Indigenous entrepreneurial motivations: Purpose, Profit and Leadership

Abstract

particularly important because of evidence linking a growth in entrepreneurship to community economic development (Wong et al 2005). Some have even heralded the Indigenous business sector as a ‘sleeping giant’ (Burton and Tomkinson 2015; Hudson 2016). However, despite these successes there are still important questions to be answered about the development of commercial enterprises in the Australian Indigenous community. In particular, as the Indigenous business sector grows questions have been raised about what should be the purpose and motivation of Indigenous entrepreneurs. At the heart of Australian Indigenous enterprise sits a central tension — the pursuit of profit for individuals ver..