Start a Business in France

Financing your French business : Interest free loans and garantees

It is getting more and more difficult for entrepreneurs to borrow money from the banks. Last week I mentioned the Prêt Création d’Entreprise (PCE) as the best scheme to garantee your business loan, for business with an investment below 45,000€. Today I will cover a few other schemes which could help you convince the bank manager to invest in your business:

TIP: Looking to buy or sell a business in France

If you are looking for a business to buy in France or trying to sell yours, have a look at www.reprise-entreprise.fr and www.cession-commerce.com. These web sites are regularly up-dated with new offers and enable you to research by location (mainly regions) or by activity.

Auto entrepreneur profile

An up-dated profile of the auto entrepreneur has been revealed by the Caravane des Entrepreneurs. Every year, this road show visit about 90 towns through France, Switzerland and Belgium to advise would be entrepreneurs on how to start their business. The survey carried out on 705 auto entrepreneurs in 17 locations confirms that the average auto entrepreneur is a 40 year old man providing services.

Here is a more detailed profile:

What is a PCE - Prêt Création d’Entreprise

As France is hit by recession it has become more difficult to borrow from banks to fund the starting up of a business. Banks try to limit their risk when investing in new businesses. However there are several schemes available which will help you reduce the amount you need to ask for as well as satisfy the bank’s desire to lower its risk. These schemes range from interest free loans, guarantees and exonerations that should hopefully make the difference in securing your investment.

The most succesful scheme to help you secure your investment being the Prêt Création Entreprises (PCE).

New English paper launched in France today: The French Paper

If you have been missing the French News, you will be pleased to hear that a new monthly national newspaper for English speakers was launched today. Available from all newsagents and supermarkets, The French Paper covers essential news, must-read stories, lively comment, expert advice and useful information.

The ‘main paper’ has the latest news from across the country, with expert comment and practical advice. The ‘Living’ section covers anything related to living, from food and wine to travelling and culture. A whole section is also dedicated to ‘Kids’ to cater for the growing number of families settling in France; and is packed with practical financial advice and stories about running a business or being employed in France.

How to register a business to sell on French markets

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In order to sell on French markets you will need to get a “carte de commerçant ambulant” from the sous préfecture and register your business with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. So how do you go about getting this card?

1. Contact your local préfecture or sous-préfecture and ask for a carte de commerçant ambulant. A temporary certificate entitled attestation provisoire, valid for 30 days will be delivered to you.

2. On reception of your temporary certificate, go and register your business at the Centre de Formalités des Entreprises at the Chambre du Commerce et d’Industrie. The extrait KBIS, official document confirming the creation of your company, will be posted to you within 10 days.

Auto entrepreneur check list

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The new auto-entrepreneur scheme launched by the government last January has seen more than 2000 business registrations per day. But not only has it generated lots of interest, the scheme has also created a few problems. Here’s a check-list to make sure you’re covered…..

Auto-entrepreneur is a pay-as-you earn system that offers an easy registration process and the ability to pay your social charges and income tax based on a fixed rate of your turnover. The purpose of the auto-entrepreneur scheme is to make starting a small business simpler and less financially demanding in the early years. It is also a low risk option to testing your market because if you do not sell anything, you do not pay any social charges.

Auto-entrepreneurs are not allowed to be VAT registered and have a yearly turnover limit of 32,000€ for services and 80,000€ for trade. Social charges represent 18.3% of turnover for professions libérales, 21.3% of the turnover for services and 12% for trade. Income tax will add an extra 2.2%, 1.7% and 1% respectively.

Businesses switching to régime micro social: 1st declaration by 15th May

Existing businesses having switched to the régime micro social by the 31st march 2009 will have until the 15th May to make their first turnover declaration (instead of the 30th April). This first declaration will cover your 1st quarter 2009.

Auto Entrepreneur: Deadline for 1st quarter declaration extended

Auto entrepreneurs having registered their business in the first quarter of 2009 will have until 31st July to make their first quarterly turnover declaration. It appears that the accounts used by the RSI and URSSAF are still not activated!

