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Starting your first business in France? Here are the steps, and some great tips

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Re: Starting your first business in France? Here are the steps, and some great tips

#51
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's absolutely non-sensical to want to be part of a common market but to not do what's necessary to actually create a common market. You can't cherry pick what you want. Freedom of labor (which necessitates freedom of movement) is just as much part of a common market as freedom of capital is. If the UK wants to leave the EU but, for example, keep freedom of capital they will be told off. If they don't want to accept…

There are lots of people in the UK who want to remain in the EU - and I'm one of them. I hope that if it looked like the UK was going to leave the EU then Scotland would leave the UK and (re)join the EU.

Ha ha.

"We want Scotland to be an independent country! And that sacrifice its independence to the EU."

Yeah, that's logical.

Re: Starting your first business in France? Here are the steps, and some great tips

#52

Dealing with banks in France is a humiliating experience even if you're not a company. They have way too much unchecked power and, ultimately, treat you like a criminal. For example, if you do an international bank transfer, you might get a phone call to explain it. If they don't like the explanation, they will freeze your account. They even freeze accounts if you get an unusual bonus from your employer and they find…

that's funny because I've had the opposite experience with my bank (Societe Generale). I've been able to call them up for most anything and they've been super reactive. Maybe it's all the fees I pay

Re: Starting your first business in France? Here are the steps, and some great tips

#53
post #26

Can anyone explain European rubber stamp-fetishism? Has there ever been a study done showing that rubber stamping practically everything (20 euro purchase at an electronics store) is effective in preventing forging of documents? To an outsider visiting continental Europe the practice looks redundant and almost comical.

Getting the stamp on the 20 euro electronics purchase is in the customer's best interest as it is a proof that he purchased the item there and so can get warranty service from the seller (I don't know if "warranty" is the correct term here, in German we have two words for two concepts that wikipedia both links to the English "warranty" and that most people confuse anyway: "Garantie" (cognate to "warranty") which is a voluntary service offered by the producer, and "Gewährleistung", which is a legally mandated service by the seller. The stamp documents your right to get "Gewährleistung" from the seller who puts his stamp on your receipt, and usually the producer's "Garantie" requires that stamp, too).

Re: Starting your first business in France? Here are the steps, and some great tips

#54
post #24

Some incorrections here and there in the article, I want to add some fixes: - I wouldn't say the exigence of having a bank account is humiliating for a company. The process of opening one can be, however. But you can pick up any bank you want in any EU country you want. They can't "discriminate" against say a Luxembourg bank if you think this bank will serve you better. That's the EU market- same currency, and they c…

You are 100% spot on. I moved to Belgium (like many "wealthy" french people do) and will probably move further away. The situation in the eurozone is really degrading quickly: it's not gonna get better with the second state default of Greece and the 50% unemployment amongst young people in Spain. Portugal, Italy and France (Greece is economically dead as of now) are on life support. France let way too many people in…

The FUD is strong in this post again. Please keep your political unargumented opinions for yourself.

> all the immigrants can't find job and suddenly they accelerate the fall of the GDP (due to all the wellfare-state benefits that have to be paid).

In 2009, of the 600 billion euros spent by the french government on welfare [1], 45% were allocated towards elder care, 35% towards general health care, 10% towards family welfare (which every family benefit from whatever their revenues are, and which has been praised by many nations as a major factor in France's high birth rates), and a whopping 6.1% towards unemployement aids. I'm pretty sure the numbers in 2012 aren't far from that.

So yeah, your bar counter theories on immigration and welfare being the cause of the economic crisis don't mean much when compared to real numbers.

EDIT: I'll add towards the international audience of HN that, it's true that few French don't realize how awesome health care is in France (which is one of the reasons why salaries are lower here for the middle class and above, the other reasons being education and retirement). You can go to a hospital for a severe treatment (including many treatments such as cancer which could bankrupt an individual) and get treated essentially for free. If you have a job, your health insurance usually takes care of the part (minus a tiny something) that isn't paid by Securité Sociale (the state departement that manages all health related spendings) and if you're too poor to afford a health insurance you get a universal, state-managed one which gives you most of the benefits anyway.

Where in another country, you'd have to pay thousands of euros of hospital bills for a severe condition, in France usually you'd end up paying only a couple hundred euros, perhaps less.

Of course this comes at a cost (and has drawbacks as well because people don't realize the true cost of healthcare), but that's the choice that's been made by the French society.

>Last year while on vacation in France my girlfriend was driving in a 8K convertible car (bought used for 8K). 8K. Hardly a "rich" person's car. Yet she could see the disdain and hate at trafic light from french people.

Yay for anecdotal evidence !

>Physical security is a real issue: it's really not reassuring to take the subway in Paris and exit at station "Chatelet" to see groups of heavy armed military trying to make sure the situation doesn't degenerate too quickly. [...] >The military are already in charge of subway stations and doing surveillance in front of important buildings (like Notre Dame). There are only going to be more and more of them. If the situation gets worse I expect the "couvre feu" to be put in place in big cities.

Please. The militaries are part of plan Vigipirate whose goal is to prevent terrorists attacks in risky public places. They are certainly not here for criminal violence (which, if you knew what you talk about, are the jurisdiction of the various police forces, including CRS and gendarmes).

