Going freelance raises a lot of questions: who can help me get started? Help me with my administrative procedures? What aid can I claim? Find out who can help you get started as a freelancer as well as all the help you can ask for when starting your business!
Starting a self-employed activity: who can help me get started?
When you start as a freelancer, the many unanswered questions you ask yourself are likely to slow you down in your project or worse, make you give up on it. Know that there are however tips to know to allow you to launch yourself serenely as well as a complete ecosystem of qualified actors to help you.
The first step when starting out is to choose your legal status. Despite the flood of information available on the internet, it is sometimes difficult to understand which is the right status to choose and what are the legal consequences of this status.
The good news is that legaltechs and independent lawyers offer legal advice. Please note that this is legal information and not advice. You will have the necessary information to make your choice, but the legal professional will not choose your structure for you.
If you need personalized advice, you can also turn to a lawyer or an accountant.
Wage portage: enhanced assistance for the self-employed
Wage portage is an option little known by the self-employed and many are surprised by this option which allows them to benefit from the security of a permanent contract, while retaining their freedom as a self-employed person.
Portage consists of a contractual relationship between:
- A paid employee (the self-employed);
- A client company (for whom he is carrying out the mission);
- And the wage portage company, which provides an employment contract to the self-employed person, collects his turnover and pays him his salary in wage portage in the form of payslips.
Portage leaves the freelancer great flexibility in his work, he remains free to choose his clients and his missions, and to negotiate his prices. He is free to manage his working time and his holidays and has no hierarchical link vis-à-vis his client or the wage portage company.
It is an ideal solution for freelancers who want to keep their administrative procedures to a minimum. This status does not require the creation of a legal entity or specific declaration and is not associated with any accounting obligation. It is the wage portage company that receives the payments, manages the contributions and the payment of income tax (via the withholding tax procedure).
Exchange with freelancers and train: the keys to getting started in the rules of the art
Exchange with other freelancers: learn from the experience of others
Today there are many ways to exchange with freelancers in your sector of activity and thus avoid potential launch errors. That’s why it’s important to build and maintain a strong network.
This will allow you to network with other freelancers and gain new knowledge. You can meet other freelancers through:
- freelance communities : allow you to ask questions about launching a self-employed activity, discuss with other people according to your sector of activity and your centers of interest. Today, these communities are no longer limited to forums, but extend to your favorite platforms: slack, discord and even reddit communities… freelancers are everywhere!
- Blogs and Youtube channels : allow you to do your monitoring and keep the articles, videos and information that will help you start self-employed;
- Social networks : allow you to follow the accounts of lawyers, freelancers in your sector or even inspiring people who will motivate you to get started.
Get trained: make sure you’re ready before you start
Training is an essential step before getting started. If your project of self-employed activity consists of the exercise of the same trade as that which you exercised as an employee, the training will be less important, but it will be essential during your activity to remain competitive.
If you want to start a new activity, you have the option of applying for business start-up leave. This leave allows you to temporarily suspend your employment contract to launch your business creation project.
Good to know : you will not receive any remuneration during this leave, but if you change your mind about your new self-employed life, you can return to your position under the same conditions as those under which you left it.
There are different ways to train:
- Follow MOOCS and online training: many training courses exist to help you get started, thanks to which you can have access to legal, administrative or even operational training for your launch as a freelancer;
- Listen to webinars: there are a large number of free webinars on administrative, strategic or even marketing topics;
- Etc.
First of all, it is important to understand that the terms of termination of your employment contract will determine the start-up assistance schemes that you will be able to benefit from. Some schemes are reserved for Pôle Emploi recipients (you can become a Pôle Emploi recipient if you are made redundant, if you have signed a contractual termination or if you have resigned under certain conditions).
That being said, here is the list of the main aid you can benefit from under certain conditions:
- Maintaining your AREs : the ARE are your Pôle emploi benefits. This system allows you to reconcile the maintenance of your allowances and the creation of your company. Attention, the rule varies according to the choice of your structure. For example, if you choose to create a micro-enterprise, then 70% of your turnover is subtracted from your ARE calculations. On the other hand, if you decide to create a SASU, you will be able to keep all of your AREs provided that you do not pay yourself any remuneration with your structure.
Good to know : in most cases, it is also possible to combine your wage portage income with the return to work aid (ARE) paid by Pôle emploi.
- ACRE : this URSSAF scheme allows you to be exempt from part or all of your social security contributions the first year of exercise. Once again, this aid also differs depending on the legal form chosen: if you create a micro-enterprise, you will be exempt from 50% of your social security contributions, while if you create a SASU or an EURL, you will be 100% exempt from your contributions (below a certain amount of remuneration of approximately 30,000 euros);
- ARCE : this is a different payment method for your ARE. This device allows you to receive 45% of your rights in two instalments: a first part at the creation of your company and a second 6 months later. However, the remaining 55% will not be paid to you.
There are also a number of local or specific aids depending on the nature of your activity or your situation. You can thus approach the town hall of the place of your activity.
