This article is a transcript of their performance, and you can follow the video replay with the link available at the bottom of the article.

Presentation of the projects

Caring Company Project 

The Caring Company Project is aimed at employee caregivers. These are employees in a company who take care of other employees who are losing their autonomy. It trains its employees to manage both their responsibilities and to follow and help their colleague with a disability.

TUTTIS

When we describe a situation that has been experienced, we are talking about practical analysis. The fact of describing it makes you understand much better what happened. You become more professional, more competent. Usually used in the health sector, this method takes the form of a meeting around a table to understand what happened in this or that situation. The problem is that nobody has the time to do this. The idea of TUTTIS is therefore to digitalize this method and to encourage this collective reflection through a digital platform.

Topic 1: What is health?

The WHO definition of health is clear. Health does not stop at the absence of disease or disability. It incorporates all aspects of amplitude and well-being. As such, health must be accessible to all, regardless of economic status. Health is also taking care of someone. This may depend on the family situation of the person. For Miora, she had to take care of her father.

Topic 2: The legitimacy of health entrepreneurs

Indeed, legitimacy is an issue for entrepreneurs. At the very beginning of TUTTIS, Stephan and his co-founder Anaïs were received by the DGOS (Direction Générale de l’Offre de Soins). Two surgeons were present. They only looked at Stephan and spoke only to him. And yet it was Anaïs who had the idea for the project. Anaïs, the nurse manager, a woman, had no legitimacy for them. The medical field is regulated and carries certain prejudices. Legitimacy is an important issue in this field. You have to surround yourself in advance with people who have legitimacy and who are recognized in order to be able to undertake.

For Miora, its legitimacy has been assured through its innovative business. You have to differentiate between solutions that already meet the market need. It met a need expressed differently. So the question of legitimacy was quickly settled.

Topic 3: Building legitimacy

Pour construire la légitimité de TUTTIS, il fallait qu’ils montrent qu’ils étaient capables  de réunir des personnes pendant deux heures autour d’une table sur internet. Ils ont pris deux ans pour réaliser cela et dire enfin que oui, TUTTIS fait de l’analyse de pratique. Finalement ce qui compte pour Stephan, c’est la capacité à vendre. Il faut montrer que son concept n’est pas juste théorique. Montrer d’une manière pratique.

Topic 4: We need to innovate but there is little funding

From Stephan’s point of view, we will always blame the state for cutting budgets. It is clear that it is failing on this point. Everyone can find something to blame him for. There are silos and entrepreneurs are not seen as part of that world, but just as entrepreneurs.

They are gateways and facilitators so they need more support.

Topic 5: Is it taboo to be an entrepreneur and try to make money?

It’s yes and no. Miora’s answer was no. Once companies see that the proposed solution really addresses their problems, they are happy to pay. However, Stephan notes that when the solution is aimed at certain members of the medical profession, they find it quite difficult to invest in solutions that are not free. Their arguments were based on their underpayment by the hospitals.

Here is the link of the video of their passage.

L’article Entrepreneurship in the health field est apparu en premier sur Start in France.

This article is a transcript of their performance, and you can follow the video replay with the link available at the bottom of the article.

Is entrepreneurship the only way to get a real income and a real job?

Entrepreneurship is a real vehicle for a dynamic and fulfilling working life for people with a disability. It can also be seen as a sustainable path or a transitional path. But access to entrepreneurship is a real equal opportunity issue. There are still obstacles and discrimination in this area. A person with a disability has a lot of difficulties to go through administrative procedures.

This is by no means the only way to get started and have a fixed salary. It is true that entrepreneurship has advantages in the way of working. You can feel comfortable and have a lot of freedom to work from home. However, not everyone has the soul of an entrepreneur. Being disabled requires special support. There are employment incentive policies that allow people with disabilities to access salaried employment in order to be better supported, but this is not enough.

Entrepreneurship is complicated and impossible for a person with a disability

No, it is not impossible but rather complicated. If you have the will to go through the difficulties, you will probably become an entrepreneur.