The situation surely isn't ideal, but we're a very long way from curfews and martial law. What you're saying is pure bullshit.

>I don't mind giving Godwin the win

Yep, Godwin point. It truly shows how well argumented your message is.

[1] http://www.lepoint.fr/economie/les-prestations-sociales-ont-...

Re: Starting your first business in France? Here are the steps, and some great tips

#55
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are lots of people in the UK who want to remain in the EU - and I'm one of them. I hope that if it looked like the UK was going to leave the EU then Scotland would leave the UK and (re)join the EU.

Ha ha. "We want Scotland to be an independent country! And that sacrifice its independence to the EU." Yeah, that's logical.

Well, as I'm more attached to the EU than the UK it seems perfectly logical to me.

Re: Starting your first business in France? Here are the steps, and some great tips

#56
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know really; I started my company 8 years ago and it didn't appear to be that much of a hassle to be honest. I could find 3 banks willing to take us onboard in an afternoon. And I only pay 140€/mo for the whole family health-care extension :P

Okay, thanks for sharing that perspective. Perhaps its the case of different cities having different business cultures within France? Not unlike how doing a high tech startup is going to look somewhat different in the bay area of California vs in Macon, Georgia?

There are different cultures in different cities for sure.

That said I, like a growing number of people I know, do everything "online" from a very rural place of France (both doing consulting for heavily technical startups or regular companies, and launching a SaaS product), and meet entrepreneurs and technical people once per year at conferences etc.

Then again I don't have employees (we're 2 cofounders as a couple), so being remote is probably easier!

Re: Starting your first business in France? Here are the steps, and some great tips

#57
post #46
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's absolutely non-sensical to want to be part of a common market but to not do what's necessary to actually create a common market. You can't cherry pick what you want. Freedom of labor (which necessitates freedom of movement) is just as much part of a common market as freedom of capital is. If the UK wants to leave the EU but, for example, keep freedom of capital they will be told off. If they don't want to accept…

There are plenty of free trade agreements that don't rely on this harmonisation. Unfortunately the EU is set on a course of political union, which I think the majority of the UK would not want to be part of.

Free trade agreements do not create common markets. (Well, they can, but if they do they include some sort of harmonization of relevant laws).

Plus, the UK already excludes itself from practically all non-common-market activities of the EU. They aren't participating there anyway.

I also think you are confused about what creating a common market entails. It necessitates common political decisions. The common sticking point of freedom of movement is not some nice to have thing. Without it there can be no common market. Likewise, the harmonization of (relevant) laws is not some nice to have thing. That's hard political work that has to be done to reach the goal and doing it without a political structure on the EU level is unrealistic. (You can't have consensus-based negotiations about the minutiae of safety regulations for wine harvesters between heads of state.)

If that's too much for the UK to deal with then that's fine with me. The rest of the EU will do fine withput them. If the UK wants free trade agreements they can have that. They can't, however, have parts of the common market they like but not those they don't like.

Re: Starting your first business in France? Here are the steps, and some great tips

#58
post #24

Some incorrections here and there in the article, I want to add some fixes: - I wouldn't say the exigence of having a bank account is humiliating for a company. The process of opening one can be, however. But you can pick up any bank you want in any EU country you want. They can't "discriminate" against say a Luxembourg bank if you think this bank will serve you better. That's the EU market- same currency, and they c…

You are 100% spot on. I moved to Belgium (like many "wealthy" french people do) and will probably move further away. The situation in the eurozone is really degrading quickly: it's not gonna get better with the second state default of Greece and the 50% unemployment amongst young people in Spain. Portugal, Italy and France (Greece is economically dead as of now) are on life support. France let way too many people in…

What are you thoughts, or maybe anyone else's on South America?

Argentina, Chile, or Brazil?

Re: Starting your first business in France? Here are the steps, and some great tips

#59
post #26

Can anyone explain European rubber stamp-fetishism? Has there ever been a study done showing that rubber stamping practically everything (20 euro purchase at an electronics store) is effective in preventing forging of documents? To an outsider visiting continental Europe the practice looks redundant and almost comical.

It's just a way of identifying that a document is 'officially' from the company.

Ideally you just lock up the stamp in a drawer. You can probably forge it just as easily as others, but at least with the stamp multiple people can "sign" for the company. In my experience it was more useful than anything.

also: it's not euro-only. Go to Japan for a laugh if you want.

Re: Starting your first business in France? Here are the steps, and some great tips

#60
post #24

Some incorrections here and there in the article, I want to add some fixes: - I wouldn't say the exigence of having a bank account is humiliating for a company. The process of opening one can be, however. But you can pick up any bank you want in any EU country you want. They can't "discriminate" against say a Luxembourg bank if you think this bank will serve you better. That's the EU market- same currency, and they c…

You are 100% spot on. I moved to Belgium (like many "wealthy" french people do) and will probably move further away. The situation in the eurozone is really degrading quickly: it's not gonna get better with the second state default of Greece and the 50% unemployment amongst young people in Spain. Portugal, Italy and France (Greece is economically dead as of now) are on life support. France let way too many people in…

You left, great for you. But don't bother coming back to vote, leave that decision to people who live in France and are impacted by it. Sarkozy did nothing good for France and we don't need another president like him.
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