As I’ve said in previous posts, if our
French Dream is to last beyond our first year then we have to find a way of
earning a few euros. We are not alone amongst those moving to France these days -
so many of us choose not simply to retire here but to actively seek out a new
way of life in this wonderful area of the world long before drawing a pension.
My French language abilities are just not
good enough at this stage to consider looking for salaried employment so self
employment is the best bet. What to do though?
Could I earn money as a writer? Whilst it
has always appealed I’ve never done it before and this blog is my first
attempt. (Perhaps you, dear reader, can tell me if it is an option worth
pursuing? Be gentle with me please J) And in
reality I have no understanding of how the media works and how to make money
out of writing, let alone what I should write about!
Perhaps an internet based business would
work since the internet allows anyone to be an entrepreneur and to reach a
global customer base (they say!). What products could I sell? Here are just
some of my ideas:
- French Antiques - but I know nothing about them
- Batteries and memory cards for cameras - too much competition
- French cheese - too smelly
- French artisan soaps - too smelly
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| Lovely French Cheese - but very smelly! |
Another idea we considered was as a result of talking to a lady called
Sally Stone at one of the French Property Shows we visited. She was offering
people the opportunity to buy a franchise in her business called ‘Les Bons Voisins’
(Good Neighbours it means in English and every time I hear it I start singing
“Everybody needs good neigh…...bours” in an Australian accent – bet you did
too!). It’s a great concept, offering caretaking services to second-home owners
and property management for absent gite owners. We were very tempted but
ultimately, to be passionate about a business, you have to do something you
love doing and we just felt that cleaning houses and changing bedsheets seemed
like doing more of the things that we disliked doing in our own home!
Purchasing an existing business is another option but again, what to
do that would make best use of our meager talents? We are not vivacious party people
so running a bar is out. I love cooking but there is a massive difference
between making a tasty casserole for the family to running a restaurant.
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| Day boat business for sale in Brittany |
One
‘business for sale’ advert that did catch my eye was a small day-boat hire
business – perfect until I realised that it was in Brittany rather than the
Perigord Vert!
The simple reality is that it is better to
start a new business by utilising your existing skills and experience. That
left two options; something that utilised my 25 years of experience in human
resource management – but I’d had enough of that kind of work, that’s why we
came to France, and my French language skills would be a very limiting factor;
or something based on my love of photography and the work I had been doing on a
hobby basis for an estate agent friend of mine in the UK.
The latter came about in 2008 when I had
purchased a licence to use some technology that enabled me to produce virtual
tours. Working at weekends and on summer evenings I would visit properties for
sale and capture the images required to develop the virtual tour. Over time I
started to do more and produced still photographs, floorplans, property details
(you know the kind of thing, “A deceptively spacious broom cupboard in a highly
desirable area of Runcorn”) and on-line brochures. Eventually I was able to
work four days a week in HR and do my photography work on Wednesdays as well. I
absolutely loved it! Below are a couple of examples of photos I took in England:
Is there a market for this kind of service
in France? Our own research and experience suggests there is. Just take a look
at a typical immobilier’s web site (and we’ve looked at a lot during the course
of our house hunting) and you will be lucky to see three or four grainy photos.
Given the way that most house hunters use the internet for their initial
research, that is simply not good enough in this day and age.
Our view was supported by a number of
estate agents we had spoken to at the Property Exhibitions and they were keen
to know more, but of course they were never going to commit to working with
someone who was still based in Cheshire. Well we’re in France now, so here goes…..
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