It has often been quoted that the only thing constant in a business environment is change itself. In fact, most urban planning professionals are instructed to develop their plans in a manner that makes it easier to incorporate any changes within the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the time to come. However, in order to bring about a real change, it is important to first rewrite ancient policies, practices, and power structures that have been responsible for breeding harmful inequities. They have, in turn, been responsible for holding people in positions of limited resources, wealth, and agency. This has necessitated a change in the rules and requirements of the entire system to bring about a positive change in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Identifying The Major Gaps
When it comes to doing away with long-established inequities, it is important to first identify the major gaps that have been responsible for perpetuating inequity. This is essential to address the core issues that continue to exist despite the best efforts and hard work of the people responsible for eliminating them. In this context, racism has been identified as one of the major causes of inequitable systems. This essentially means that the gaps between coloured communities and dominantly white ones were known to be on a rise in terms of business investment and wages. Hence, it is essential to move forward with a refined strategy to bridge the gaps of racial wealth and income to get rid of inequities.
Understanding The Basics
In order the address the issue of racial disparities, it is important to first understand how it impacts the entrepreneurial ecosystem. This is essential to come up with the most appropriate and effective solutions to overcome the challenges faced by coloured individuals, which include the South Asian, Latin American, and African diaspora, striving for business success.
Certain systems do not offer many options for people of colour to participate in entrepreneurial or investing activities, which often results in both money and talent being left on the table. To address this issue, it is essential to not only identify any access restrictions for coloured people but also the strategies and policies that might be hindering their active participation in various entrepreneurial activities. It is important to go beyond these basic aspects and understand the specific needs of the ecosystem besides working towards building relationships and seeking feedback from people belonging to coloured communities.
Extending A Friendly Hand
One of the key concepts taught in the best urban planning courses is to eliminate inequitable systems by using relationships as a tool in the equations for systems change. This is because it is the relationships which tend to deeply impact the way financial and other resources are used to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Achieving this objective requires building a network of private equity investors, venture capitalists and founders belonging to the community of coloured individuals interested in investing in business ideas presented by entrepreneurs from the same community. Bringing these people together can prove to be the first major step in the direction of removing inequitable systems and bridging the gap between wealth and income, both in rural and urban areas.
Taking The Initiative Forward
The network thus established would generally comprise of innovators belonging to the community of coloured individuals and working towards eliminating the racial wealth and income gaps by operating within the context of a high-growth scalable business. This might include builders, urban planners, and benefactors spread out all around the world.
At the same time, we must ensure that we work towards developing new rules and policies aimed at encouraging greater participation and success of people of colour in the private equity and business venture sector. Furthermore, it is important to keep building the network to ensure that new relationships are developed and better sharing of insights is achieved. This, in turn, can pave the way for creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem that thrives in the absence of the restrictions imposed by institutional, structural and systematic racism.
Prospective urban planners should take note – your actions will not only help bring prosperity to the entrepreneurial ecosystem but also change the world in significant ways!
