
Starting your first business in France? Here are the steps, and some great tips - wesselkooyman
http://www.colestreet.com/starting-your-first-business-in-france-here-are-the-steps-and-some-great-tips/
======
Jacqued
Amazing summary, I will bookmark this even though I am french.

With my co-founders, we've been looking to chose a bank and an accountant to
officially start the company for some time now, and have been baffled by how
much the banks charge charge for little to no service. The same holds true for
accountants, although to a lesser degree as we're at the very beginning.

Also, debating about the 'statuts' has been a real pain. However, this is the
only part in all this process that is of actual use, since it forces the
founders to agree on a lot of important ownership and processes issues from
the start.

------
davidw
0\. Hop on a train and do it in London instead?

Is that realistic, especially if you're unsure of success and don't want to go
through all the bureaucracy?

~~~
thenomad
With the current British government angling to leave the EU at present, that's
a decision that might have unpleasant consequences in a few years for any
French entrepreneur that tried this, even assuming it's practical now.

~~~
yummyfajitas
Even if Britain leaves the EU, is it really likely that they will leave the
EEC?

The French entrepreneur cares about free trade, not much else. And I can't see
Britain or Europe shutting down trade, regardless of whether Britain sticks
around or leaves.

~~~
arethuza
My understanding is that the EEC merged into the EC which then became the EU -
so I don't think the UK has the option to stay part of the EEC and leave the
EU.

Certainly EEC isn't a term that you here very often these days.

NB Perhaps you mean EFTA rather than the EEC?

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Free_Trade_Association>

~~~
_delirium
Yes, the EEC/EC was officially abolished with the Lisbon treaty in 2009
(though it was mostly merged into the EU even before then). However, it's
still possible for non-EU members to be part of the EU's common market via the
EEA (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Economic_Area>).

EEA membership is pretty close to de-facto EU membership, though, including
legislative harmonization on almost everything except agriculture/fisheries
(which is what suits Norway about it), and a "voluntary" contribution that de-
facto replaces EU dues. Would that satisfy UK politicians' reasons for pulling
out of the EU, if they still had to pay dues and harmonize most of their
legislation anyway, only without getting a vote in return? It's not clear to
me they would join the EEA under those terms. And in the other direction,
there's a lot of uncertainty over what they'd even have the _option_ to join,
since there's a real possibility some EU members would veto an agreement to
give them an intermediate status.

~~~
arethuza
That page on the EEA seems to imply that members have to stick to EU laws -
particularly around freedom of movement, which is one of the main reasons some
UK politicians are keen on leaving the EU.

Personally, I think that any move to leave the EU would probably contribute to
a break up of the UK.

~~~
arrrg
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 some harmonization process of
laws (which is necessary or else it's real simple for individual governments
to erect barriers in the market) they will be told off.

If they are out of the common market they are out. You can't be half in and
half out. And good riddance to them.

~~~
arethuza
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.

~~~
gadders
Ha ha.

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

Yeah, that's logical.

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

~~~
gadders
Anglo-phobe! ;-)

------
eps
Can anyone comment on what it's like to run a startup or a smaller high-tech
outlet in France? Taxes, social insurance / humangous vacations, bureaucracy
matters - the boring day to day stuff. I'm sure I'm not the only one playing
with an idea of moving to Europe, so a first hand account would be much
appreciated.

~~~
pilooch
Sure. Low (or even no) taxes on yearly income if you locate your startup well
(e.g. put it in an area that gets subventions or tax cuts, checkout so-called
ZFU aka Zone Franche Urbaine). If you're innovating (which is, really, an
administrative term, that you can put anything under), you'll get tax rebate
on the salary mass that you dedicate to R&D. Even further, your startup can be
labeled as a 'young innovating company' (JEI, aka Jeune Entreprise Innovante)
and you get even more benefits.

I (with others) operate a startup with entities both in France and in the US.
It is cheaper for us to leave R&D in France because of the subventions
mentioned above.

Sure, you'll still get plenty of taxes and the euro is strong, which may be
good or bad depending on your activities.

PM me if you need more details.

------
jkldotio
I've set up a business in Australia, average 2 days, and in Austria where the
average is 25 days (and it went way over that for me) and I am not sure I'd do
it again in Europe besides perhaps the UK. It's not so much the time and
frustration, which is indeed wasted going to I think it was 4 different
locations in 7 or 8 trips, but the shocking hostility of the process and
people. It made me feel very unwelcome.

