Free self-assessment · 13 statements · about 2 minutes
Are you running a First Nations business — or a Western one?
Answer thirteen quick statements and your reading appears instantly, on this page — anonymous, no sign-in, nothing sent anywhere. Built to push the conversation on decolonising Indigenous economies.
The First Nations way
- Community comes first
- Collaborate rather than compete
- Goals are met with patience
- Decisions are made together
The Western way
- The individual comes first
- Compete to win
- Success above everything
- Status proves leadership
Community is my foremost of all values
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Indicative scoring across the original 13 statements — a conversation-starter about how you operate, not a verdict on who you are.
Why two ways?
Different values build different businesses.
First Nations people operate differently from Western people — the same way Eastern cultures differ from Western ones. In Australia, FN founders are expected to build to Western values just to survive. That pressure shapes what our businesses look like before we ever get a say.
Understanding the difference is the first step to breaking down the colonial structures around FN entrepreneurship — instead of forcing FN-owned businesses to operate like every other Australian business.
“If people can’t acknowledge the wisdom of Indigenous cultures, then that’s their loss.”
Jay Griffiths
Deep time
Innovation isn’t new here.
The act of innovating has been passed down through generations for millennia. First Nations people were building enterprises long before the word existed:
Keep going — free
Two free courses on the FN way of business.
Free on Udemy
Free on UdemyThe power of First Nations entrepreneurship is finally in the spotlight.
Take the assessment, share your reading with another founder and join the push to decolonise the systems holding FN entrepreneurship back.