A Black Fellas Guide to Business

Yalada, I am a proud Yalanji man, Inventor, Engineer, Coder and Broadcaster and the CEO and Founder of a start-up called INDIGI LAB.

INDIGI LAB was established over 6 years ago with the aim of develop projects and programs that provide more insight into the role Indigenous science and technology can play in sustaining our planet.

My company is developing new technology to help provide solutions to global issues like language and culture loss and climate change. INDIGI LAB is one of 16,000 Indigenous businesses operating in the country and right now Indigenous business is on the rise and is the fastest growing sector. Indigenous businesses work across many sectors including; agriculture, tourism, education, fashion, health, engineering, biosecurity, and communications and provide over 6.6 billion to Australia’s GDP.  And this is awesome!

I’m proud to say that my start-up is finally on the path to being sustainable and owning my own business give me pride and it allows me to do practice two things I’m most passionate about in life which is culture and science. I’m not making millions but I have survived and I know what I’m doing it good for our people.

However, if you are thinking about starting up a business, I can tell you that owning and operating a business is hard and even extra harder for black fellas and particularly in the start-ups world.

While Indigenous businesses are on the increase there are many obstacles to get past before getting your business off the ground. I wanted to provide some insights from my own experiences as a leading Indigenous start-up into how I overcame some challenges.  

Breaking down the barriers in business

I would say for me the biggest business challenge I face one a daily basis is just trying to convince people that Indigenous people and businesses can provide more services then just art and entertainment.

I often get asked how relevant is Indigenous science in a modern world and my response is that we are at the current point of our science and technology journey due to ancient sciences and the first scientist.

A lot of the work I do is educating people about the important role Indigenous culture, business and science plays in sustaining the country.

I continually run workshops and events just too simply educate people about the important role Indigenous culture and business can have in sustaining our planet and I know it shouldn’t be your place to educate people but if want change then sometimes it’s best to go down this path if no one is doing it?

Your culture should lead your company values

Also, I believe your strongest business asset is your company values and for Indigenous businesses culture and values go hand in hand.  I grew up with strong values for people, culture and the environment which is a big business driver for me.

My business values are reflective on the community protocols and social norms anyway so when I collaborate with other Indigenous business it’s easy to work together because most of our business aligns with Indigenous cultures.

I decided when I started my company, I would not take funding from any mining company and even though sometimes it’s hard to refuse funding but I know taking the money would go against my business and personal morals. 

Even though I it’s hard I’m glad to have stuck to my guns as now I’m starting to see more opportunities come my way as the world is seeking solutions to climate change.   

I say stick to your values and morals but even though it’s hard at times it will defiantly be worth and you will feel good about it your heart and soul.

Create a solid support network  

When I started INDIGI LAB I met with older Indigenous STEM academics and business owners and got to understand the struggles they faced in getting their business and research projects off the ground and the responses they all pointed to was a lack of respect towards Indigenous Peoples.

The key findings from the meetings helped me frame my policy agenda and projects moving forward with my own business.

By talking with the people who had gone before me it not only helped me understand the key issues in the science and technology sector but these people became mentors for me and support to bounce ideas off. 

The other important support network I developed was a sustainable science network ‘The STREAMS Network’. This network brings together Indigenous groups and the science sector to understand the cross-cultural paradigms in science and find solutions to global issues like climate change together.

I have been operating for over five years and I’m only now finding that people are starting to realise the important role Indigenous people play in business but now it’s a matter of protecting our science and culture against exploitation.

Even though there were many trying times I can see now how my efforts in trying to shift the social norms are allowing for other young start-ups to have a foot in the door.

I need to stress to the younger generations though it’s our culture and our values that unite and connect us in business and if you break this you break the supply chain which is built on every person that has paved the way for us to even have a business.

You will get the crab in the bucket people that like to pull you down but hopefully you will have the support of your network to battle these situations.

These value systems go back to the time of creation and long before Europeans stepped on this countries shores. So please respect the people that have gone before you and make sure your culture is the foundation of your business.

Be a conversational leader and think global

A wise person once said to me if you want to be a business leader you need to lead the discussions and always create something new for your audience to ponder on and then think about the next conversation starter.

This approach has worked well for me and has helped me with learning more about a topic which I may not have much knowledge in.  

We are in a world where our businesses need to be reactive and responsive. It is critical to set your business up in a way which will enable you to innovate and respond to changes in business but I beleive that having cultural frameworks your business will be able to adapting to change and being resiliance is just a part of our cultures.

The approach I took was to align our business aims and objective with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals to react to the needs of the growing start-up sector and also provide a platform for INDIGI LAB to educate people about the vast wealth of knowledge Indigenous people have in this area. I’m also currently working on cultural indications as an overaching framework for the business which will me even more maintain and practice culture while responding to the global goals.

We are now running a specialist program to help build understanding about Indigenous businesses and supply chains can positively impact on the Global Goals and other global issues.

I believe that if our Indigenous business sector unite to align cultural indicators from our respected communities we will impact positive social, environmental and economic changes faster then we ever thought would be possible.

These cultural indicators can also align with policies and framework like the SDGs to really embedd culture first. This approach could help change the values systems in business and put out cultures ahead of the global goals and the closing the gap policy. I believe that our cultural indicators will also hekp us on a path to treaty as our traditional law will guide this country again.

Understand the ins and outs and set your goals high

It is not enough to just be a one hat trick person anymore, if you want to success in business you need to diversify your skills and experience. You need to be a jack of all trades to lead the team.

I think having life skills in business is vital important as it prepares you for unthinkable situations that life brings and starting up a business in my mid 30’s I feel I’m prepared for these moments. I have gained a lot of career and life experiences over many years which I know help me across many issues I face.

I think what has driven be to succeed in my career and life is that I never stop learning. For the last couple of year I have been doing engineering though INDIGI LAB and now I’m formalising my qualifications with a degree in mechanical engineering at UTS. I aim to eventually work in space travel and build a team of Indigenous engineers who are solid in culture and leading in technology design.  

One big goal in life is to just simply be able to have a successful career with practicing the two of my passions; my culture and science practices. Hopefully if I give my 100% in these two areas everything will just fall in place and I feel it is starting to do just that now 6 years on into the business. 

Finding defining moments

Everyone has their own career and business experiences to share and for me I’m still on journey but I have found some gems along the way and still hope to find more.  

I think finding those defining moments or gems in life helps shape your view of you and your business. Use these moments in time of doubt or when one of those crabs come to claw you and say to yourself I better then what you define me as and I have something unique and different and use this power to propel yourself forward. Then stay clear of negative people that try to bring you and your business down.

That is it! My little gems in I have picked up on the way and I hope this little yarn might help you in your business career or even in life I know it has worked for me and my business.

If you take anything away for this little yarn I guess the biggest thing I hope resonates is that that Indigenous culture and business is one in the same. We stand on the backs of people who have gone before us and we have a chance to ensure we reconnect culture and business to continue an old tradition of sustainable trade. We have the opportunity to shape our own destinies and change the world for the better.