Downtown Strong Initiative: Retail Incubator Program
The goal of the Downtown Strong Business Incubator Program is to create vibrancy and ensure a healthy business diversity in downtown by supporting new retail concepts. The program will be available to retail businesses new to the downtown business core. This type of program has been successfully implemented in many downtowns across the county as a means of helping to cultivate and promote a stronger and more vibrant downtown business community.
The Economic Vitality Committee has put together the following program requirements for the Retail Incubator Program:
1) They must go through CO.STARTERS, a 9 week entrepreneurial workshop, unless owner has prior business ownership
2) If they are accepted into the incubator program they must follow a 12 month schedule with some pre-work before they can start:
- Provide a new or under served product to the targeted area
- Be considered a micro-business having five or fewer employees
- Ability to operate in approximately 800 sq. ft. of space
- Have sufficient initial capital to pay start-up costs such as signage, cable/internet service installation, insurance, and minimal space improvements
- Pay a $400 refundable security deposit
- Have a written business plan with demonstrated financial support to maintain a high quality, successful operation
- Have a current City of Johnson City business license or proof of submitted application
- Post and adhere to consistent business hours (i.e., Noon - 6:00 p.m. Tues - Sat).
- Dedicate a majority of the incubator space to the display of products available for sale on the premises (minimal mail orders).
- Provide operational information for baseline and post program statistics
- Ability to be open and fully operational within 45 days of signed lease agreement.
- Sign must be reviewed by the City for appropriateness and compliance with local regulations.
- Sign a sliding lease with the Johnson City Development Authority for a maximun12 months. Each quarter the lease will increase, in preparation for move to permanent location. At the end of 12 months, if no other program business is ready to open, a month to month lease may be available.
- If at any time, the program recipient fails to meet the minimum requirements (hours operated, non payment of lease, etc) they will forfeit the rights to remain in the program.
Detailed schedule of Downtown Strong Requirements:
Pre-Incubator Pre-Work:
After they are accepted into the program they have 1 month to:
a) Talk with an accountant regarding business accounting
b) Get payroll (if needed) setup
c) Plan for taxes from the beginning
d) Meet with an advisor about their build-out for the store and get advice on what makes a successful display
e) Get approval for any build-out, if applicable
f) MOST IMPORTANTLY:Meet with Economic Vitality (EV) Advisor to determine what the key metrics of their success are and setup a way to track these key identifiers so they can correctly measure their business as they go. (Sales, burn rate, P&L, etc.)
g) Sign media release, confidentiality, and program agreements that give the program the right to check on the key metrics. This is also where they agree to the rules (min. number of open hours, required presentations, time based rent costs, etc.). And the program gets the right to promote the business, program, and any future successes of the business down the road.
Now that they’ve completed the pre-work they are able to enter into the space and the real work begins. They should be 100% ready to launch by this point and squeezing this into a month is important to verify they are willing to do the work to be in this program. Having another job is not an excuse and being in this program is a privilege they can lose at any time.
Month 1, 2 - By the End of the Month:
a) Meet minimum working hour requirements
b) Build Key Tracking Metrics Report by end of the month
c) Present Key Findings to EV Advisor
d) Receive coaching on next steps towards success and build plan for month 2
Month 3: Quarterly Evaluation:
a) Meet minimum working hour requirements
b) Meet with accountant to review their financials
c) Build monthly report as before
d) Build Quarterly Report and Presentation
e) Present Monthly and Quarterly Findings
f) Receive coaching, help, and evaluate where they are.
This 3 month quarterly check-up is designed for them to re-evaluate the business and review the trends of their business. Are they growing? Did sales skyrocket after the launch and start to drop significant? Is the business still viable and if not is it time to pivot or take strong action with the supporting network to reach more customers? Is it time to call it quits?
Months 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 11
a) Meet minimum working hour requirements
b) Build Key Tracking Metrics Report by end of the month
c) Present Key Findings to EV Advisor
d) Receive coaching on next steps towards success
Month 6 and 9: Quarterly Evaluation:
a) Meet minimum working hour requirements
b) Meet with accountant to review their financials
c) Build monthly report as before
d) Build Quarterly Report and Presentation as before
e) Present Monthly and Quarterly Findings
f) Receive coaching, help, and evaluate where they are.
Now they get an even better look at the business. What is working and what is not? Where are they lacking and how does this change and get improved?
Month 12:
a) Build wrap up report on key metrics
b) Build presentation about how your business changed
c) Identify what worked best and did not work well
d) Build and present plan for moving to the next location, venue, etc.
e) Present everything at the end of the year event for this program
f) Meet with EV Committeeto discuss future plans
Projected Lease Payment Schedule:
Months 1-3: $0
Months 4-6: $200 monthly
Months 7-9: $300 monthly
Months 9-12: $400 monthly