There is also a dearth of funding and a much smaller culture of philanthropy.
Although those two are not really relevant to my project, jkl.io, as I am not
taking funding and looking for philanthropy from places other than Austria.

~~~
contingencies
Even though I regularly meet French who whinge about their _culture
bureaucratique_ , I don't think they have anything on Asia (China, India,
etc.)!

I'm Aussie/Kiwi/European and have set up wholly foreign-owned businesses in
China (9 months) and Hong Kong (2 hours). I believe AU+NZ are pretty damn
straightforward.

Have to mention: this article reads so obviously like an American wrote it,
it's kind of amusing .. impatient, US spelling, notion of a 'check book'. Come
on! Welcome to Europe, you're in the developed world now. We have online
banking that actually functions... at minor or no cost across the whole
region. We don't generally use cheques. Even China's consumer banking system
is more efficient than America's, in my experience. You will learn to love it
in Europe :)

~~~
jkldotio
It took me almost as long as setting up a business in Austria to get just a
business visa for India so I agree with you on that point.

AU+NZ (check out the coverage of NZ on my site, what do you think?) are the
models to follow for business registration I think. Given they've proven it
can be done in one or two days I am not sure how the other countries can
justify the delays.

------
kpao
When I read things like this, I'm glad that I was in the US at the time I had
the opportunity to create my app business (flight sim app for mobile). My
school mates who are still in France are having a hard time with all the
overhead of french bureaucracy when doing anything... most of them are
thinking of moving abroad at some point.

The whole process in the US was so easy, finding a bank was a total non issue.

~~~
thibaut_barrere
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

~~~
rietta
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?

~~~
thibaut_barrere
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!

------
tucson
Thanks for the post.

What I find annoying is that to simply test a business idea where you need to
store subscriber's email addresses you normally need to register at the CNIL
for which you need a registered company which requires what is described in
the article. It feels backwards somehow: you need to register a company (with
all the paperwork involved) before you even know if it can work.

~~~
jclos
I think that this sort of stuff is why a lot of people are afraid to create
start-ups in France. Yes, there are huge taxes, but huge taxes provide a
benefit (living in a decent society). This on the other hand is just an
artifact from the past that nobody has bothered changing, much like how
universities ask students for photocopies of every degree they got every
damned year, or how much physical paper is used for trivial stuff that should
be computerized.

(just to clarify, I am not against the CNIL, just against the hoop-jumping
mentality)

------
raverbashing
Good tips

Well, the bank thing seems exaggerated. Did they pick one of the main banks or
one tiny one?

Yes, I have had an account on France. Sure, mine was a personal account, but
it was pretty straightforward. Online banking worked fine (true, I haven't
done transfers)

The weirdest thing (for me) about the French banking system (apart from
cheques that rip from the widest margin of the book) is what they call a RIB
(Releve d'Identité Bancaire), it's something that comes in your statements and
is the 'key' for service providers to set up a direct debt to your account.
Yes, they need that piece of paper.

Public offices are weird as well, they are sometimes a row of unmarked doors,
so you just have to guess, or figure it out from some faded indications and
_voilà_

~~~
thibaut_barrere
Agreed on the banks: read my comment on the article, we pay 15€/mo for top
notch service (used to pay more for sub-par service). Pick a bank that is
entrepreneur-friendly, not all are interested.