This will explain why you will get an error message when logging into your account to make your turnover declaration. The RSI recommends to wait until you receive a notification to process your quarterly declaration.

120,000 auto entrepreneurs registered so far

The Government was hoping to generate about 200,000 businesses in 2009 with the auto entrepreneur scheme. This target should easily be reached, as 120,000 people had already registered by 31st March.

The ACOSS (Agence Centrale des Organismes de Securite Sociale) has established a profile of these auto entrepreneurs:

How to close your French business down

You might want to close your business down because you are retiring, going back to the UK or because the activity is no longer viable. Whatever the reason, here is a brief overview of the official steps required to close down an entreprise individuelle.

Start by contacting the Centre de Formalité des Entreprises where you initially registered (Chambre du Commerce, Chambre de Métiers, URSSAF or Greffes du Tribunal) and ask for a “formulaire de cessation d’activité”. Complete the form within 30 days of the activity actually being stopped and indicate the date of termination. Your company will then be removed from, the registre du commerce et des sociétés, répertoire des métiers, etc. according to your activity.

Seminar: How to become an Auto Entrepreneur – 17th April in Saint-Lô, Normandy (50)

I will be holding a seminar on how to start your business as an auto entrepreneur on behalf of the Pépinière d’Entreprises. This event will be held in Saint-Lô (Normandy) on the 17th April.

Seminar content: How to set up your business as an Auto Entrepreneur
• Auto entrepreneur overview
• Social charges & income tax
• Accountancy rules
• How to complete the registration form
• Questions & answers

Selling on French Markets: New procedure for the Carte de Commerçant Ambulant

In order to set up a stall of French markets you will require a “carte de commerçant ambulant”. This card used to be requested at the Préfecture, but a new law has just been implemented to simplify this process. From now on, you will have to send a recorded letter “lettre recommandée avec accusé de réception” to the centre de formalités des entreprises (CFE) handling your activity. For instance if you are selling goods, this would be the Chambre du Commerce and for cratfs this would be the Chambre des Métiers.

Professions libérales & auto entrepreneur: Ready, steady, Go!

As mentioned in a previous post, there has been a disagreement between the Government and CIPAV, which prevented the professions libérales from registering as auto entrepreneurs. This issue has finally been settled and the law enabling the professions libérales to opt for the regime micro fiscal has been published in the Journal Officiel on 18th February 2009.

If you were planning to register as a consultant, fitness coach or translator you can therefore proceed to your registration online or by going to the Centre de Formalités des Entreprises (CFE) at your local URSSAF office.

TIP: Regional market trends

INSEE the national institute of statistics publishes some great market trends reports, which you can read online for free. You can even subscribe to email up-dates for your region.

These are a great source of reliable information and cover various topics such as local economic trends, unemployment rate, tourism, etc. Here is a sample of conjecture economique for Poitou Charentes.

You have registered as an Auto Entrepreneur, what next?

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First of all, congratulations on taking a big step and becoming a “French entrepreneur”. You managed to register online on the official auto entrepreneur website and you are now wondering what to expect and what do next? 

Your registration form will automatically be sent to:

You should receive your company’s official papers with your SIRET number within 10 days.  If you did not have a carte vitale, the RSI will contact you to request the missing information enabling them to issue your carte vitale (passport, marriage or PACS certificate if you plan to add your other half, etc). 

Conjoint-collaborateur: working with your other half

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You plan to start a business in France, and would like your other half to help you out with or without payment – is this legal? The answer is no unless they are registered.

Whether you are an artisan, commercant or profession libérale, your partner has the choice between three option: employee, collaborator or associate.

TIP: What is your business APE or NAF code?

Every business in France is classified under an activity code entitled APE - Activite Principale de l’Entreprise - or NAF code.  When registering your company, you will need to indicate which is your main activity. Here is the APE list in English up-dated by the national Institute of statistics INSEE in January 2008.

