Business creation in France

L’entrepreneuriat a le vent en poupe

Business creation is on trend

The number of created business has been increasing these past few years.

In 2022, a record has been hit in France with 1,071,900(1) new companies created, 21,400 more than in 2021.

Business creations keep on increasing in many business sectors, mainly in specialised activities, admin and support services, and "other B2C services".

The French population is willing to create their own business

According to the annual franchise survey of Banque Populaire, 34% of French people would like to create their business and among them 44% consider opening a franchise(2).

Indeed, the franchise model eases the process of starting up one's business, as one becomes one's own boss and gets help, advice, experience and the reputation of the franchisor. Choosing a brand that has already proven its success, enables one to start his business quickly and safely.

Les français ont l'esprit entrepreneurial
Les jeunes et l'entrepreneuriat

Young people are the most motivated to create their business

The motivation of 18-29 French people to create their business is the highest among developed countries.
Covid-19 has had a paradoxical effect on business creation. Today, 47% of 18-30 y.o. say they are willing to create their own business(3).
This motivation is the result of the need of freedom and independence, the 1st reason to create one's own business. Also, young pepole are less and less tied to salaried employment, 36% of 18-24 y.o. prefer to be independent(3).
L'entrepreneuriat au féminin

Women are increasingly present in the French business creation landscape

12% of SMEs CEOs are women. Among them, 77% are managing companies of less than 50 employees(4).
If women represent one third of business creators, today only 12% are CEOs of SMEs. Also, the bigger the company (in turnover or number of employees), the less they are likely to be run by a woman: 8% for companies of more than 100 employees, 6% for those of more than 250.
However, women are in all business sectors, even those known for men, like industry (22% against 28% for men) and construction (12% against 15% for men).

Franchising, a model favored by entrepreneurs

The dynamism of the franchise market


In 2022, there were 1 972 franchise networks in France, 84 497 franchised outlets, representing a turnover of € 76.6 billions(5).

These franchised outlets hire 463,280 employees and represent in total 828,178 direct and indirect jobs in 2022.

marché de la franchise en France
profil du franchisé

Who are the franchisees?

  • 76% of franchisees were employed before starting a franchise(6).
  • 4 franchisees out of 10 have created their business in a different business sector.
  • In average, a franchisee opens its first outlet at 35.
  • 36% of franchisees are women, it's 5 points more than in 2021.

Franchising worldwide

Numbers collected by the European Franchise Federation (EFF) show that more than 14,900 franchise brands operate in Europe(7).

In the US, there are 3,472 networks, 4,000 in China, 1,200 in Canada, 3,039 in Brazil and 1,120 in Australia. 
Europe gathers as many brands as there are in the international markets quoted above. 
These stats show the dynamism of the european market and its capacity to innovate by creating new concepts.

France is the 1st in franchise with its 1,972 franchise networks.

France has also developped its franchise brands abroad, whereas we only count 13,67% foreign franchisors in France.
21,24% of French brands are developped worlwide. Franchise seems to be the favored mean to expand one's brand, and the easiest.

La franchise à l'international

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