Does anyone need me?
Nov 29th 2011, 4:41 pm
#1
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 12
Does anyone need me?
Bonjour tout le monde,
My wife and I are moving to the SW of France next year. We will be mortgage free and I have a small pension which I hope will be enough to cover all bills, food, clothing etc. I would like to subsidise our income and wanted to ask if there would be any work for a fully trained barber among the French and ex-pat community.
Bob.
My wife and I are moving to the SW of France next year. We will be mortgage free and I have a small pension which I hope will be enough to cover all bills, food, clothing etc. I would like to subsidise our income and wanted to ask if there would be any work for a fully trained barber among the French and ex-pat community.
Bob.
Nov 29th 2011, 5:14 pm
#2
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Apr 2008
Location: Hérault (34)
Posts: 8,888
Re: Does anyone need me?
Bonjour tout le monde,
My wife and I are moving to the SW of France next year. We will be mortgage free and I have a small pension which I hope will be enough to cover all bills, food, clothing etc. I would like to subsidise our income and wanted to ask if there would be any work for a fully trained barber among the French and ex-pat community.
Bob.
My wife and I are moving to the SW of France next year. We will be mortgage free and I have a small pension which I hope will be enough to cover all bills, food, clothing etc. I would like to subsidise our income and wanted to ask if there would be any work for a fully trained barber among the French and ex-pat community.
Bob.
Whereabouts in the SW will you be moving to? Hopefully not in parts of the Languedoc, where hairdressing salons are closing down and our roving hairdresser (one of three who come to our village) is making up her reduced income by working part-time in the local Lidl...
You'd need to set yourself up as an Auto-Entrepreneur, and find out whether your own contributions would cover your wife's healthcare if she hasn't reached retirement age. I may be wrong, but I believe retirees who become A-E's still contribute to the special "independent" health system (a percentage of the turnover...)
If you know where you are going to live, look in the Pages Jaunes under "coiffeurs" to see what the local competition is.
A couple can survive on an average monthly income of 1000€ without rent or mortgage (don't forget the various insurances, property and occupiers' taxes, car expenses, the unexpected, etc..). You can calculate how much you may need to subsidise...
Hope this helps! In any case fore-warned is fore-armed!
Nov 29th 2011, 7:04 pm
#3
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Joined: Oct 2007
Location: Halfway between Ricard & Absynthe
Posts: 4,291
Re: Does anyone need me?
Firstly I think you were wise to sound out Brit Expats to initially get their feedback of any possible interest.
In my experience hairdressers here appear to be very protective of their trade, although whether that is the case on a national scale I'm unable to say. My guess though would be yes.
Obviously if you were to set up as an A-E as suggested by DMU you would be doing it via the legal route, but bear in mind that imho in most towns and villages there seems to be a surplus of hairdressers.
With the severe downturn in the economy in France (and elsewhere) it's anyone's guess whether the trade is profitable now or in the short/medium term.
In our village (with just the one 'mixed' hairdresser) two years ago a young guy set up a similar trade working from his home - undeclared! I guess he must have had a fair number of clients as the official hairdresser noticed a sharp decline in her customers. She then got to hear about her rival and marched straight down to the local gendarmerie to report him. Next week he was gone. True story this. She herself told me and seemed quite proud of seeing-off a predator. Shudder the thought of what she may have done had it been a young Brit who opened up competition. Probably got the guillotine out.....
Forewarned is forearmed. However, good luck in your research and future plans.
In my experience hairdressers here appear to be very protective of their trade, although whether that is the case on a national scale I'm unable to say. My guess though would be yes.
Obviously if you were to set up as an A-E as suggested by DMU you would be doing it via the legal route, but bear in mind that imho in most towns and villages there seems to be a surplus of hairdressers.
With the severe downturn in the economy in France (and elsewhere) it's anyone's guess whether the trade is profitable now or in the short/medium term.
In our village (with just the one 'mixed' hairdresser) two years ago a young guy set up a similar trade working from his home - undeclared! I guess he must have had a fair number of clients as the official hairdresser noticed a sharp decline in her customers. She then got to hear about her rival and marched straight down to the local gendarmerie to report him. Next week he was gone. True story this. She herself told me and seemed quite proud of seeing-off a predator. Shudder the thought of what she may have done had it been a young Brit who opened up competition. Probably got the guillotine out.....
Forewarned is forearmed. However, good luck in your research and future plans.
Last edited by Tweedpipe; Nov 29th 2011 at 7:23 pm.
Nov 30th 2011, 4:15 pm
#4
Just Joined
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 12
Re: Does anyone need me?
Many thanks for your replies. My pension certainly exceeds £1000 per month so, I guess we'll be OK financially. We intend to grow the large majority of our fruit & veg and perhaps even keep chickens. The barbering business was really to give me something to do, meet people and give me a little extra pocket money. I guess I'll be fairly busy with decorating and digging for a while anyway. Bob.
Nov 30th 2011, 5:02 pm
#5
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Apr 2008
Location: Hérault (34)
Posts: 8,888
Re: Does anyone need me?
All the best, and let us know how you get on!
Last edited by dmu; Nov 30th 2011 at 5:08 pm.
Nov 30th 2011, 5:16 pm
#6
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 10,551
Re: Does anyone need me?
Bonjour tout le monde,
My wife and I are moving to the SW of France next year. We will be mortgage free and I have a small pension which I hope will be enough to cover all bills, food, clothing etc. I would like to subsidise our income and wanted to ask if there would be any work for a fully trained barber among the French and ex-pat community.
Bob.
My wife and I are moving to the SW of France next year. We will be mortgage free and I have a small pension which I hope will be enough to cover all bills, food, clothing etc. I would like to subsidise our income and wanted to ask if there would be any work for a fully trained barber among the French and ex-pat community.
Bob.