On this subject, Julie, who has had a lot of experience in entrepreneurship despite her handicap, also said that it is not impossible because there are more than 70 thousand handicapped entrepreneurs in France. So this shows that it is not impossible but there are certainly difficulties to consider. That’s why there are associations to help them.

75% of the companies created by people with disabilities survive the 3-year period. They are therefore considered to be sustainable. Pauline thinks that people with disabilities are resilient with their situation. They adapt with everything and they always try to move forward, and this is the state of mind of an entrepreneur.

Before undertaking, you must accept your handicap

It was complicated for Julie and Evelyne to accept their disability. But after reflection, Julie finds that it has allowed her to be where she is now. She was a salaried executive assistant. But because of her handicap, she became an entrepreneur.

Anne-Laure was also employed in a company for 10 years. Later she discovered that this was not what she wanted to do. She wanted a job where she would be in contact with customers. Her manager suggested that she go into entrepreneurship because she was very comfortable with her disability. But she didn’t realize her abilities. In the end, this adventure allowed her to accept her disability even more. Before she became an entrepreneur, she would not accept going out with a white cane. But since becoming an entrepreneur, she is comfortable with the cane and feels accepted.

The challenge for entrepreneurs is to manage to harmoniously reconcile the disability and the obstacles of running a business. This is why Pauline calls upon the collective to allow entrepreneurs to exchange with each other on the challenge and the impact of their disability on their activity. She also uses coaching to help people to have a good psychology.

Is a good handicap a hidden handicap? To be successful, do you have to hide your handicap?

One may think that the best thing is to hide one’s disability. You may do this for a long time thinking that it is an advantage, but it is the opposite effect. It can cause misunderstanding from the people you work with. You may have an unmanageable task because of your disability. At this point, your manager may blame you for hiding your disability. You need to talk about it.

When she was a young graduate, Anne-Laure was not at all willing to put on her resume that she was disabled, for fear that she would be discriminated against. But she was obliged to talk about it during interviews because her disability required a job accommodation. If the recruiters are open-minded and think that she is competent for the position she is going to have, they will adapt the position to her situation.

There are already things that are put in place by the State for the professional integration of these people. But despite this, there are still other gaps.

Does the State financially support entrepreneurs with disabilities?

There are several aids for people with disabilities but they have not benefited from them. Evelyne indicated that they are committed to the values they defend. They chose the social and solidarity economy, because it corresponds to their own values. They created a for-profit company in order to earn a decent salary. It is not to be miserable in order to get funding from the state. Moreover, they are entrepreneurs before being disabled. We should not count on these aids to undertake. However, they are welcome even if there are difficulties in obtaining them.

Here is the link of the video of their passage.

L’article Changing the norm of disability in entrepreneurship est apparu en premier sur Start in France.

On the impact stage of Startup SAFARI Virtual Experience, we welcomed Gaspard Lefèvre, head of the Incubation program at La Ruche. He spoke to us about the problem of raising seed funding for Impact projects, i.e. projects with a social impact.

In his presentation Gaspard showed 3 types of financing or fundraising, by grants, debt and by increasing equity. We will summarize everything he said. You also have at the end of the article the link to the video of his presentation.

There will be specific vocabulary. A glossary is at your disposal at the bottom of the article 🙂

The grant

A grant is funding without compensation. It can be public or private. This financing is not dilutive (no opening of capital). The amounts and conditions vary from one structure to another. Moreover the constitution of the file is time-consuming, but one can be accompanied. This is exactly what The Hive does. Here’s how to get this funding, who to contact and when to do it.

Who should I contact for a grant?

There are 2 types of subsidies. The private and the public ones.

Public subsidies come mostly from BPI France, the Public Investment Bank, which financially supports innovative startups throughout France. It does so through a grant, La Bourse French Tech. It amounts to 30 000€ to finance innovation. However, the most important condition of access is to have equity to be able to co-finance the project. You can see the other conditions on La French Tech website. There are subsidies in the different territorial authorities like Les Trophées de l’ESS of the city of Paris. It finances projects that deal with social, societal or environmental issues. Public grants are diverse and varied. Get in touch with your public contacts (regions, departments or municipalities).