Start business in France is back online

Not in my wildest dreams did I expect my start business in France blog to get so many visitors (1000’s each month) and because I’m in this for the long hall, I (well actually my other half Lee) needed to upgrade the site and forum software to cope and grow with the demand. Old forum posts have been moved to the new forum and old blog comments will be moved in the next few days. The down side to all this is that people with forum accounts will need to create a new one - but hey it only takes 30 seconds. I hope I haven’t, but if I’ve deleted your latest question by mistake, then please ask again and I’ll answer it shortly.

Can a Profession Liberale register as an Auto Entrepreneur?

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An average of 2,000 people have been registering as auto entrepreneurs on the official website www.lautoentrepreneur.fr since the 1st January 2009. There’s also been an issue with people wanting to register as professions liberales. Indeed the law enabling the registrations of services based activities, normally registered with Urssaf, such as consultant, teacher or telework, hasn’t been voted by the Senat or the Assemblee Nationale yet.

How to switch to the Regime Micro Social

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If you have an existing business registered as an entreprise individuelle in France, you cannot switch to the auto entrepreneur system. However you can decide to switch to the Regime Micro Social which will enable you to pay your social charges according to your actual turnover.

Get your copy of the Auto Entrepreneur Kit

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Following the launch of the Auto Entrepreneur scheme by Herve Novelli in Paris this week, the Auto Entrepreneur kit can now be downloaded from the official website http://www.lautoentrepreneur.fr.

Click on Documents utiles and you will be able to download the following pdf files:

• Factururier : template for your invoices
• Livre recettes-achats: template for your accountancy book keeping
• Registration form
• L’auto entrepreneur en 10 points
• L’auto entrepreneur guide

TIP: Where to register as an Auto Entrepreneur

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A press release issued by the Government today states that you will be able to register as an auto entrepreneur on the official web site www.lautoentrepeneur.fr from the 1st January 2009. The Auto Entrepreneur registration process should take about 15 minutes.

Can an existing micro entreprise become an auto entrepreneur?

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This is the most recurrent question I have come across over the last 2 months. The official answer is no, but you still can switch over to the regime micro social until the 31st march 2009. This regime actually enables you to pay your social charges based on a fixed rate of your actual turnover as per the auto entrepreneurs.

The loi de modernisation de l’economie has reviewed the Regime Micro Social system which was created in march 2007 and has up-dated it to match the auto entrepreneur system. So how does it work? From 1st January 2009, you will be able to declare and pay your social charges on a monthly or quarterly basis, based on your actual turnover. Your social charges will represent 12% of your turnover for trade, food and accommodation and 21.3% for services.

TIP: How to register your business trademark in France

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You are all set to start your business in France, but you would like to protect your trademark or brand name in France. How do you go about it? The first step is to ensure that the name you have thought of isn’t already taken. Go to Ici Marques, click on “recherche par marque” and type your trademark, you’ll know within second if the name has been registered and for which type of businesses.

The next step is to register your brand or trademark with the Institut National de la Propriete Intellectuelle – INPI. You can register your trademark online (site in English) or fill in the form and return it by mail

How will you market your business in France in 2009?

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It’s amazing how quickly things can change! Last October I wrote an article on how to market your business in France to English people. A visitor posted a comment today saying how interesting it was, so I re-read the article and I thought, “It WAS interesting, but I wouldn’t make quite the same recommendations today!”

Why is that you may wonder? Well, at the time I mentioned, “When starting your new business in France, your first source of income will most likely be the English community living in France.” Since then the credit crunch has hit us all and the pound has reached a low level against the euro, with 3 consequences:

TIP: Auto Entrepreneur - Assess your social charges

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The Agence Pour la Creation des Entreprises is one of the most useful and reliable source of information – although mostly in French – for people wanting to start their busines. It is also used by professionals to advise entrepreneurs (including me). The APCE is also working with the Government to promote the Auto Entrepreneur scheme.

