Les 16 jeunes entrepreneurs et l’ensemble des partenaires qui, durant un an, vont les suivre et les aider à passer le cap des trois ans. Diane Petitmangin
Led by BGE Ouest-Hérault, this program will follow sixteen entrepreneurs, established or from the city's Political Neighborhoods, for a year in order to help them get through the delicate three-year period.
“The goal of a company is to make money, that's all. Everything else is poetry. Why do we talk so much about the three-year survival rate of companies? Because at the end of this period, taxation increases to 100% and many, while everything seems to be going well, do not recover”.
With his blunt and unadorned words, Marc Lauron, the vice-president of the Béziers branch of the CPME (Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises), stressed the importance of work for an entrepreneur who is starting out and the need not to remain alone.
Crossing the three-year mark
It is to cross this delicate three-year mark that BGE Ouest Hérault launched, this Monday, January 27, at the Château du Parc in Pézenas, the first edition of its new program, “Individual Creation Accelerator”, financed by Bpifrance and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
For twelve months, sixteen entrepreneurs from or established in the QPVs (Political districts of the city) of Béziers, Bédarieux, Agde and Sète will benefit “from an intensive program for the sustainable success of their business in emerging territories”, indicates Lucie Coulier, the director of BGE Ouest-Hérault.
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The challenge of this course, “is to develop their business, to develop their turnover or to make a change in the scale of the company. With the motto “To see bigger, aim higher”, we will support these entrepreneurs and help them develop their potential”.
Concretely, BGE Ouest-Hérault will offer workshops with expert speakers in their field (digital marketing, communication, etc.), meetings on specific themes with witness managers and “nearly 200 hours of practical workshops, personalized individual meetings or meetings promoting networking”.
A sponsor who has the fishing
The patron of this first promotion is Roxanne Dardaine-Bozzarelli, co-founder of Dev’EnR, a local and independent producer of renewable energy, based in downtown Béziers. This one, with a lot of energy and humor, gave her first advice.
“The first piece of advice I could give you is to listen to the opinions of all your friends and family, even if they are contradictory, and then form your own opinion by going into the field, by being in contact with your customers, those who will make your business live”.
The importance of training
According to the business leader, one of the keys to success is training.“Personally, I force myself to spend at least one day a month in training. No one is born with ideas like that, with the snap of a finger. We build our ideas by feeding on training, contact with others, and our experiences.”
Enough to warm the hearts of these young entrepreneurs, who often face solitude.
Entrepreneurship in neighborhoods 2030
This new system is part of the government program “Entrepreneurship in neighborhoods 2030” which aims to boost these difficult neighborhoods, faced with many problems. Cécile Nonin, director of the association Villes et Territoires, painted a precise picture of the strengths and weaknesses of QPVs, while encouraging the winners to get closer to their communities (municipality or agglomeration), which set up valuable assistance (exemption from the CFE, assistance with modernization, etc.). In Bédarieux, 49.9% of the population lives in QPVs, with a poverty rate of of 41% and unemployment of 29%, with 34% of 16-25 year olds not in school or unemployed. In Béziers, a third of the inhabitants live in QPV (City centre, Devèze, Iranget-Grangette), with a poverty rate of 57%, 65% and 71% respectively and an unemployment rate of 35.8%, 30.6% and 42.1%.