~~~
raverbashing
Ah, you're using Credit Agricole. Mine was BNP Paribas, not sure which one the
person in the article is using.

~~~
thibaut_barrere
I can relate to what he wrote since initially I was at the CIC, which
historically was good for entrepreneurs, but jumped the shark at some point,
starting to sell me Virgin mobile phones etc instead of focusing on their core
job.

Switching was easy and totally worth it!

------
patrickaljord
Just don't start a company in France, at least not if you can avoid it which
is the case for most startups (just go to Luxembourg or whatever). Not for the
one week hassle, but because if you're looking for investors or if you want to
sell it later, you and they'll have to pay close to 70% taxes so it will be a
tough sell. Also, if you need to hire employees you will have to go through
the expensive hell that is managing/hiring/firing employees and the crazy
expensive taxes. Just not worth it.

The only case where you could start a company is if you're a one man shop
freelancing startup (or a non-startup that needs to start a company for
physical reasons such as a grocery store etc). Just my two-cents.

------
guylhem
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 can't change you fees for sending/receiving
money from/to EU countries. I have a french bank, and I really like the idea
of a conseiller - I want a single person I can talk to. Previously I had a
bank which worked differently - I basically saw a different person every 6
month, while I had complex stuff that needed to be done and lost time
reexplaining everything again and again. Now I have had one person for the
last 3 years, that get things done by email, fax or phone. I like that. And
when I decided to take my business to some other bank because it worked even
better (phone service 24/7, with a limited number of person handling your case
because you conseiller can't work around the clock) I never even had to go
there in person- did that while travelling abroad, sending scans of my ID
documents, having the account ready 24h later, having the paperwork they sent
in return waiting for my signature at home since they just wanted a physical
signature too.

BTW you know why there's so much red tape with french bank? bankers are
legally responsible if you launder money using their services and if they
didn't ask you basic questions designed to flag such cases. Some take risks,
some don't. If you see a bank involved in a big scandal, pick it - it usually
means it has less red tape, serves customers better, but some con men abuse
it. If you don't care about the reputation of your bank (I don't) you get
efficiency.

\- the address fees depend on the company you create. For some corporate types
it will be fully free to change your address as much as you want, and you can
"upgrade" your startup to any type. You may want to start as a
Autoentrepreneur (personally liable), then switch to a EURL, then a SARL, then
a SAS - you'll pay almost nothing for the first 3 types.

EDIT: someone posted this link to compare them: [http://www.rsi.fr//change-
user/pied-de-page/espace-telecharg...](http://www.rsi.fr//change-user/pied-de-
page/espace-telechargement/brochures-thematiques/creation-dentreprise.html)

\- for the step 2 and 3, I'm sorry to disagree here, but why didn't you file
online instead? That's usually simpler - there are also what is called
"unified" centers usually within ursaff offices to do everything in one place,
with civil servants who know their job and can even check and fix basic
mistakes in your file - for free! The whole process exist so that you can get
the legal numbers (for tax, payroll, vat) within a day!!

\- accountants sucks, and there's worse- whether you do your accounting or
whether they do it, any mistake there is - it's your responsibility. The
taxman will go after you anyway, it might be a good idea to learn the basics
yourself, if only to avoid poor service. If you take an accountant you get a
tax break (especially for the less complicated corporate forms) but take some
"for dummies" guide and you're ready to go.

I'm french, and I wouldn't say the process is overtly complicated when you
have some experience doing it. It's sometimes quite efficient - I have one
person in the tax office who knows my file and cell number, who I can call if
I have any specific question, and who can call me back if there is any
problem.

Also we have great laws: for ex, between companies, an exchange of emails can
constitute proof of contract, like a signature. You don't need as much
paperwork if you know the law.

The real problem is the corporate environment - your company may work with
french company and customers. Most of them are not even worth the euros
they'll bring. Make sure you add the customary letters at the end of each
bill, reminding them that any overdelayed payment will result on late fees +
interest.

Personally, unless I personally know the guys or the company that need my
services, I don't take french clients anymore. Been burnt too many times on
too many technicalities.

I've had the pleasure to bill a HN company (hello there if you read this!) - a
pleasure to deal with.

EDIT : some corrections

All things considered, I should let you know I am examining the corporate
situation in Canada, to have a place where hiring (and firing if needed) might
be less problematic, along with companies that may be more pleasant to work
with when I need outside help, or as clients.

Hiring in France is taking a real risk. You don't want to hire in France - you
don't want to hire any one, at any salary. Just don't do it, trust me.

Also, Europe has some new demons recently- there's a lot of hate going on
there, especially in France, now with casual aggression too (not even for the
money) etc. When I visit mainland France, I play a game with friends, sitting
at a cafe terrace : we watch people shop etc, and we make bets: mine usually
is whether we would see someone getting beat up within 1 hour - and I won
every single time, in the center of Toulouse - (in)famous city, last year at
the same time a guy was shooting down schoolchildren and their teacher,
because they were jewish. My mom was attacked twice these last 2 years - with
a knife, in the city center. A cop got the guy - well, two of them, because
the one who caught it was stabbed _13 times_ and was sent to the hospital. The
guy was released from jail because of a technicality in the prosecution.
Racism and hatred are rampant, cops are giving up on some neighbourhoods, etc.
I'm not talking about hearsay here, but from a personal account. I trust my
mom. Now she has had a new passport made - one that doesn't say "France" on
it, and might get used if the situation gets too bad.

Some compare the situation in France to NYC of the 1980, prior to the
introduction of tougher laws. I don't really know how to understand it. It's
complicated. There are basically groups of people growing apart from each
other, and hating eachother more and more - a bad recipe for any country.

If physicial safety is something you value, try to spend 6 month there first,
to see if it is something you can live with - especially if you are a female
founder considering any big city suburbs (cheaper rend, tax breaks for ZFU,
etc).

I added these little warnings after proofreading my text, because I realized I
was painting maybe a too rosy picture: there is no paradise on earth, and
creating your company in France won't be as complicated as some make it
sounds, if you like french food you'll love it there, but for what I value
life is _much_ better on the other side of the atlantic.

You are free not to trust a single word of what I say - just go live there and
try to make a decision by yourself.

