Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine enabling factors influencing the success of technology business incubators (TBIs) with respect to existing and acquired resources, and describe how these enabling factors have been implemented in practice. Design/methodology/approach – The potential enabling factors were identified based on the literature review through the lens of the resource-based view (RBV) perspective. The Q-sort method was then applied to classify those factors according to the experts' opinions, for evoking group consensus on the classifications. Finally, a Thailand science park incubator was taken as a case to illustrate the applicability of the findings. Findings – The strategic resources and their categories which can be considered as TBIs' enabling factors were found through the RBV theory. They are important to TBIs' success and improvement of technology-based SMEs' competitive advantage. Research limitations/implications – Because of the lack of international comparisons and the experts' panel selection bias, attempts to generalize the findings should be made with caution. Practical implications – The findings have been formulated into a set of comprehensive recommendations for all stakeholders (mainly public policy makers), which will help to enhance the development of business incubation in Thailand. Originality/value – The paper presents an approach to determine enabling factors influencing the successful TBIs, coming from the RBV perspective.