Every small business has a tale of struggle, long hours and rejections on the path to creating a steady income.
Kieran Hynes' IT company Willyama began with him working in his spare room for four months, ringing as many people as he could until he secured that first contract.
"It's very lonely, quite painful, with mortgages to be paid. It's a pretty scary time," Mr Hynes said.
For Indigenous businesses, the struggle is multiplied by the fact that Indigenous entrepreneurs don't have the intergenerational wealth and education to grow a business from a single person to a larger enterprise.
The Woromi man, whose family is from the Willyama region at Broken Hill, wants to make that journey a little easier for other Indigenous business people through his new venture, the Indigenous Business Precinct.
Startups will be able to lease part of a coworking space in the new Fyshwick office for less than the market rate while having access to financial and legal advice, marketing services, internet and meeting rooms.
Crucially, there will be a group of small businesses there to support each other.
Willyama is on site too, working on major projects with clients such as the Department of Defence and DXC Technology.
Mr Hynes is also passionate about providing training opportunities for young Indigenous people, who are severely underrepresented among IT graduates.
His latest trainees are local traditional owners Thaddeus Connors and Rhianna Connors-Johnston, who have just secured a contract with Defence.
Mr Connor went through a series of dead end jobs before coming across the traineeship which would allow him to build a career.
"I had no experience at all in IT and it was mainly just to go for the opportunity and try better myself and learn new things," he said.
University of Canberra's Pro Vice Chancellor, Indigenous, Peter Radoll said the university was keen to partner with Willyama and believed it wouldn't be long before the federal government showed an interest.
"We have 17 per cent Indigenous unemployment in Australia. If you look at Indigenous youth unemployment, it's around roughly 35 per cent so there's a massive issue to be addressed," Professor Radoll said.
What makes the precinct unique, according to Professor Radoll, is that it is entirely privately-funded.
"It just does not happen, Professor Radoll said.
"It's usually a government-funded sort of process and I think without the government funding you're going to have a lot more excitement, a lot more flexibility, a lot more innovation."
For Mr Hynes, closing the gap is about Indigenous people making their own way in the business world and identifying new role models.
"You can keep your cultural identity, but you can also develop a legitimate, independent career," he said.
"And I think that's what the next 20 years is about ... you can't be what you can't see, so providing opportunity for people to become successful in different careers to the normal indigenous sector."