~~~
martinced
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 and gave them way too much welfare-state goodness (that's the way
socialist buy votes to get re-elected). Lost of immigration is good when the
GDP is growing: 100 000 people is 0.1 additional % of GDP growth... But when
you're in recession, 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).

Moreover the socialists made sure to give a sense of entitlement to most of
the french population: so as soon as something is _talked_ about getting
lowered or removed, there are strikes and revolts.

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.

I think most people are living in a fairy tale, refusing to see what is going
on.

France is going to state default just like Greece, the question is just when.
The officials keeps lying about the predicted GDP numbers and state deficit
numbers: now they admitted that they'll be in recession in 2013 and plan on a
state deficit of 3,7%. It's going to be much more than that. In 2014 the
french state shall have so many debts to pay back that it's going to have a
very hard time refinancing itself on the market, bringing it closer to a
default (skyrocketing public debt).

No country in the eurozone is safe due to the common currency.

You have to be IMHO a totally stupid and f _cked up person to start an online
business in France as of now.

Don't forget that should you succeed you'd be regarded with jalousy and
hatred.

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.

Socialism ruined France. While Sarkozy was in place it was still a wellfare-
state and the local communities created more state servants than Sarkozy
managed to terminate at the state level (Sarkozy suppressed 180 000 public
state jobs, trying to keep the public debt in control but meanwhile the
socialist in charge of the local communities created... 500 000 public state
jobs!).

Socialism is killing France and is killing the eurozone.

It's killing entrepreneurship and encouraging a _very* concerning hate of the
succesful (President Hollande said himself: "I don't like the rich").

I moved out. Do the same. Do not even consider starting a company there.

Btw go further than the eurozone: the only way out of the euro-crisis is going
to mean either a gigantic depreciation of the euro or a split of the eurozone
and a move back to local currencies (which would be followed by a massive
recession in all these countries).

I'm considering Switzerland as of now. It's expensive but at least people
there aren't all nuts.

I don't mind giving Godwin the win: not that long ago in Germany there were
national socialists who put in place 8 of Marx's ten major point of communism
and who spread hatred of the wealthy and the succesful. France is going this
same path right now and this worries me a lot. People are getting nervous.
Hate is growing up left and right. The situation sucks.

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.

People are free to believe in fearytale and pink unicorn pooping rainbow
butterflies that said...

~~~
guylhem
> Don't forget that should you succeed you'd be regarded with jalousy and
> hatred.

While the rest of your article may have some exaggerations, that's true and
that's what is shaping my decision. I can live with some insecurity, I can
live with deadbeat companies trying to avoid paying their bills and laws
preventing me from hiring - I'll just go solo and focus on foreign clients.

But if on top of that I'm hated and discriminated against (that's common when
your name doesn't sound french) sorry but that's just too much.

BTW for the people who do not know France let me precise what the "military"
mentioned by this poster is : there are squads or 3 to 5 soldiers, in full
uniform with machine guns in their hand patrolling in some places. I don't
know if it's supposed to make me feel safe or not. And you can be asked "your
papers" by policemen for no reason that not looking exactly like what they
expect. (I once took the train to work every day - when they did that for the
4th time straight, I just said I had forgotten them (I had!) and suggested
they arrest me. they ducked out. That's just plain intimidation)

And BTW to those who say it's anecdotal evidence, just go live there! Try it
for yourself. Vote with your feet. When it is in the media _and_ your family
is attacked _and_ you see people being attacked too, all the while being hated
for being successful maybe you'll sing a different tune.

I'm happy to be on the right side of the atlantic, in the FWI where making
money is well regarded, people start business, and you generally feel safe.
The population is quite diverse in the Caribbean, and - _for now_ it's working
just fine! There's not so much hate!

We certainly have unemployment and some stupid french laws to deal with, but
with different tax brackets, and overall it's IHMHO not a bad choice.

PS: to those who downvote my original article, I tried to be factual and fully
honest. You can hate the truth, but it remains the truth.

