On the latest episode of Office Hours, Adam talks with Alexandra Neves of Mind Tree Coaching and Nicolas Wiscour-Conter of Visualize Impact about what it's like to be self-employed. Laurin Sepoetro, from show sponsor Wolt, also joins to share how policies impact those who opt to be their own boss.
I was inspired after recording the latest episode of Office Hours with two self-employed entrepreneurs.
I headed to the House of Entrepreneurship website and booked an appointment for advice on starting my own company.
The advisor was helpful, and shared the paperwork I would need to prepare...
Sworn declaration of never being bankrupt. Great, I can use the one I had from just prior to the pandemic. I have filled in a tax return every year since so the government knows my financial history better than me. One small problem, the declaration needs to be from within the last 6 months.
Criminal record checks for the locations I have lived in the last ten years. No problem! I did two trips to Azerbaijani Embassy in Brussels last year to get those for my citizenship. Ah, but they aren't within the last six months either.
Sensing that my enthusiasm levels were dropping, the advisor tried to cheer me up.
"Don't worry, it seems like there are lots of forms. But if you compare the application for the business permit and the company's articles of association, you will see it is the same information needed for both. Company name, address, nothing too difficult".
Appointment over, I left the House of Entrepreneurship for a networking coffee at Lloyd's in Hamilius.
I sat at the table, scanned the QR code with my iPhone and tapped the picture of a coffee. Three minutes after waving the phone camera vaguely in the direction of my face, a waiter brought my coffee to me.
Whilst waiting for my meeting I started to compare the two experiences.
I have never filled in a tax return for Apple. I have never been issued a residence certificate, a titre de sejour or passport from Apple.
I created an account with Apple about twenty years ago. They have cherished that data. They have created software that securely shares it with my bank and the coffee shop. Apple makes my life as easy as possible.
Yet for some reason, the government keep asking for the same information time and time again. The caffeine from the coffee hit my nervous system and energised me to do something more constructive than comparing our government to Apple.
So I picked up my phone and typed into Google 'How to set up a company in France'.
