Business Incubation involves dynamic business strategies to help build up strong, viable, companies from an idea and determination. Since starting up a small business can be such a challenge for most, a business incubator is often necessary to help nurture young companies those first few months or years until they have established themselves firmly in the community.

The new entrepreneur can look to the incubator for hands-on management assistance, education, information, technical and vital business support services, networking resources, financial advice as well as advice on where to go to seek financial assistance.

The goal of an incubator is not only to ensure the small business survives the start-up period where they are most vulnerable, but to produce confident, successful graduates that are well grounded financially and secure in their knowledge of how to run a productive business independently, within two or three years of start-up.

On the average ninety-five percent of an incubator's clients graduate, and eighty-seven percent of incubator graduates remain in business, according to the 'Impact of Incubator Investments Study', published in 1997, (NBIA). The resulting community benefits of an incubator are healthy companies, accelerated job growth and a significant return on investment for each development dollar spent.

The entrepreneurs emerging from the incubators often prove to be on the leading edge of developing new and innovative technologies, that are affecting society increasingly as they grow, with their quality of products and services. The incubator encourages clients to select a variety of small business to be viable and meet the varied needs of the community, including technology, service, manufacturing, empowerment, specialized and mixed uses, etc.

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The Toronto Food Business Incubator is a member of CABI