New York: The saviour of new business?

New York New Business

When an economic crisis hits things change very quickly and the transition from boom to bust doesn't wait for anybody. Companies have little or no time to adjust to the collapsing markets and causalities are sadly inevitable. But economies also suffer from the number of companies that never even get started during a recession, and not just from the loss of those that existed before their fall.

New businesses need a foot-up in the world even when times are good, so when times are bad that helping hand becomes even more vital. Every country needs people who are prepared to take a punt in a recession; and the city of New York appear to be more than willing to take that punt, and could even be the saviour of tomorrow's employers.

On the 12th floor of 160 Varick Street in the very heart of Manhattan, there is a place looking to kick-start the nations economic recovery. By acting as a "business incubator", New York is encouraging entrepreneurialism by offering 27 fledgling companies - selected from more than 300 applicants and representing a cross-section of different industries - desk space at an established address, along with access to some of the city's brightest business brains.

According to the BBC, companies pay as little as $200 per month per desk, a fraction of market value, offering an outstanding opportunity for enterprise level office solutions for low level market prices.

The fiercely competitive nature of New York coupled with extremely expensive rental costs make the Big Apple a notoriously difficult place to start a business.

To help the 27 succeed, the incubator - the result of a collaboration between the City of New York, Trinity Real Estate and NYU Polytechnic Institute - gives them access to business seminars, mentoring services and business networking opportunities. Vitally, the companies are also given access to "angel investors" and venture capitalists.

The main focus of the project is to generate jobs, as the incubator's director Bruce Niswander explains, "we selected companies who would benefit the most from what we had available and who could, in the quickest time possible, start creating jobs."

The incubator seeks to create an "all in it together" atmosphere, because despite many of the business people are yet to take a salary from their companies, everyone is grateful to be in an environment in which firms exchange expertise, contacts and information.

According to the BBC, the start-ups can tap into the business and entrepreneurial expertise of the staff and students of New York University and its Polytechnic Institute. They can also hire people from the student body of both institutions and the incubator will pick up the tab.

In order for the companies to be selected, each had to prove their "investibility" and longevity with a 24-month plan, addressing products, operations, marketing, selling and staffing. Mr. Niswander also meets with each company every month to focus on tasks, budgets and cash flow.

The aim of an incubator is to produce successful businesses that will leave the programme financially viable and independent in order to move forward and create new jobs.

The incubator has proved a great success so far, with the idea even being praised by New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, who said, "we want to make sure as many of them [new businesses] as possible start and grow in New York City."

Bloomberg has recently announced plans to create up to four additional incubators, which could house as many as 150 additional start-ups or 2,000 workers.

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