Business creation is on the rise. Between 2023 and 2024, more than 1.1 million businesses (including micro-enterprises) will be created in France, according to INSEE. A figure which has almost doubled in the space of ten years (582.7 thousand companies created in 2014). If the French attempt the entrepreneurial adventure, it is above all for three reasons: “ be your own boss, no longer be an employee “, ” make a dream come true ” And ” carry out an activity consistent with one’s values », according to data from the French entrepreneurial index published by Bpifrance and Ifop in 2023. However, some business leaders are turning back and choosing to return to salaried employment.
Entrepreneurship, between isolation and insecurity
This is what happened to Julia Cantaragiu. The young woman launched into entrepreneurship at the end of 2021 while she was still a student. “ I wanted to be free, act according to my own rules and not work for a boss. I wanted to start my business early enough so that it would be solid before I finished my studies. Around me, I saw employees who had suffered burnouts. Entrepreneurship seemed to me to be the only path to fulfillment “, she remembers.
She began her coaching activity on LinkedIn and quickly managed to pay herself a salary. Julia Cantaragiu even won the prize for best Romanian entrepreneur in France. But difficulties are also felt: pressure to generate sufficient turnover, loneliness due to the absence of colleagues, the need to do everything yourself (marketing, accounting, communication, etc.) etc. “ You learn a lot by being a freelancer but if you don’t have the means to delegate these tasks, it creates an additional workload », Recognizes the young woman.
Put your ego aside
So at the end of her work-study training at RamenTaFraise, when Nina Ramen, the founder, offered her a permanent job as a LinkedIn and personal branding coach, she accepted and stopped her freelance activity. “ I wasn’t happy doing a lot of things all over the place. I wanted to get involved in a major project, to be supported to make decisions, to be able to delegate to people who know how to do it. There we live an adventure together, it’s more fulfilling “, she believes. With this permanent contract, she finds more security and assurance. But giving up on entrepreneurship was not easy.
For some, joining the workforce is seen as a step backwards, a failure. “ It was a long process for me because there was a lot of ego in this choice. But I realized that there was no shame in being an employee or glory in being an entrepreneur. Legal status does not matter in relation to what we experience on a daily basis, to the pleasure of missions, and to being happier “, she confides.
Trial and error to find yourself better
Nora Hamma is on the eve of her 40th birthday when she decides to change her life. “ I wanted a project, to set up my company ”, she said. She opted for a resumption of activity in field marketing and developed her company NH Events from 2008 to 2013. “ At the time, there wasn’t as much help, not all professional social networks… “, she remembers.
This does not prevent him from succeeding. “ I went from a company with three employees to 120! It was a big adventure but I was alone. I haven’t found any partners who want to carry these burdens with me, to get involved. In five years, I’ve only taken two or three weeks of vacation. I was at the end of my rope “, she remembers. She sells part of her business and ceases the other part of the activity. She then decided to train in NLP and created her own business as a coach.
Even if the stakes and the workload are lower, this new experience does not convince her. “ I didn’t feel like I belonged. I needed more people », she slips. She stopped the activity after two years and continued with contracts and freelance consulting until she realized that it no longer suited her. She is more interested in putting her skills at the service of others, helping them… This is how she retrained as an office manager, a versatile profession whose objective is to assist and support business leaders in various tasks.
Testing entrepreneurship: “it takes away fantasies”
Two fixed-term contracts allowed him to ensure that this path appealed to him. From now on, she is looking for a permanent contract. “ At 55, I aspire to more stability even if it reduces my lifestyle. I no longer want to think about my work all the time. When you’re an entrepreneur, it’s part of everyday life, you’re in it all the time. There are invoices, prospecting, it’s exhausting. Not to mention the customers who, despite generating millions, still want to pay less “, deplores Nora Hamma. For her, returning to employment is not denying freedom, it is offering more moments of sharing and conviviality within a team. “ The office manager activity is very diversified. I feel useful there and I am thanked all day long. It’s really nice », she remarks. His rich career, punctuated by great success in entrepreneurship, should open doors for him.
For her part, Julia Cantaragiu does not regret having experienced entrepreneurship… nor having left it. “ I am very happy to have seen for myself what entrepreneurship is. It takes away fantasies. This experience allowed me to have a more nuanced vision of entrepreneurship and employment and to realize that there are also companies where employees are fulfilled. », she concludes. Ultimately, the issue is not to determine which of these two paths is better but to follow your heart, to take into account your aspirations and your situation at the moment, to deny yourself nothing in order to flourish.
Dorothée Blancheton
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