by Mission Market orientation of services and positioning versus social mission and crowding out Strong local networks and committment Sustainability by Motivation Accountability and incentives Strong and entrepreneurial manager Financial Sustainability Providing stability, not safety Sustainability by Mission Sustainability by Motivation Financial Sustainability 7 Rustam Lalkaka (2004): Business incubator sustainability

Business incubation in CIS: 100 Conclusions Business is first: Make the tenants and their investors the market, not government and donors Incubators needs parents, too: Business incubation is no short-term business Incubators needs parents, II: Local champions and networkers 8

infoDev and ECAbit infoDev 9 Information for development program, incubator initiative www.infodev.org, www.idisc.net ECAbit Eastern European and Central Asian network of business incubators and technology park More than 40 members including associations from 14 countries www.ecabit.org 9

Thank you very much for your interest!