People usually think of a business incubators that are technology or innovation based because they are so prevalent. Most often these types crop up in university towns or bustling cities. The bay area in California and Ann Arbor, Michigan are great examples. The bay area is rich with Internet and Software companies, which are always looking to grow, and often acquire small start-up companies. And with incredibly fast rate of technology development, the smallest and most specific of technologies are often hot commodities. It makes perfect sense for to find a technology-based business incubator in a location like this.

Towns like Ann Arbor, Michigan have the draw of a university for two reasons. The first is that colleges are putting out a talented pool of possible owners and workers. Recent graduates are readily available and anxious to explore job prospects. And unlike in the Bay Area, these new graduates are less expensive employees. Another advantage of having an incubator in a college town is there are built-in facilities for research and development. In university towns, life science incubators are likely to show up. If there’s a hospital nearby, it increases business opportunity even more. Medical technology and bioscience research are hot realms for business development. Towns like Ann Arbor are smart to offer wet lab incubators in order to take full advantage of their setting. These incubators offer state-regulated equipment that is not only up to safety standards, but also top-notch features that are beyond the “basics.”

While not as prevalent, there are also business incubators in agricultural regions of the world, which generally focus on crop development and such. Virtual business incubators go outside of all physical boundaries and are available to anyone with a computer and an Internet connection. These are based solely online, but offer many of the same benefits of physical incubators.

Demographics are always a consideration when starting a business, but the important thing to remember is that business incubators typically fall into zones naturally. If you live in a big city, you’ll likely have the skills and lifestyle you want to take to a new business that would fit for a business incubator already in the city. But remember, moving to another location could still be great opportunity for a new business. That’s a topic for a different article.