Private Business Incubator: Implementing Innovative Ideas

Managing facilities in such a way as to optimise the production cycle and increasing safety are tasks which are extremely relevant today and which can only be successfully carried out by introducing innovatory production methods. Sarov has never lacked ideas for technical improvements. All that was needed was to create an environment with a favourable climate for innovation, where these ideas could be brought to fruition through real projects. For just these aims - to help turn innovatory ideas into reality and to support talent and brains, BINAR General Director Vladimir Karyuk established the private business incubator Opora in 2004, based on BINAR.

It should be said that innovation activities were not BINAR’s original focus – they arrived as an additional activity. The need to create a business incubator resulted from the dynamism of the market for manufactured goods, and the structural change it underwent. About ten years ago it became apparent that manufacturing companies could only sell goods and promote brands successfully by constantly creating new products, and by producing products adapted to the particular needs of particular customers. The starting point for innovation became clients’ field research, followed by joint deliberations, leading to a decision as to what needs to be done.

Business incubators exist to create the most favourable possible conditions for successful early stage small business development. Our incubator offers unique conditions for fruitful work by the creative team, providing everything necessary from the methodological, production and technical foundations, and the opportunity to carrying out work bench testing using BINAR’s equipment, through to bookkeeping and legal support. In this regard, it may be worth pointing to some basic differences between what we offer and what is provided by other incubators in Russia. We do not simply rent out buildings to small companies on the basis of infrastructure which is already in place. What we offer is immediate access to technical resources, such as a factory for pilot production, a design bureau, equipped laboratory facilities, and professional support such as access to specialists for designing electronic equipment and undertaking software development.

My visit to Great Britain as part of the May 2010 CNCP Study Tour "Technical marketing and innovation management" turned out to provide invaluable experience, for which my special gratitude to the organisers of the Programme. It was during this visit that I came to understand why indeed here in Russia projects with something unique to off er are ignored and why, at least in some cases, their products never reach the market. A crucial obstacle in developing both large and more modest innovation projects is the lack of specialists who understand what needs to be done and, most important of all, possess practical experience of bringing the results of innovation to the market.

On my return I managed to establish a structure which, in my opinion is, at this moment in time, unique and for which there are no analogies in other Russian business incubators; a structure which specialises in the commercialisation of innovatory projects. Because of this objective, the specialists working in this structure do not necessarily have to be technical experts. Their task is to seek out practical applications for new inventions and to work with clients to determine how such products can be adapted to meet the demands of the market; that is to say to bring scientifi c and technical inventions to commercial success.

As far as the development of Russian innovation as whole is concerned, it is not just megaprojects such as Skolkovo, the Systema-Sarov Technopark and nanotechnology projects which have a right to the light of day. Throughout the World start up support is given to small companies and their innovations. In Russia such companies are not yet receiving sufficient attention. Moreover, experience around the World demonstrates that developing small innovative businesses is practically not feasible without government support. Our direct experience underlines this conclusion. The most effective framework for supporting small innovative companies would be a government-private sector partnership. Only a combination of support from the government and attracting private investment will enable Russian innovation to properly fulfill its potential.

Vladimir Karyuk
General Director, BINAR

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