TIP: URSSAF - English help line

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The URSSAF in Poitou Charente has an English website which will help you understand how to register your business, how to use a Cheque Emploi Service Universel (CESU) or a Cheque Emploi Tres Petites Entreprises (TPE).

How to become an Auto-entrepreneur in France

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The French Government is expecting 100,000 people to register as an auto-entrepreneur by the first semester of 2009. Although the implementation details will not be published before the end of November, this new system is ideal to test a business idea with a minimum risk.

What is an Auto-entrepreneur?

Anyone setting up an entreprise individuelle, also known as micro entreprise, for trade, crafts or services as a main or secondary activity and with a limited turnover of 32,000€ for services and 80,000€ for trade, accommodation or food provided on the premises.

TIP: Assurance Maladie - English help line

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If you need any information regarding your social security insurance, benefits and healthcare rights in France call the Assurance Maladie English help line on 0811 363646. Lines open Mon to Fri, 9am to 6pm.

Starting a Table d’Hôtes in France

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I have received many questions about the tables d’hôtes regulations since I started this blog in October. Many people are confused as to whether or not they should be registered, will they pay social charges, can they serve food to the passing trade, etc. So here is a summary of the basic rules for setting up a table d’hôtes in France.

Which legal structure should you choose to set up your business in France?

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The legal structure of your company will impact on your liability and taxation. To help you make the right decision, I have compiled a basic overview of the different types of companies available in France.

As a rule of thumb, if you are alone your options are an Enreprise indiviuelle (sole trader which includes the micro entreprise and auto entrepreneur) or an Entreprise Unipersonnelle à Responsabilité Limitée – EURL (private limited company). If you have several associates you may choose between a Société à Responsabilité Limitée – SARL (Limited liability company) or a Société Anonyme (Business Corporation).

No legal documents are required to set up an enterprise individuelle. It is registered in your name with the Centre de Formalités des Entreprises and your general income will be taxable to the income tax (impôt sur le revenu). If your partner is working with you, he or she will have to be declared as an employee or as a conjoint collaborateur (collaborating partner) and therefore pay extra social charges. The main downside of the enterprise individuelle is that you are liable on your property for the company debts. You can however protect your house by having a notaire write a contrat d’insaisabilité.

How to register your business in France online

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When setting up your business in France, you will have to register with the Centre de Formalités des Entreprises (CFE). According to your business activity, you will register with:

• Chambre du Commerce et de l’Industrie for trade and industry
• Chambre de Métiers for crafts
• URSSAF for services
• Greffes du Tribunal for agent commercial
• Chambre de l’Agriculture for farming activities

How to market your business in France to English people in France

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If you have recently moved to France, chances are you haven’t quite mastered the language enough to sell to French customers. If that’s the case when starting your new business in France, your first source of income will most likely be the English community living in France. So where do the Brits live in France?

Here is an interesting heat map of British property owners in France. The départements with the highest percentage of British homeowners are Creuse, Charente, Dordogne and Haute Vienne. The hot spots definitely seem to be spreading to the whole Atlantic coast.

Is your website talking to you?

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After you’ve made your way through the maze of French bureaucracy and finally registered your business in France, it’s time to find customers and start making money. The usual starting point for many people is to have a website designed and start advertising it in the English press in France and on appropriate websites – and this is exactly the right thing to do. But do you know if your website is actually bringing in business? Do you know how people find your site? Do you know how long are people staying on your site? Do you know how many visitors your site gets every week? If your business is seasonal do you know when your site gets its most visits? Do you know which of your paid ads are sending people to your site and which aren’t?

Promoting your French gîte or chambre d’hôtes to increase your bookings

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For most English people moving to France, converting part of their property or near by second property into a gîte or chambre d’hôtes is a first source of income. According to figures published by the Fédération des Gîtes in 2007, on average a gîte in France tends to be booked 17 weeks/year and a chambre d’hôtes between 85 and 114 nights/year. So how can you increase your bookings out of season?

