Tips for Starting a Business
Originally posted on & updated on 2nd November, 2024
If you’re a few years short of retirement or a young family yearning to move to France but keep being put off by the fact that you feel as if you might struggle to make enough income when you get there, today’s the day to think again. In this article we’ll cover a range of ways that you could make income in France.
Freelance Your Way to Business Freedom
In the last year or so, there has been a real and significant growth of small business start ups in the UK as well as a substantial increase in the number of people deciding to work on a freelance basis. People Per Hour, the freelance giant that works with freelancers and buyers the world over (including in France) recently announced that the number of 18 to 24 year olds who started a small business or took up a freelancing position in the last year has doubled.
What this means is that no matter where people are located, they’re either being forced (through redundancy, early retirement or unemployment) to find ways of generating an income in their own right. The good news about this for your new life in France is a whole load of these people are running remote businesses whereby they never see their clients and have no need to. The Internet and cheap telecommunication mean that it doesn’t matter whether you live in France or Folkestone, you can run a successful business that boasts a global client base. All you need is a quality service to sell what’s in demand. Here’s some tips and advice for marketing a start up or a small business in France.
Become A “Mine Host” in France
Just like you do, many people yearn to visit France and those people rely on finding quality accommodation, either on a self-catered, hotel or bed and breakfast basis. What this means is that there’s huge demand for quality gîte and chambre d’hôte accommodation, particularly in summer months, but increasingly throughout the year. What’s more, it’s particularly common for British tourists to seek out English-speaking hosts.
If you decide that you’d like to be part of the leisure industry in France, during the summer you can expect a good trade of British and global tourists alike seeking a week or two week break. The same is true for chambre d’hôte accommodation whereby people don’t necessarily want to cater for themselves. In recent years, there has also been a significant rise in people going to ‘test and try’ France out of season, giving gîte owners in particular the opportunity of earning income from their investment year round. For more information, see our guide to buying a French gite.
Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL)
TEFL is an English teaching qualification that’s recognised worldwide and enables people in many countries to earn a good living. This qualification, which can be studied at a distance, is affordable, it offers a range of different modules depending on which specialist area you’re seeking to work and is well known. What this means is that if you choose to invest in TEFL, you’re equipping yourself with a good toolkit of skills to go out in France and earn an income teaching English.
Irrespective of where in France you decide to buy your property, you should be able to find a healthy number of people seeking to learn English. From parents of school kids who are struggling to understand their English lessons at school, to business people seeking to work on a global footing there’s no shortage of people interested in the notion of speaking better English. That said, it’s well worth doing a bit of research in your chosen location before assuming that you can make a significant living from this particular option.
Start a Translation or Interpretor Business
If you’re heading off to France with either fluent French or a French qualification under your belt, there’s no reason why you can’t translate or interpret your way to earning income. Again a relatively competitive market, you’d need to do your research before you rely on it 100%, but if you’re good and can differentiate yourself, there’s no reason why you can’t make income from this activity. Will you be working from home? Do you have a popular blog and established traffic?
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