~~~
rodelrod
I live there, just next to the train station that you describe as being in a
war state, and while there are worrying incidents in the outskirts and
suspicious neighbourhoods, center Paris is by far the safest city I've ever
lived in, and the only one where my women friends feel safe enough to walk
alone at 3am. If we're playing the anedoctal evidence game, the only place I
was ever seriously threatened ("I will kill you", at gunpoint and with evil
eyes) was in your beloved Caribbean, in the beautiful island of Saint Lucia.

~~~
guylhem
Please enlighten me.

Were you living in the Caribbean, or just a tourist? What were you doing? By
any chance, were you going to the friday night?

(St Lucia is right next to my island - been there too, there is some unsafety
but nothing too worrying)

There is not so much hate- we have people from all shapes and colors, and all
creeds too. But FYI, in some places, including in the FWI, you should know
tourist are not very welcome. They look for the sun, booze, girls but also for
trouble. They hold sightseeing tours on the most poverty stricken areas and
are arrogant. Many of them see local as dummies from the 3rd world.

So we don't really like them - personally I don't. We are not a bordello or a
zoo, but just normal places were people work and live.

~~~
rodelrod
I was in the docks, arriving by boat from another island. Like everyone in
that boat, we were held up for many hours waiting to get our passport stamped
and a bunch of young locals started harassing our girlfriends (we were 6). We
were the last to leave the passport check because officers didn't know what to
do with people from my country (apparently we were the first ones there, so
the passports were held). When we got out, these guys were waiting for us in a
pickup truck outside and I walked up to them to have a chat before things got
out of control, and while we were still next to the customs office. It's an
open world we're living in. I realize many tourists can be unpleasant and
disrespectful, but hating tourists is just as stupid as hating immigrants. If
you don't like their actions, put rules in place to avoid them.

------
ckarmann
I have been there, done that. In my experience, the problems do not end after
the business creation. If you are like I was, an unemployed guy trying to
start its own business with a few equally unemployed associates, you applied
for the ACCRE subvention which was, at that time (2005) the worst piece of
bureaucratic form I ever experienced. Then you get a load of accounting
obligations. The "siege social" was at my own address and I had to move after
a while, which produced another round of bureaucracy hoopla to change the
business address. It took some time and the post office was refusing to give
me my mail as long as I couldn't give a Kbis with the new address. I haven't
had the chance to have employees before the business collapsed, but what I've
read about what to do when you hire people and the risk you take was very
untempting.

Now the things has apparently been better, and a new very simplified status
has been created for one-person businesses (the "auto-entrepreneur"). It is my
status right now and it is quite fine. But if I start earning too much money
(more than 30K euros a year) I'm forced to change my status and go trough all
this again.

------
ctek
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.

~~~
rtpg
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.

~~~
seanmcdirmid
China also.

And then there is also the fapiao (stamped receipt).

------
TelmoMenezes
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 it odd for some reason.

French people seem to find it all normal because they grew up in this system,
but people that come from abroad quickly learn to be terrified of French
banks.

~~~
rtpg
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

------
a3_nm
> the Internet interface will only let you do small amounts, and only to pre-
> entered recipients. Who enters those recipients? You guessed it – your
> conseiller!

I do not think this is true. With my French bank account, I can add recipients
for online recipients without interacting with my conseiller. I do need a
confirmation code sent through SMS to confirm additions (a poor man's two-
factor authentication) but that's it.

------
rietta
Wow! I read through this entire article and the thing that struck home is even
how painful this process sounds vs my experience incorporating businesses in
my home State in the United States. Even banking wasn't as big of a problem
due to the level of competition among banks and that the local smaller banks
still even offer free basic checking to business accounts.

------
Aloisius
Out of curiosity, how hard is it to get a visa to start a startup in France as
a US citizen? I've toyed with the idea of starting something in Paris.

There appears to be ample opportunity even if all you want to do is create a
French version of some other successful product.

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juskrey
Thanks for the article. And thanks God, nowadays we can open business in
nearly any country, just be sure to have some coins for air ticket..

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tigrish
Starting your business in France? Step 1, register it in the UK...

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mcansky
not entirely true : if you are a french resident Dual Taxes Treaty apply ...
If you work from France or do business with French companies you'll end up
paying some taxes to France.

if anyone got more details on this topic I'm interested, please pm.

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andyl
Great article, but doesn't cover the mother of all French bureaucratic
challenges - employment law!

