Hi everyone,

Some of you might remember me as i used to be on the forum alot about 2 years ago.

Il just recap abit about us. there is me and my husband both in our mid 20 with 2 children aged 6 and 3. About 2 years ago we were considering moving 2 france or spain (which is why i was on this forum) We decided to go to france because my hubbys parents live there. However cicumstances changed and we decided not to go.
We both regret that decision and over the last two years we have had niggely feelings and the WHAT IFS.
We have decided to go for it now because with our son being 6 i dont really want to leave it any later for him.

Anyway back to the help needed. Our initial idea was to set up a caravan park (not sure as of where in france yet) However looking on the forum it has put me off that idea as many people say it wont work.
I was wondering what the tax is like to start your own business up in france.
We thought we could still do the caravan park and if it does fail then my hubby could work or set up his electrical company, he is an electrician by trade.
Any suggestions or advice would be greately appreiciated xx

Hiya

I can't help much with the caravan park thingy, as my experience of them only runs to cleaning them for £8.40 an hour!!

However, I lived in France for two years with my ex who was IEEE registered and CORGI registered here in England. He was looking into doing electrical and plumbing work over in France but found it so complicated to get registered etc and his French was not totally fluent that he gave up in the end. He did, however, get quite a bit of work doing electricals and plumbing work for our British friends in the area, who just paid him in cash (ouch, I know this is probably wrong, so don't jump on me everyone).

I am sure someone on here can give you some links to sites where they will explain the procedure for becoming a qualified electrician in France.

Good luck, and don't hesitate this time - the biggest regret of my life is that I had to come back, and now I am about to go over again!

Andy

Hi Andy,

Thank you for your response, We are not going to hesitate anymore we are definatly going for it.
We have just started a french course and our house is going up for sale in august!!We are going to france for two weeks at the end of july.

We have just had some good news the company my hubbey works for have got an office in france and hopefully they will transfer him there when he learns abit more french. So fingers crossed.

Thank you again for your encouragement and response

Nat xx

Hi Nat,
good to have you around again. The job for your OH with his company sounds great, less stressful than starting up your own company.
It sounds as if you have really thought things through so hopefully now it will all fall into place for you.
I think with ventures like caravan parks etc at the moment, most who've tried it will tell you numbers of tourists are down this year, not just in France.
Have a great time in July and good luck with the house sale.

Hi Val,

Its good to be back around!!! lol, i am on nearly everyday its very addictive again.
I read about your accident hope you are recoverd now and alot better.

Yeah with hubbey having job that will be less pressure and more security for us as a family,
we are still young so it may work out better this way and after a couple of years there in france when we are more settled who knows we maybe could set up a caravan park as that is our dream,

Thanks for your response val
Nat xx

Hi Nat

Just to say that Le Chant runs a caravan park, so he would be a great person to ask.

Hi

Thanks for the info Jazzy n Lol

Nat xx:

Hi

I run a plumbing/heating buisness, and I can safely tell you that it's not that complicated for your husband to set up in buisness. If his qualifications are CG/NVQ he'll have to have them translated by someone official, but thats all. Other than that he'll need proof of identity, address, a certificat from la chambre des metiers saying that he has done a weeks course in setting up a buisness. Its really quite simple but I can also accept that it can be daunting. Good tradesmen are like gold in France. Once the word gets round he'll have too much work to cope with, believe me.

i don't know how- i think i was looking for b anb b in Correzeand I came accross a Kent based site advetising a 3 bed converted cottge plus barn to convert with land suitable for a campsite ~(might have been an acre- can't be sure) in the Limousin.

maybe some of the helpful people may find this site for you.

Hi le plumber,

Thank you for your reply
Your right it is daunting!!!! So from what you said does that mean my husband wont have to do a course or something with the electrics being different in france? To make him legally bound in France,
The company he works for now have an office in france where he could transfer to and we are expecting the information ie the area of france, t&c etc later this month. Setting his own company up is another option for us.
Thanks again for the info and advice

Nat xx

oh and it was only £136,000

Thanks for that Scots in Treignac,
Did you find it on a search on google? There's that many of them it takes ages going through them all but im sure i'll probably see it one day ha ha Unless someone comes up with the website!!

Thanks again for the info
Nat xx

You have made it sound quite easy to set up a business in France, the Social Taxes are supposed to be very high. Can you tell me what the work situation is like in France for Painters & Decorators to set up a business - would their be enough work around? Also working for a Building Company?

Thanks Ros

Hi Ros,

Opening up a buisness in France is a lot simpler than before. I'm talking about the "Micro Entreprise" or an "Entreprise Individuelle", but even the Ltd companies (EURL/SARL) are straight forward now albeit a bit more complicated.

For an EI as I say you just go to CFE (Chambre des Formalités des Entreprises) which is usually just a office inside the local Chambre des Metiers, with all the paperwork required and they do all the work for you. Two weeks later and you should recieve your SIRET number, which means you're open for buisness!!

I must admit at first I had a bit of trouble finding clients at but then I wasn't from this area so nobody knew me, but once people start talking about you to their friends etc, buisness soon comes in. This is what works the best in France and its called "La bouche à l'oreille", or "Le téléphone Arab".

I did (and still do) a lot of work for architects. Its the same, you may have some difficulty at first, but once you have your foot in the door they'll always have work for you to do.
For any trade it would be difficult for me to say wether there is lots of work or not. There are a lot of tradesmen in France, but a lot of them aint brilliant............nobodies perfect, but if you're honest, cleanly turned out, and turn up when you're supposed to etc etc you'll have an advantage over the others believe me!! But there is work out there, even though at the moment things are a little slow in the construction industry.

You're right about the social charges - worst in the world!! The first year you don't pay anything but its not like you're exempt, you just pay later on!! They calculate what you pay in year B on what you earned in year A. Thats OK as long as you have steady buisness, but if you had very good profits in Year A and not so good profits in year B, it can be quite dicey!!

If you're on your own then it's not over excessive. Thats OK but the problem I found was that I had too much work to handle on my own, but not enough work to pay an employee..... And that really is hard work!!

Hi
Thanks for explaining all that, a Plasterer friend of ours got caught out with the social taxes like that. He said he advised if we start up just to do 'little and often' in the first and following years, as it escalates each year and then he found the more he earned the more SC he paid. I was quite easy to get caught up in taking on as much as he could though, and then having to work 6 days a week.