Which is the best way forward for us to set up a business in France?

We would like your advise on what is the best way for us setting ourselves up in business in France. We are an English couple in our mid fifties. Merve worked part time as a tiler of walls and floors - he has no formal qualifications. Shirley has worked in management - in company operations, accommodation and restaurant. She is also a keen gardener, and sometimes works as an assistant tiler too.

We have just moved to France, have bought a house, the house is in need of some cosmetic maintenance and refurbishment to make it run on minimal running costs. The garden will be developed to produce much of our own food and there is an unfinished apartment on the end of the house.

We think we need to earn a minimum of about 15,000 euros a year after tax. We also need to be in a position to both have access to medical cover via the carte vitale. We are thinking to open a gite in the renovated apartment. We think this might generate about 4,000 euros a year.

Additional possible options.

• Merve works as a tiler (with or without shirley’s help)
• Merve works as a second fitter.
• Merve works as a general handyman.
• Shirley works as a private gardener
• Look to start an online website business.

In the first year we will mostly be employed by ourselves to renovate the house and apartment. We will probably have no income other than that the gite might make. In the following years whatever we choose as our other work will have to produce more income than the gite

1. Which of us should become an auto entrepreneur, or should we both?
2. Does a gite owner have to be an auto-entrepreneur, or can we just declare the income on a tax return?
3. Can the gite and the tiling business be under the same auto-entrepreneur?
4. Can the gite and a gardener be one auto-entrepreneur?
5. The co-collaborator system seems too expensive in taxes to be worth using in our case - do you agree?
6. Can a dependant do any work - for instance under the cheque system?
7. Does a tiler have to have independent insurance like a builder and does a second fitter have to have it as well?
8. Should we both set up under the CESE (conseil économique, social et environnemental) system independently rather than become entrepreneurs so we can do maintenance and gardening work without the large insurance costs but still be within the system?
9. Can you give your advice and opinion on what route we should take to set ourselves up.