For private financing, there are many companies that grant them. This is part of their CSR approach. It is through the foundations of these companies that social and societal impact projects are financed. The amounts vary from a few thousand euros to hundreds of thousands of euros. Foundations such as the Google Impact Challenge or Aviva are very popular in this field. They are often specialized and support clearly defined causes. Foundations that support women, such as the Chanel Foundation or the FAMAE Foundation, which are aimed at companies with an environmental impact.

Find all the foundations in the directory of Centre Français des Fonds et des Fondations. It’s very practical!

You probably won’t get the grants because there is a lot of competition. It’s free money so there’s a lot of traffic on that road. But Gaspard advises you to keep the contacts you will have in these foundations. They will explain to you why you were not selected and you can always apply again for some of the foundations.

How to get grants ?

To get a grant, you will normally start with a research phase. Think about common law financing. These are sectorial policies in force on a given territory (Regions, Departments, Intercommunities, Municipalities). Check regularly the calls for projects on Makesense Spot or on Appel à projets Carenews. The last piece of advice is to regularly contact the funders to keep them informed of the progress of your project and the impact it is having.

Then make sure you understand what the funders want from you. To get the grant, make sure the project is to their liking. So talk to them, go to their website or contact previous winners. This will avoid wasting time responding to their call for proposals, only to have your application rejected.

The hardest part is writing your application. Present the application as clearly as possible. You need to demonstrate to funders that you understand the need of your market and that you know how to meet it. They want to see a concrete solution. Don’t think of taking elements of answers already used in other calls for proposals. Instead, tell your story and simply answer the questions. Also show that you are flexible. They need to see alternative plans as the market changes. Let them know that you are not fixated on a single idea, but on a project as a whole.

The funder’s expectations

Show what and who you are making an impact on. You will not be able to measure it as you are just starting your activity. Qualify this impact or imagine it using the need observed in the market. The need is the key.

Additionality is showing that your impact solution addresses a need or part of a need. For example, if your project is educational, you should demonstrate which part of the education issue you are addressing or which population. Additionality is showing that your solution is complementary to what already exists on the market.

Measurability is about proving your ability to measure your impact. Funders want to know the impact of your solution so they know how their funding will further leverage that impact.

Through your project, they want to communicate their commitment. Give them the opportunity to mobilize their employees and to communicate on their commitment to you.

Finally, the expectations of the funder are to have a clear project by defining indicators of evolution and evaluation of your project. Be square!

Equity

Equity fundraising is the act of opening one’s capital to investors. Unlike a grant, it is mainly to finance operations. These are for example purchases of stocks, marketing expenses, research and development or application development. They are done with private investors. This means that the investors will take part in your capital and will expect a part of the company’s profits. You lose a part of the control of your company according to the shares of the investors. So for this financing, you have to ask yourself the right questions : 

• Why do I want to raise funds?
• What issues do I need to raise money for?

Before going out and getting the funding, you have to show that you have a place in the market and that you are capable of getting clients. So first, you have to go out and find customers, demonstrate your ability to attract and generate impact and then raise the funds. You have to raise funds for the right reasons, that is, to accelerate. First, focus on your first funder, which is the customer.

Who should you contact to open your capital?

Equity investorsThere are different steps to raise equity capital. Entrepreneurs often start with Friends & Family —-> then Business Angels —-> to finish with Institutional Investors. Friends & Family are your friends and family who you can ask to participate in the capital. They are the easiest to reach.

Business Angels are individual investors and most often former entrepreneurs. They are individuals who act on their own behalf and who want to invest in high-growth or start-up companies. You can find them in investor clubs such as Les Cigales, Garrigue, ANGELSQUARE, ClUB INVEST IDF, or on participative financing platforms that mobilize citizens’ savings to finance your projects in equity. Take a look at LITA and WEDOGOOD.

