Hi Just thinking about small business ideas . I am in the UK but if I can find the right business just small . Any of you there willing to give any ideas ? I asked about an estate agency business but looked like I would be paying them to employ me! This was leggett’s as a self employed agent. I work in a nursery at the moment as a nursery assistant but they treat the staff dreadfull. I have a retail back ground and I am good with others socially . I enjoy working with others and children . Any ideas I would be greatfull for.
Might pay to think of a job that the French do not like doing.
Hello Dorothy
Firstly, do I take it that you are thinking of moving to France and are looking for small business ideas for here in France to support you?
You say that you work as a nursery assistant at the moment, do you have qualifications for working with children. If so it might be worth taking a look at au pair work, or take the Lady magazine and see if there are people looking for qualified Nanny’s.
You don’t have to be stuck with dreadful employers, how about making a move elsewhere in the UK?
The reason I say that is because if you are looking to move here to set up a business without having some capital IMHO you will be facing a lot of problems, more so with Brexit looming.
Estate Agency work, I believe, requires some qualifications and experience here in France.
Retail work , the jobs are snapped up very quickly by locals.
Do you have a working knowledge of French?
There are a lot of experts on here who can give advice, but first I think they need a bit more information…
Depending on where you move to, there can be a huge demand for English speaking childminders. You can sign up with an agency initially and then develop your own client base.
I think it will depend a great deal on where you move to. I took a small business development course, and it was really useful. Some of the ideas my classmates had, seemed fascinating. One fellow made uniforms, another classmate wanted to open a shoe store. At the time, I wanted to set up my own shop as a consultant for information research (that’s my training).
Personally, nowadays I think the things I read about regarding recycling, sound fascinating. It would be fun to sell art supplies, or yarn. Lots of this stuff is available via Amazon so I’d want to find a niche. In fact, used clothing sounded good… I just read an article about how there is an effort to collect used clothing, but no one knows where it goes from there… It would be fascinating to start a nonprofit in France, with a storefront for selling or re-selling things. As a nonprofit, a person can earn enough to sustain oneself, but the profits would go to charity. I imagine this is far more complex than what you had in mind.
So, if you’re looking to become self-employed, then look at the discussions about becoming an auto-entrepreneur. I once thought perhaps that becoming a dog-walker would be good (still do, actually). I’m thinking of doing gardening as either a volunteer thing for others, or a hobby. Maybe someday I could turn that into a small business but I’d want to start out with no actual plan - that is, just have fun without having a feasibility study or a budget, short-term strategy or long-term strategic plan, overhead costs, bank account, tax payment plan, company logo, website, business cards… None of that at first. Just see if I love doing the work, and getting to know plants and gardening culture in France.
It depends on how much you need to earn, and as Catharine states, it depends on where you move to. Do you have good credit, do you have folks to give you references/testimonials, do you have to have a loan to start things up, and whether you need to work full-time right away. You’ll have to do some thinking and get back with specifics. But for now, it’s been fun to mention pie-in-the-sky ideas! I had fun mentioning my ideas, anyway. I have no idea if any of these would work for you.
Ann’s got a good point, too, I think, when she suggests finding good people to work for, perhaps? So I would like to echo her thought and suggest you might cross that off your list first. After working somewhere that gives you momentum and reinforces your skills and experience with the work, then you’ll be able to see about your strengths and interests for continuing, and starting out on your own. It’s so important to start a business from a standpoint of positives, rather than out of frustration. I’ve heard and read what people say when asked why they’ve started their business; they may claim it’s out of frustration… that may be what they say is why they started their business, but it’s not really that simple.
Wishing you lots of good luck. Cheers.
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Yes my clients often ask for child minders and, of course you have to be sure of who
you recommend them to.
They need to be not only trustworthy, kind and good with the young ones. So often a young grand
mother is a good option.
I had to be “vetted” by the Gendarmes… when I volunteered at our local school… 
I suspect something similar might be in-place for anyone working with children in whatever capacity… 
There is a difference between a ‘nounou agréée’ and a babysitter though; Norland-type nannies are yet another type…
Paid workers though… ??? don’t they need to be vetted ??? just wondering where the demarcation line is… 
Someone looking to use “kids” as a source of income…
Not that “vetting” is onerous… just another box to tick… 
Babysitter is an ad hoc private arrangement usually with a teenager who will be in your house for a couple of hours while you go out for dinner and your children sleep.
A nounou looks after a set maximum number of children and has various hoops to jump through in order to become one. You pay social security employer’s contributions holiday pay etc
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useful information for Ms D Tibbals… … it is as well to warned of the various hoops to jump through… etc
I like the idea of child minders!
What did you end up choosing? I’m thinking about starting a business, have several ideas, but I want to be sure I make the right choice.