Philippe Duport's C'est mon boulot column on 07/08/2014 on France Info
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Micro-loans are very small loans that enable people in difficulty to set up a small business. In recent years, a new formula has been introduced: micro-franchising.
Quite simply, micro-credit means lending small sums for small projects. Solidarity micro-franchising is the same thing: it enables someone to set up a brand franchise, by investing no more than ten thousand euros. Loaned, of course. In this case, by Adie, the agency for the right to economic initiative, which invented the system. Ten thousand euros for a franchise is a very small sum. Setting up a franchise in the normal way can cost several tens of thousands of euros. It can even exceed one hundred thousand euros.
The idea behind Adie is to lend money to people the banks no longer want. These micro-franchises are aimed at people in difficulty, who want to set up a business... but don't have a business idea. It's a turnkey business idea, for a minimum investment.
A reconversion
This is the path chosen by Bernard Jouaen, who became a gardener in Finistère.
Franchised gardener. He works for the O2 network, a French group specializing in personal services. His story is one of a rebound. He was a department manager in supermarket distribution. He had ambition. But at 45, he was fired.
In his region, he couldn't find anything. So he decided to set up his own business. Portable toilet rental for major events. To prepare himself, he did an internship at a boutique de gestion, a business start-up support network. It was an eye-opening experience. His project wasn't going to work.
Bernard discovered the existence of Adie by chance. He thought franchising would be too expensive for him. Gardening hadn't occurred to him. But the scheme was just beginning to appeal to him. And with only a few months of unemployment left, he took the plunge.
"The fact of having a brand"... first of all, it enabled him to start out with equipment he didn't have to buy: a brand new Kangoo flocked with the brand's name. Lawnmower, hedge trimmer, chainsaw, small tools: Bernard Jaouen rents them all from the group to which he belongs. He also pays a royalty to O2: 6% of his sales to O2. Plus an entry fee. That's the principle of any franchise. But this is a micro-franchise. We're talking about very small sums. The entry fee is just one thousand five euros. Setting up his own business would have cost him at least thirty-five thousand euros.
He benefits from the reputation of this brand, the O2 group, which is well known in western France. A system that enables him to build up a clientele.
A successful challenge
Bernard Jaouen is now a home gardener. He used to work in supermarket distribution... How did he learn the trade? You have to know a bit about it to start with. There's a real recruitment interview to get into the network. But you don't have to be an engineer either. You need to know how to mow, prune, maintain and use tools. The rest is sales. And that's exactly what Bernard prefers.
He rose to the challenge so well that the O2 group asked him to recruit other micro-franchisees in his department.