For these investors, it is essential to understand that they are people like you and me. Compared to institutional investors, you can therefore convince them more easily on targets of commitments or according to their financing issues. Link up with Business Angels who know your sector, because they bring to your company skills, resources or a network. Since they take part in the capital, you will have to report to them and consult them for strategic decisions. They are close to the entrepreneurs and play a mentoring role.

For institutional investors, there are different kinds. Inco, Phitrust, Citizen Capital and Investir et plus, invest in series A and series B phases, that is to say a third or fourth round. But there are players who come in early, from the beginning of the creation of your company. They intervene in Seed or Pre-Seed. This is the case of France Active and Alliance for Impact, which is an acceleration program coupled with an impact seed fund and partner of La Ruche. With this program, La Ruche can raise seed funding ranging from €300,000 to €1,000,000.

Comment ouvrir son capital ?

As a first step, you must prepare documents bringing together the essential information for investors to understand your project. These documents are called “the Deck”. They must answer the following questions :

• Who is leading the project ?  

• What have you already achieved? 
• What will you achieve with fundraising ? 
• How much do you plan to raise ?

To this, you will add your past accounts, the Excel forecast, the financing plans and the cash flow statement. With all these documents and a well-defined upstream strategy, it will then be necessary to target the right investors, to save you time. This is a point on which La Ruche supports entrepreneurs. Make their sign!

When an investor receives you, he will go further with the Investor Due-Dil. It is a survey that he will carry out to go into the details of what makes up your company, at the level of HR, legal, accounting and commercial. The length of this survey depends on the investor or the size of the amount you are raising. It is this survey that will reassure the investor so you have to prepare and put yourself in your best light. 

Having an investor is building a long-term relationship. So don’t be too aggressive when negotiating. However, do not hesitate to put investors in competition. The same goes for bankers and all financial partners. Contact several to keep the choice on your side.

And finally, make Smart Money. It is the fact of choosing investors who are in your sector and who will be able to bring network, specific skills or knowledge about the sector. Challenge investment funds, also putting them in competition to make the best choice. But don’t expect a follow-up as close as that of the Business Angels.

The expectations of funders

You have to prove the scalability of the project. Demonstrate that the project will grow in the future. To do so, it will be necessary to present an ambitious and operational BP (Business Plan).

Show that the return on investment is in line with your investment thesis or the way you plan to invest. For this, you will have to simulate the IRR (rate of return on investment) of the investor. This will let him know when he will start making money.

Investors care about a competent team. So recruit the right profiles to attract them. Internalize the technology. It’s more reassuring than calling on service providers all the time. This is a very important point !!

You also need to have economic fundamentals to present a good business plan. And finally, cultivate a relationship of trust, partnership and transparent with the funder.

Debt

La dette est un type de financement qui ne nécessite pas l’ouverture de votre capital. Elle sert souvent à financer des investissements comme la R&D (Recherche et développent), travaux d’aménagement ou d’achats de matériels couteux. Il faudrait se rapprocher des partenaires bancaires à Impact.

Quel partenaire bancaires choisir ?

Debt is a type of financing that does not require opening your capital. It is often used to finance investments such as R&D (Research and Development), development work or the purchase of expensive equipment. We should get closer to Impact’s banking partners.

For personal loans, you have actors such as France Active, Initiative France, Réseau Entreprendre or Raise Sherpas.

Regarding business loans, you can choose, La Nef, France Active, BPI France, Groupe Crédit Coopératif and BNP Parisbas. These banks are interesting because they are committed to impact and some of them have bank advisers trained to understand new businesses with innovative business models.

How to get debt ?

As usual, you must present documents that show the financial state of your business, so your past accounts, Excel forecasts, etc…

Once you’ve met the lender, take an honor loan first. This will give you a guarantee for other bank loans. Then, you will have to put yourself in the lender’s shoes to understand on what points he needs to be reassured. Indeed, as a lender, he will like to be sure that you will be able to repay. So present him your business strategy, super mega reassuring and relevant.

During the negotiation, do not hesitate to put the lenders in competition. Of course, you are aware of the balance of power between you and the bank. You are not the best at negotiating. That’s why don’t go out and do loans or fundraising when you’re strapped for cash. You will be even more in bad shape and increase your chances of refusal. Anticipate this. Borrow, raise funds before you are in the red zone. Loaning or fundraising shouldn’t be a lifeline, but rather gasoline that will propel you further.

