Who actually starts a business in France? Not the French. I mean you: English speakers who have moved here, or want to, and have decided to work for themselves.
I've been helping English speakers create and manage their business in France since 2009. Since 2022, I've kept a record of every micro-entrepreneur business I've registered. Today I'm opening that file on 500 registrations to show you what expats are really doing.
We'll look at four things:
- Where these expats come from
- What activities they choose
- Where in France they settle
- What has changed between 2023 and 2026
- 5. Registering is the easy part
If you're thinking about becoming a micro-entrepreneur, read to the end. You'll see you're in very good company.
Prefer to watch? Here’s the video version.
1. Where do expat micro-entrepreneurs come from?
No big surprise at the top: about 35% of my micro-entrepreneurs are British and 20% are American. Together, that's 55% of everyone I register.
Then come the Dutch at 6% and the Irish at 5%, followed by Italians, Australians and Indians. You'll even find a few French people, at 2.6%. They have usually spent many years abroad and come back to me to make sense of the French system in plain English.
What surprised me most is the range. Over the last five years, I've registered people of more than 40 nationalities: Swedish, Russian, Colombian, Kenyan, Korean, Peruvian, Hungarian and many more. The micro-entreprise is open to anyone who has the right to live and work in France.
The key question: your right to work in France
For EU citizens, it's simple. You cross the border, settle in France and register your business.
For British, American, Australian or Indian citizens, you first need the right visa to work in France: for example a visa profession libérale or visa talent créateur d'entreprise.
Brexit made this very visible. Once British citizens had to apply for a business visa, I saw a real slowdown in British clients for a couple of years. Now that people know this is the way to go, more of them are coming back with business ideas. It's tricky, but it's the only route to working legally in France.
➡️ Need a business visa? My French Business Visa course helps you prepare your application for a visa profession libérale or visa talent. Find out more
2. What do English speakers do as micro-entrepreneurs in France?
Number one, at 14%: gîtes, Airbnb and chambres d'hôtes. It's the classic dream: buy a lovely stone house, renovate it and welcome guests.
If you need a business visa, plan this in two steps. Your property must be ready to welcome guests when you apply for the visa. Otherwise, you'll struggle at your visa renewal, because you will have spent year one renovating instead of earning an income. If your house needs work, consider coming on a 6-months or one-year visitor visa to do the renovation, then apply for the business visa once you're ready to take bookings.
Number two, at 12%: business and management consultants. These are people who had a career in the UK or the US and now advise companies from France, using the same skills, working remotely for themselves.
Then come marketing and communication at 8% and software development and IT at 6.5%. Add up all types of consulting (business, IT, technical, sustainability, NGO) and you get about a third of all registrations.
It's not just gîtes and consultants
My top 20 for 2022–2026 also includes online resellers and vintage shops, life coaches, web and graphic designers, writers and proofreaders, language teachers, yoga teachers, photographers, private chefs, craft and jewellery makers, and concierge services.
I've registered an American herbalist in Arles, a Dutch gardener, an astrologer, a sound engineer and a dog walker. If you can do it on your own and invoice for it, there's a good chance the micro-entreprise is a good fit.
Why your activity category matters
In France, every activity falls into one of three categories:
- Profession libérale: intellectual work and services.
- Activité artisanale: crafts and manual work.
- Activité commerciale: buying to resell, sho.ps and food
Your category affects the rules that apply to your activity, how your business is registered and the documents you'll need. That's why the description of your activity matters so much, both for your visa and for your registration.
➡️ Free download: Get my guide 100 Ideas to Freelance in France includes the charts from this article, plus 100 business ideas showing which category each falls under and whether it's regulated. Download the guide.
3. Where do expat micro-entrepreneurs live in France?
You might think everyone is in Paris. Paris is indeed number one, with 23% of my registrations, and about a third live in the wider Île-de-France region. But that means two thirds live elsewhere.
A few hotspots stand out:
- The Riviera: mostly Nice, and growing as more Americans move there.
- The Alps: Chamonix is a hotspot for mountain guides, photographers and chalet businesses.
