Business incubators: What services do business owners really use?

Business incubators assist tenants by providing three major types of services: infrastructure, business support, and mediation (Bergek & Norrman, 2008). Infrastructure refers to the physical facilities such as the building itself and office equipment, while business support and mediation services relate to intangible services. Business support services include the consulting services and expert advice provided by incubator employees. Through mediation services, incubator employees connect tenants with experts and support systems outside the incubator. If used, these services can be very beneficial. The question remains, however, as to whether incubator tenants actually take advantage of the opportunities presented to them. This study examines the extent to which these different services were used by tenants of incubators in Norway. While the physical infrastructure is often viewed as a central benefit of being in an incubator, the small business owners in this study used the intangible services more extensively.