Conclusion

We are finally at the end of this article. Thank you for following up to this point and I hope you learned as much as I did by transcribing Gaspard’s presentation. She is rich in advice and the best advice I could give you is to have an incubator accompany you. Your project may have specific characteristics. You will need a guide. La Ruche will be delighted to welcome you, for a fundraising journey as sweet as honey!

Here is the video link of Gaspard’s presentation.

L’article Raising funds at the seed stage of a startup est apparu en premier sur Start in France.

Doing business in culture is not ethical

One of the taboos of the cultural sector is the monetization of artistic works. It is frowned upon to create a company in the cultural field because it is not natural to associate economy and culture. Art cannot be monetized.

Tristan believes that as a company we must ensure that our employees are paid a salary and have good working conditions. By doing this, the company operates in an ethical manner. Moreover, at Ciné Chita, it was very important to them to allow as many people as possible to have access to their tickets. They can then reduce the price thanks to the various state aids. It is important to have a balance between the artistic side and the viable side that meets the needs of the people.

Olivier clearly denounces this taboo. According to him, it is a French idea not to associate money with culture or art. Thanks to his international background he sees that it is not always the case in other countries. Moreover, the CNC (national center of cinema) mentions that what is important is that the creators know how to monetize their creation. This is a real problem because there are a lot of creative people in France or in other countries, but they can’t live from their art because of this wrong assumption. For LAFAAAC, Olivier really wanted to create a profit-making company in order not to be dependent on subsidies and to ensure a perenniality by itself.

The culture is a private sector !

Astrid noticed a second cliché which is the difficulty of integrating this cultural world only if you know a person or if you have been to the right school. Tristan and Olivier agreed that this prejudice is both true and false.

This cliché is true, because the cultural world is governed by different institutions in each discipline. These institutions have their own way of functioning as well as their own network. Given their seniority and their contribution to the influence of France, they are unavoidable. It is necessary to get closer to them and their network and it is often at this level that difficulties arise. The meeting is not easy. But fortunately, today we have organizations such as La Ruche that make the link between them and the creators. The success passes by the accompaniment of these organizations.

But this prejudice is also false because both Tristan and Olivier did not initially study in artistic fields. Olivier was a consultant for 15 years in an Anglo-Saxon firm and advised banks and governments to invest in the audiovisual sector in developing countries and in Africa. While Tristan was a chemical engineer with a little entrepreneurial experience. And yet here they are, entrepreneurs in the cultural field. Moreover, in his activity, Tristan rubs shoulders with non-academic profiles who work in this field and who are multidisciplinary. He meets people who have no network but who are driven by their passion. For them, success depends on understanding these institutions and their sprawling organization. The support of organizations such as La Ruche are crucial but also the integration of a network. But not a network of cooptation but a network that helps to mark out and understand the sector.

The key is to educate yourself to have the information by yourself instead of going through someone high up. This is how Olivier was able to discover the IFCIC which is the institute for the financing of cinema and cultural industries.

The place of women in the cultural sector

This topic was also discussed during the session because it was noted that the cultural industries leave little room for women and relegate them to minor positions.

Olivier confirms this and finds that women occupy few key positions. This is why LAFAAAC has decided to put them forward through their training videos presented by women trainers. In this perspective, he salutes Laurence Lascary’s effort to achieve parity in the film industry.

Ciné Chita also noticed the same phenomenon with the cinema. Wanting to revive historical films, Tristan realized that the majority of the key roles were given to men. So to remedy this, they added roles for women to these films.

But this should not be a brake for women. They must take their place and show that we really need their vision and their contribution.

Conclusion

The final word is that there are indeed obstacles to entrepreneurship in culture. These are taboos and prejudices that need to be reviewed. But let’s not stop there. There are still great opportunities to overcome these obstacles. You just need to be accompanied !

L’article How to undertake in culture est apparu en premier sur Start in France.