Implementing Business Plans Lessons Learned from an Incubation Centre

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Implementing Business PlansLessons Learned from
an Incubation Centre

• Peter Simpson
• Food Business Incubation Centre
• www.loughry.info/fbic

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Loughry Campus

• Part of College of Agriculture, Food Rural
  Enterprise (CAFRE)
• Loughry is DARDs Centre of Excellence for Food
  Technology
• Education Programmes
• Technology Transfer Innovation Programmes

www.loughry.info/fbic
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Why Incubate ?

• Food factories are very expensive!
• SME approximately 150k 200k
• Too much RISK for most entrepreneurs
• Need somewhere to develop and commercialise
  product first
• Few Enterprise Centres are food friendly

www.loughry.info/fbic
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Food Business Incubation Centre (FBIC)

• Built in 1998
• DARD / EU
• Provides 8 food factories
• Highest quality finish
• Close to Campus
• New existing companies

www.loughry.info/fbic
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Where are we ?
www.loughry.info/fbic
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FBIC Features (Units)

• Two sizes 175m2 225m2
• Processing Area
• Intake areas, chills and stores
• Changing rooms

www.loughry.info/fbic
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FBIC Features (Communal)

• Packaging
• Chilled frozen storage
• Canteen
• Administration

www.loughry.info/fbic
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FBIC Board

• Composition
• DARD, Invest NI, District Council
• Enterprise Centre, Industry
• Purpose
• Policy decisions
• Select entrants through
• evaluating BUSINESS PLANS

www.loughry.info/fbic
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Selection Criteria

• Targeting Social Need
• Applicants area of origin
• Potential employees origin
• Employment potential
• Anticipated end location

www.loughry.info/fbic
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Selection Criteria

• Project Viability
• Technically viable
• Viable market
• Applicants competence
• Financial resources
• Project competitiveness
• Degree of innovation

www.loughry.info/fbic
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Selection Criteria

• Strategic Benefit to Northern Ireland
• Import substitution potential
• Export potential
• Use of local resources / raw materials
• Also low environmental
• impact

www.loughry.info/fbic
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Story So Far

• 120 Declarations of Interest
• 22 Business Plans evaluated
• 13 Businesses Licenced
• 81 People employed
• gt75 from TSN Areas
• 1.5m invested in equipment
• Approximately 70 products launched

www.loughry.info/fbic
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Lessons Learned

• You need an understanding of how business works
• NI Business Start-up Programme

www.loughry.info/fbic
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Lessons Learned

• Make sure youve got money!
• Customer credit
• Machinery maintenance
• Realistic overheads
• Marketing promotion
• Distribution

www.loughry.info/fbic
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Lessons Learned

• Anticipate market and demand
• Promises arent always kept
• Try not to place all your eggs in one
  basket
• Allow for some flexibility in manufacturing
  process

www.loughry.info/fbic
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Other Lessons Learned

• Prepare for hard work and long hours!
• Never underestimate the human resource
  difficulties that you are likely to experience
• Make friends, network and use all of your
  contacts to best advantage

www.loughry.info/fbic
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Other Lessons Learned

• Expect competition
• Never stand still business development must be
  a continuous process

www.loughry.info/fbic
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Benefits of Incubation Model

• Clustering effect
• Development facilities and advisors are close at
  hand
• Source of graduates close by

www.loughry.info/fbic
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Beyond Incubation

• Exit strategies for Incubators
• Development of NI Food Park concept at Loughry
  supported by Invest NI

www.loughry.info/fbic