Interview published in the Languedoc Sun magazine Nov/Dec 2008
I moved to the area in March 2007. I consider myself a fairly fluent French speaker though I still (but less and less often) have what I call «bad days» when I can’t seem to string two words together !
I bought the restaurant then, after negotiations lasting 3-4 months. I knew the previous owners very well, they still live in the village and were very helpful in the beginning as, although I knew how to cook and had worked in a couple of restaurants in the UK for a few months a long time ago, I had no experience of owning or running my own restaurant.
They had started the restaurant from nothing in 2003. Having bought the building, formerly the village alimentation closed down several years before, and transformed it, going through all the essential regulations and norms etc. It was a big plus, in considering the purchase, that all this had been done.
At the time I was receiving unemployment benefit and the ANPE sent me to the Chambre Economique de l’Avallonnais where I had various meetings with an animatrice économique who established an Evaluation préalable à la création d’enterprise which was fairly useful. I did learn about applying for a Dossier ACCRE which was a bit of a mine field but in the end enabled me to be exempt from paying social charges for myself for the first year. I think there is probably a lot of help out there if you are prepared to search it out and stick at all the paperwork, various government bodies not being the most helpful of people. A strong character and lots of support from friends gets you through it.
I had a friend working for an accountant on the juridique side and she and her boss put together a dossier to apply to the Bank for a loan. I had put in a certain amount as I had an inheritance (this is what led me into considering buying the restaurant in the first place) plus I had a house in Burgundy as an extra piece of bargaining power, and these, with the dossier from the accountant, convinced the bank to grant the loan.
For me, an accountant was essential as I was on my own and couldn’t cope with all the initial paperwork. I did the basic everyday accounts and sent them off at the end of each month with all the factures. I had one employee at the beginning who had been with the previous owners, and because she had a CDI (permanent contract), I was obliged to keep her on. I also employed another girl on a CDD (temporary). It’s important to understand the different ways of employing people in order to avoid awkward situations, since the employees seem to have more help on their side than the employer. I now work with the CETPE (*Chèque emploi très petites entreprises) and the website www.emploitpe.fr. This is a very good site and a fairly simple way to employ people, also a saving on accountant’s fees.
My second year of owning and running the restaurant has been far less daunting but it is still hard and you have to stay on top of things. There are people out there to help and it’s wise to use them and take any advice going.
Jane Martin
Restaurant les Platanes, 1 Place de la Liberté, 34310 POILHES - Tel. 04 67 93 38 41
* Chèque Emploi Service Universel (Cesu) is a simple and efficient way of paying and declaring a range of home help. You apply to your own bank for one of these cheque books and for every cheque you fill in there is a form to complete with your employees name, date and place of birth, address and social security number. This you send to the CESU who will then deduct the social charges from your bank account while providing a detailed pay slip to your employee within ten days. With this system you may employ someone for up to eight hours a week, or for one whole month in the year. Once a year the Centre will send you a form which will enable you to qualify for a tax rebate. If you are over 70 years old you are automatically exonerated from employer contributions. |
