- Take some time to read “Les Échos” once a week and make the “Village Mondial” collection of books your bedside reading material; this collection brings together a number of business books such as “Changez de vie” or Safari en pays stratégie” for instance. 

- Insure that your family circle and your friends understand that you will be working 12 hours a day for at least a year.

- Keep abreast of all the legal changes. The Duteil law pertaining to economic initiative is coming in force on September 1st, 2003 and brings about numerous changes for new entrepreneurs.

- Look into the possibility of subsidies at both the French and the European level before launching your business. You might be eligible for a subsidy.

- Use an e-mail address in the name of your company right from the start to lend more credibility to your business.

- Spend time on the Internet: it overflows with new ideas and information on everything.

- Choose a good mobile phone when subscribing professionally for the first time: the GPRS is a good deal and offers interesting features like the capability to receive e-mails.

- Weigh the pros and cons as regard to the phone number: a Freefone® right of the start for a nominal fee…..

- Try to expand your circle of relations and privilege quality when doing so: to exchange views, learn and make contact within a club, an entrepreneur’s group, a specific organisation around a passion. Surround yourself with a network of entrepreneurs friends, with whom you can have talks from time to time.

- Try to re-evaluate yourself every morning and to rethink your strategy every day.

- Practice some sport if you like it.

- Spend a lot of time thinking of ways to manage your stress.

- Organise your schedule to have at least one day off work per week to avoid exhaustion and loss of lucidity.

On a more formal and legal level here are a few pieces of information at random:

You have to kill this preconceived idea: to incorporate a company does not prevent the law from using the manager’s personal assets to recover losses if it is deemed that the losses are due to poor management on his part (which is the case far more often than you think)

To be married under a rather protective contract providing for separation of property does not shelter the other spouse from the taxman: fiscal responsibility is considered to be at the couple’s level and not at the individual’s. 

Whenever you sign a joint and several guarantee on a loan, it means two things: if the borrower defaults, the creditor can recover the debt from you and you cannot argue (different from the “simple” guarantee) and if there are several guarantors the creditor can choose the guarantor to recover the debt (generally the most solvent). You should therefore protect yourself against this type of inconvenience and when seeking a professional loan choose BDPME SOFARIS type guarantees or guarantee companies.  

If you intend to have an activity, which is regulated, except for professional unions, you can contact the DCCRF (Competition, Consumption and Fraud Squad Department) to insure that you are fulfilling all the requirements. Although it seems rather surprising, it is the competent department in this matter.

If you wish to go for an artisan’s activity, it is imperative to attend a training course; you have to register at your local
“Chambre des Métiers” and the course costs 150 Euros. It should provide you with some management skills. So you must remember to include it in your planning, as regard to both your budget and your start up schedule.

If your artisan’s activity is individual or if you intend to operate as a professional (consultant…), we strongly advise that you join a management centre: it will help you manage your accounting but above all, it will allow to claim an important tax allowance for a minimum cost (150/200 Euros). You will not regret it.

If you wish to insure that your company’s name is not already in use, you will find all the pertinent information at the INPI, the companies and commercial identity department (http//www.inpi.fr)

Finally, do not forget the various insurances you will need to be able to sleep in peace, particularly the RC PRO or professional civil liability insurance, which protects you against the risks inherent to your operation: you give the wrong piece of advice that results in bankrupt for a large multinational corporation and 4000 workers are laid off as a result. No problem, you are covered. You deliver a faulty pedestal and a Ming dynasty vase containing your commercial court president late father’ ashes falls and breaks…. No problem, you are covered for this type of risk by your RC PRO….