By Chayan Garcia
Photo Editor
Students of California State University, Dominguez Hills have an on-campus platform that is dedicated to helping all entrepreneurs succeed on and off university grounds.
The Innovation Incubator is for startups and businesses looking to improve their business plans for tangible success and creativity. The full program will require a 12-month commitment to an executed learning experience. The incubator will provide instructions and well thought out, customized business plans.
The incubator was launched to help students of CSUDH, and therefore, it’s is free for them. However, their services go beyond that. The program is open to entrepreneurs across the board whether they be staff, alumni, or the community.
“We are searching for clients who come from a wide range of backgrounds and are willing to try something new,” according to a statement on the incubator website. “We want team players. We want collaborative, passionate souls who want an experience (not just a class). We want resourceful innovators with a driving desire to implement.”
This program will require an intensive amount of time to plan and create a successful business plan. The Innovation Incubator puts emphasis on the importance of teamwork, and clients will be required to add team members by the time the incubation process is complete. All clients involved with the incubator will have to be willing to “be coachable, passionate, and willing to embrace failure,” according to their website.
“Nothing has been more beneficial to my entrepreneurial development than the CSUDH Incubator,” said Terri Stallings, CEO and Founder of Teelaiz Desserts, a company that has worked with the incubator. “Just when I think I’ve gone as far as I can go, I find a way to keep moving.”
For the entrepreneur that is juggling an already extensive workload and cannot fit the program into a schedule, the Innovation Incubator also offers an Entrepreneur Academy, of which students will be able to take certificated programs a la carte that range in time frames of 2-8 weeks. These certificated programs consist of entrepreneurial fundamentals, product development, web design, and pitch basics to name a few.
For more information, visit csudh.edu/incubator.
