If you've decided that you want to spend 365 days a year in France and you don't have the privilege of being retired with mountains of savings, it's likely that you'll have to look into ways of making a living in your new home country. Many emigrants want a change of career direction to complement their change of lifestyle, which will often involve spending more time with family. But how easy is it to start a business from scratch in a country where you will be competing with not only a French market you know little about, but a growing British expat community, all wanting their slice of the French lifestyle, and indeed the euros to fund it.

One of the most important things to establish when starting a business re the gaps in the local French market place and if there is the demand for what your business has to offer. "Think outside the box," says Suzie Larcombe, who opened up a small business in rural south-west France to help both British and French clients get more from their businesses, and also sells goods sourced from Scotland and Cornwall as well as France. "Do your marketing before investing and starting a business," she says. "Look at the skills you have and see if you can set up some sort of lower investment/risk business before just going down the gîte route. In most parts of France now there are more beds than heads and with property prices as high as they are, it's a real risk to set up a gîte business."

However, there are still plenty of British expats who make a success of transforming their French home into a profitable Bed and Breakfast, or 'gîte'. But as the tears and tantrums countless 'new life in France' television programmes have shown over the years, it's not as easy as merely changing the bed-sheets more frequently and cracking a few eggs in a pan each morning, as Jeremy Josephs would know.

Josephs contacted the well-respected Gîtes de France before starting a business and attempting to turn his house into a money-making venture. "As the old saying goes, if a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well," he says. After inspecting his villa, the Gites de France board told him that they had some good news, his villa would make "a very agreeable Chambre d'hôte". "But there is something vaguely menacing, is there not, in the phrase 'good news'," Josephs recalls. "Whereupon the inevitable happened. 'But the bad news, I am afraid, is that there are number if things which will have to be done for you to meet with our requirements'." Josephs was instructed to change the mattresses in his villa, order PVC/cotton mattress liners and sheets, blankets, towels and linen of a certain quality, change electrical fittings, carpets, cupboard doors and install tables in the bedrooms. Once all this was in place Josephs was aware that, realistically, it could take a few years before a steady stream of phone calls started to come in. "However, we were fortunate because we managed to establish a small network with two other local Gîtes de France families," he says. "Both of whom gave us constructive advice and, more crucially, sent us their client over-spill." Indeed, French neighbours can be an invaluable source of advice and business for the British expat looking to make a euro or two. With this in mind, another important step in French business success is to learn the language. "I'm constantly meeting people who have set up businesses here and speak virtually no French at all," says Larcombe. "I can't help but feel that they are missing out on both potential French customers and also probably missing out on business development issues which would be to their advantage." She continues: "In order to compensate for our early language restrictions, combined with the fact that we wanted to do everything 'belt and braces', we employed the services of a bilingual business solicitor in Paris who answered all our detailed queries about business."

Phillip Evans, who started a (now successful) franchise of British grocery stores in France called 'Thomas Green' agrees that making an effort to learn the language is of utmost importance when establishing cross-Channel business relationships with potential customers. "For our French customers it is a sign of respect that you know their language," he says. "In some rural areas if you don't speak French, the locals won't give you a second chance."
Learning the language and integrating within your French community is especially important when trying to bring something quintessentially British to a French market. There are, of course, many British communities in France that will welcome a little taste of home and provide much-needed custom for a  British business, but by shunning potential French custom you are surely shooting yourself in the foot. 

One business that needed the French on their side was La Vendee Chippy, a travelling fish and chip van that can be spotted trundling through the countryside of the Vendee. Christine Heather, a former auxiliary nurse, and her husband Derek, moved from Somerset to France when Derek, a former policeman, was medically discharged after an accident. Their business concept was one that their French neighbours were, understandably, unsure of at the start. But the couple won the sceptics rounds with their affability and the dish itself, and couldn't have succeeded without them. "After all the paperwork was done we tried to buy some fish," say the Heathers. "We wanted the cod trawled and frozen at sea, just as you get from your local chippy in England. We travelled halfway around France and it was a no no. Six months later we were sat in a village bar, where the owner knew of our problem and asked us how things were going. A man overheard our conversation and his English was very good. 'Meet me here on Tuesday and I will bring you a box of the fish you want,' he said. He buys all the food for the schools here so knew where to go." Thankfully the man was true to his word and at last the Heathers could start fishing for business: "Three weeks later, over five separate evenings we invited ten people – including the local major and plumber etcetera – at a time for free fish and chip suppers in our garden. They spread the word around and that was the start of La Vendee Chippy."

Four years later and the Heathers have prepared 120 fish and chip dinners at an English/French wedding, served 70 at a French birthday party and catered for a music festival as well as frying up outside various bars three nights a week. "Four of our customers are French chefs, so that says it all," they conclude proudly.  "The British food industry has a positive image in France," says Evans. "Although the French criticise British dishes, they love the tea, biscuits, jelly, baked beans, etcetera. But France is a vast country with many regional cultures and some locals in some traditional regions wouldn't react so positively, so we think for British shops to run successfully in France, you do need to consider what the French population are comfortable with." He continues: "I would advise other Brits looking to set up a business in France to take their time and choose the right location for your venture. As well as targetting the local British population, adapt to the French demand."

And how about the different working hours and seasons in France – do these have an impact on British business? "There are more holidays for employees and for schools, which can impact on our turnover," says Evans. "And we notice a different pattern in customers who visit. France, of course, comes to a halt during the summer holidays of July and August, which is why having a British customer base is much more positive." He continues: "Opening times differ too, as shops are mainly shut on Sundays and Mondays and often between 12.00 and 14.00 o'clock for lunch everyday, though the main outlets now stay open."

Many Brits who make a permanent move to France incorporate more family time into their new life and start their new business venture with family and friends in tow. After all, where are you going to find a more willing and well-bonded group of employees? Although starting a business with loved-ones may cause strain on relationships, it's an option that works well for many expats, as Larcombe can testify: "Me and my husband work long hours," she says. "But we work flexibly and because we work from home we can be with the kids when they're here, have the washing machine going while in meetings and so on. I love nothing more than discovering I have a business enquiry when checking emails in my pyjamas, it's my idea of heaven!"

So whether your idea of heaven is working from your French villa, frying fish in La Vendee, opening up your house to tourists or providing British food across the Channel, make sure there is the demand befor starting a business and listen to the French – after all, they have been living the lifestyle so many of us Brits envy for hundreds of years, so they know what they're doing.

Tips for starting a business in France
Learn as much French as you can before you leave the UK, especially legal and business terms that you are likely to come across.
Make sure your UK tax affairs are in order before leaving Britain for France.
Approach your local Mairie (town hall) with your business ideas at an early stage of your plans.
Find a good French accountant.
Check the name of your business for uniqueness with the Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle (INPI).
Deposit the initial capital for your business.
Publish a notice of incorporation of the company in a journal approved for legal announcements and obtain evidence of publication. This will cost you around 150 euros.
Register the company with the tax administration.
File a request for the company's registration with the Centre de Formalités des Entreprises (CFE). This will cost you around 40 euros.
Buy company books (minute books, inventory books, ledgers). Have company books stamped and initialled by the clerk of the commercial court. This will cost you around 40 euros per book and a 3 euro stamping fee.
Inform the post office of your new business.
Integrate with the local French community and source local suppliers for your business.

Click here to read the World of Property interactive i-mag FREE

Article published in June 2007