For anyone who keeps an eye on the Indigenous business world, you’ll be aware that Joint Ventures (JVs) in the Indigenous space haven’t always received the best press. I guess it’s the same in any industry: a few people will manipulate the system and some negative stories will follow. There are undoubtedly some enterprises out there that have rorted the Indigenous Procurement Policy system for personal gain, and others that continue to walk a very fine line between doing the wrong and right thing. The recent announcement about a “zero tolerance” crackdown on what’s known as “black cladding”, stipulating that an Indigenous JV must be 50 percent Indigenous-owned to be eligible for government contracts, is welcome news. As someone who has recently entered into a JV myself, I’m not out to point fingers and get people offside on this front, though. I’m 100% aware that JV arrangements can be complex and take a long time to bear fruit. The last thing I want to do is cast aspersions. What I would like to do, however, is share my thoughts on the positive aspects of JVs, and how other Indigenous business people like myself, and Indigenous job seekers around the country, can benefit from Indigenous businesses partnering and collaborating to achieve bigger and better things. I’ve listed below the top five reasons why JVs are worthy of praise. Share the burden One of the biggest positives to entering into a JV is that you will share risks, costs, resources, ideas, talent and more. It can be tough going it alone in the business world. A partnership can provide you with the added strength to take on that big contract you’ve been hoping for. It would have taken me a million dollars and a lot of years to get to where I’m … Continue reading In Praise of Joint Ventures