- The Dordogne: gîte country and a long-time favourite of the British.
- The Ain: popular with transfrontaliers, who live in France and work in Switzerland.
Beyond the top 10, my clients live in more than 100 different towns, from big cities to tiny villages in the Lot-et-Garonne or the Manche, where I live.
The message is simple: you don't need to live in Paris to run a micro-entrepreneur. Everything is done online, and your business can follow the life you want.
4. What's changed between 2023 and 2026?
When I compare 2023 with 2026, the profile of my clients has clearly shifted.
1. Creative and digital freelancers are rising
Marketing, web and graphic design, writing, video, photography and art went from 31% to 39% of my registrations. They are now the biggest group, with web design and UX design especially on the rise this year. That may sound surprising with AI changing these jobs, which is also why the numbers move from one year to the next.
2. Consulting is shrinking
Consulting was a third of my clients in 2023. In 2026, it's down to 22%. General consulting in particular is falling.
3. Gîtes have been on a rollercoaster
Gîtes were only 6% of registrations in 2023, jumped to 21% in 2025 and settled at 14% in 2026. Two things explain this.
Brexit and business visas. In 2022, many British people already living in France under the Withdrawal Agreement made their activity official, so registrations were high. Then came a sharp slowdown once newcomers needed a business visa. The 2025 jump reflects people who took the time to prepare their project, get their visa and then create the business.
They also learned to time things right. If you buy a property to restore, come on a visitor visa to do the work. Apply for your business visa once you have all the authorisations and can take bookings. Do it the other way round and your visa renewal in year two is likely to be in trouble, because you'll have been too busy restoring to earn enough.
Tighter rules on gîtes and Airbnbs. France has a housing crisis, and recent budgets have changed the turnover limits and the taxes for furnished holiday lets. At the time of writing, we are waiting for the 2027 budget. It is likely to reduce the tax allowance for non-professional gîte owners, which makes running a gîte as a proper business more attractive than as a side income.
4. Wellness and coaching are holding strong
Reiki, massage, beauty, yoga and life coaching now represent 10 to 15% of my clients, compared with barely 7% before 2024.
5. Language teaching and online reselling are fading
Language teaching and tutoring have almost disappeared, replaced by online resources and AI. What still works in 2026 is niche teaching that AI can't easily replace. For example, I've registered people supporting children with learning difficulties or ADHD, often within the expat community, and tutors who prepare international students for top universities.
Online reselling has halved. This activity is hard to justify for a business visa. If your customers are in the US, shipping from France gets expensive. If you're starting an online shop from scratch, it's hard to show you'll make a living. EU citizens don't face that pressure: I have some very successful Europeans selling vintage clothes on Vinted, for example, because they didn't need a visa to get started.
What does this tell us?
The micro-entrepreneur in France today is less likely to be a retired executive doing a bit of consulting. They're more likely to be a designer, a creator, a coach or a host running a full-time business: people building a lifestyle business around something they love.
In summary
- Who: mostly British and American, but from more than 40 countries.
- What: everything from gîtes and consulting to design, coaching and cooking.
- Where: a third in the Paris region, the rest spread all over France.
- Trend: a clear shift towards creative, digital and wellness businesses.
5. Registering is the easy part
After registering 500 businesses, here's what I've learned: managing your micro-entreprise properly is where people get stuck. Monthly or quarterly declarations, setting up your URSSAF and tax accounts, choosing your income tax option, VAT thresholds, electronic invoicing, legal compliance and what happens when you go over the limit.
That's exactly why I created Manage Your Micro Entrepreneur. It walks you through your first year in business step-by-step in an easy way.
- Your first 12 months in business in France
- With chekclists, guides and how-to videos.
- Access my private forum
- Join the Monthly group calls on hot topics, with Q&As
- Access WhatsApp group to swap tips with other members
➡️ Join Manage Your Micro Entrepreneur
➡️ Haven't registered yet? I can do it for you, so your activity is declared correctly from day one. Book your micro-entrepreneur registration
