Going freelance is more popular than ever, but is there a typical profile for these new freelancers?
I would say that there is not a standard profile, but rather standard profiles.
We can bring out 4 main ones: people with specific skills looking for additional income (or who wish to monetize a passion activity);
those who want to become self-employed to finally control their schedule and choose their clients;
job seekers who see entrepreneurship as a new beginning;
and finally the new workers of the so-called "gig economy", officiating for platforms like Uber.
Contrary to popular belief, this last category is not at all in the majority: we estimated it at less than 20% of self-employed people during our barometer survey published in the fall of 2021.
In your opinion, how can this trend, which seems to affect all levels of French society, be explained?
With the passage of the health crisis and the movement of the “great resignation”, the classic wage earner is losing ground.
People are looking for more freedom while still wanting to do something meaningful.
We can therefore also see a rejection of the wage system and of the boss/employee relationship.
We have also observed this at the Portail Auto-Entrepreneur through a boom in the creation of businesses in the crafts sector: it is quite simply former employees who decide to go into their own business.
Starting a business is one thing, sustaining it is another.
The figures are also eloquent: about ¼ of them do not exceed 3 years of existence.
In your opinion, what are the obstacles currently encountered by the self-employed?
We realize this on a daily basis: what is mainly lacking in entrepreneurs is not skills and know-how, it's everything else.
Because starting out on your own is not just about exercising your profession, you also have to master all the side issues: management of accounting, administrative obligations, reaching a point of financial equilibrium... This is precisely which prompted us to develop billing and management software called Mon Portail.
The goal ?
Simplify the daily life of entrepreneurs and prevent them from making mistakes.
To go further and tackle the problem at the source, we have also launched our own organization for the training of entrepreneurs, eligible for the CPF: Educademy.
We offer training courses that pursue a single goal: to enable people who are starting out to succeed, by adapting to their development needs.
For some it is, for example, to learn accounting management, or to create a business plan;
for others, understanding the basics of digital marketing, or even launching an e-commerce site.
Is the lack of technical background really the only obstacle encountered by new entrepreneurs?
Not only.
The other big challenge is the lack of security that self-employed workers feel with their status.
This is currently their first concern: better social protection.
We saw it through a survey launched on the occasion of the presidential election on our Facebook community.
The first three demands are: improving the pension system for the self-employed, being able to contribute to unemployment insurance and finally better access and a larger amount of daily allowances paid in the event of sick leave and maternity/paternity leave. .
Are improvements planned by the government on these specific subjects?
Right now it's not very clear.
There have been some improvements over the past two years.
For example, self-employed workers can now activate their previous rights acquired with their employment if they are not yet eligible for daily allowances for their self-employed activity.
But this does not settle the question of the amount of daily allowances once the first year has passed and the terms of application have not yet been communicated.
Same thing for unemployment: there is a Self-Employed Workers' Allowance (ATI) which deploys a safety net in the event of forced cessation of activity.
€800 for a maximum of 6 months.
Very little used by auto-entrepreneurs, its terms of allocation were simplified a few months ago thanks to the independent plan.
But this still does not replace real access to unemployment insurance.
And for pensions?
For pensions, it's even simpler: social security has not officially communicated the turnover to be achieved to validate its quarters since 2020... We therefore do the calculations ourselves for our customers and our community. !
There is therefore still work to be done to make self-employed status as protective as possible.
Conversely, are there notable accomplishments to remember?
Completely !
Just because there is still a lot to do doesn't mean nothing has been done.
Some major projects are now well advanced, or even completed.
I am thinking in particular of the attachment of the self-employed to the general social security scheme, the introduction of daily allowances for regulated liberals, the new CFE exemptions, the protection of personal assets for all individual entrepreneurs, simplified contributions for collaborating spouses...
And you, what is your role in all these projects?
This is precisely our mission at Betao: to support all entrepreneurs, at each stage of their adventure, to help them launch their project, manage it on a daily basis, anticipate the various challenges and better understand how their social protection works.
We even help the most ambitious to create a company, with our subsidiary Simplitoo.
Of course, we cannot replace the government and we cannot change the law.
But since 2014, we have already supported more than 250,000 entrepreneurs.
By training them, informing them and supporting them in a personalized way, we have acquired a certainty: the French have everything they need to succeed and flourish in entrepreneurship... talent, energy and creativity.
Sometimes they just need a little help!