Registering a business in France to sell on French markets

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You’re planning on selling food, goods or crafts and would like to test your business potential on local French markets. But are you entitled to do so without registering your business? Unfortunately the answer is no.

In order to sell on French markets you will need to get a carte de commerçant ambulant from your Préfecture and register your business with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. If you are selling food, you might also want to contact the Direction Départementale des Services Vétérinaires (DDSV) in order to double check the regulation you will have to comply with (food storage, etc).

Financial and social help to start your business in France

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You have completed your market study, business plan and are about to register your business in France. But have you checked whether you are entitled to any financial or social help?

There are more options if you are registered with the unemployment agency (ANPE) and if you speak some French, as in most cases you will have to fill in forms or give a very basic business plan in French. However with the help of your local Boutique de Gestion, Chambre de Métiers or Chambre du Commerce, you should get through the red tape. My first piece of advice would therefore be to make an appointment with one of them to check which scheme could work for you.

Auto Entrepreneur: Starting your business in France made easier in 2009

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The French Government is working on a new law, which will simplify the process of setting up a micro enterprise business in France. The Loi de modernisation de l’économie will have an impact for you if you have a micro enterprise or if you are thinking about starting a new business. The objective of the law is to free the entrepreneurial spirit by reducing the administrative burden and financial risks involved. Four key measures should be implemented by the 1st January 2009 with the creation of the auto-entrepreneur kit.

How to use chèque emploi in France

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Do you want to employ someone a few hours a week to do your cleaning, gardening or to give you French lessons? If so Chèque Emploi Service Universel – CESU is the easiest way to legally employ someone without too many formalities.

If you are planning to start a business with services activities delivered at your customers’ home, such as private lessons, cleaning, gardening, child minder or handyman, this could also be a legal way to test your market. CESU enables a private individual to pay someone he or she employs directly for various tasks at their home. There is no need for a work contract or monthly payslips, the system will calculate the social charges for you. You could also benefit from an income tax credit if you are registered to the French income tax.

Setting up a gîte, chambre d’hôtes or table d’hôtes in France

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Gîtes are often viewed as a main source of income for English people settling in France. It should however be considered as a secondary activity, as the peak season ranges from June to September.

According to figures published by the Fédération des Gîtes in 2007, the average turnover generated by a gîte is about 5500€ per year, with a weekly rental cost varying from 267€ to 408€ between the low and high season. Gîtes in Normandy tend to be rented 12 to 14 weeks per year, with an average of 17 weeks for the rest of France.

Where & how to register your business in France

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The nature of your activity will determine where you should register your company in France. If your business involves trade or industry, you will register with the Chamber of Commerce & Industry . Activities involving crafts or a mixed type of crafts and trade will register with the Chambre de Métiers . Activities based on services such as private lessons, translator or consultant will register as profession libérale with the URSSAF .

In France several business activities are regulated, such as itinerant tradesmen, estates agents or drivers’ education school; so you must always check first whether you satisfy the required conditions. These could be based on diplomas, experience or holding a professional card. For instance, estate agent and sales representative require a professional card and will register with the Greffes du Tribunal (commercial court clerck’s office).

How to start your business in France

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The legal structure of your company will impact on your liability and taxation. Here is a basic overview to help you make the right decision.

If you are alone, you could create an Enreprise indiviuelle*’(sole trader) or an *Entreprise Unipersonnelle à Responsabilite Limitée EURL (private limited company). If you have several associates you mainly have the choice between a Société à Responsabilite Limitée SARL (Limited liability company) or a Société Anonyme(Business Corporation).

No legal documents are required to set up an enterprise individuelle. It is registered in your name and your general income will be taxable to the income tax (impôt sur le revenu). If your spouse is working with you, he or she will have to be declared as an employee or as a conjoint collaborateur (collaborating partner) and therefore pay extra social charges.

Free seminar: How to start your business in France

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Are you looking to set up your business in Normandy? Do you know which legal structure is best for you? Could you benefit from some extra help or are you just confused as to where you should register your company? If so, this free seminar – presented in English – is for you.

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