For many French people, combining their professional and private lives is often complicated. So the task sometimes seems impossible when you want to start a business with your partner or companion. The risks are well known, between that of never dropping out or losing everything in the event of failure. However, it is estimated that 600,000 commercial and craft businesses were carried by a couple in France in 2017. For these entrepreneurs, working with their half can on the contrary build trust between partners, provided they do not walk on the feet. On the occasion of Valentine's Day, several couples of entrepreneurs give their advice for working in pairs on the program La France bouge, Friday on Europe 1.
"We have to separate the tasks"
"From the moment we know how to become complementary, everything is fine", explains to the microphone of Europe 1 Catherine Ninterestis, co-founder with Patrick Jolly of the newspaper De particulier à Particulier which has become the site of PAP real estate ads. "But we still have to separate the tasks because otherwise we are walking on them," she advises. From a few offers published in its paper version in 1975, the company has grown to 220 employees and between 50,000 and 60,000 online sales advertisements.
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"I did not experience any particular difficulties. Private and professional life were totally linked," says Patrick Jolly. "Our life was a whole and revolved around what we were doing." So much so that in the first eight months of the newspaper, while losing money, the couple took "a big risk" by investing in an advertising campaign in the metro. This ultimately enabled him to "earn money". At the same time, the duo lives in Gentilly, in "unsanitary accommodation" according to Catherine Ninterestis, and deprives themselves of moving.
"To flourish with a common goal"
"There is no limit between the pro and the personal. The whole thing is not to step on your feet and to flourish in a common goal", confirms Julien Larde, co-founder with Eliette Vincent of the site Cocolis, launched in 2016, which offers a package carpooling system between individuals. "As we spend all our time together, we exchange on business and personal issues. We have a symbiosis which is much stronger than among other associations," says Eliette Vincent. "Besides that, being an entrepreneur also allows us to have a great family balance, because we take care of our children as much as we want, we spend time with them."
Flourishing with a common goal is also what Anthony Massei and Laëtitia Siepaio, the co-founders of the Corsican distillery U Massicciu, say. "We don't feel like we are working, we are still having fun with two. We both distill, we create the product together", explains Anthony Massei. Specializing in Corsican spirits, the couple also indicate that they respect a certain division of labor: rather handling for him and the commercial aspect for her.