First received idea: the micro-enterprise is a temporary status. In some cases, of course, but more and more it is a status in its own right, and permanent. Remember that 49% of the self-employed are self-employed.
Micro-entrepreneurs make turnover and earn income from their activity
Of course, this status, for some, is by nature a temporary status, especially for students who create their own business to be able to invoice for some work or some missions, and who stop as soon as they enter working life. It can also be a complementary status. Some employees create their own business alongside their job to be able to earn income from their hobby: in 2021, just over a quarter of self-employed people (27.7%, up 2.2%) were also employees. As for retirees, more and more of them want to continue working at their own pace and in another way, once their retirement has been liquidated.
But beware, these findings should not obscure the other facet of self-entrepreneurship, that of a status that wins a little more acclaim each year, and which is chosen by many business creators because responds to their life strategy. It should be remembered that in 2022, 61% of the companies created were under the status of auto-entrepreneur. And their income increases. In 2021, if we exclude those who have no income, the average income of self-employed entrepreneurs has jumped by 13% for craftsmen and traders, by 14% for unregulated liberal professions, and by 23% for regulated liberal professions. The average income of 6300 euros announced by statisticians can be misleading because it covers extremely different realities, this average taking into account the categories mentioned above such as students, retirees, employees, and those who have not created only to edit one or two invoices. Auto-entrepreneurship is also chosen by CSP + categories to exercise professions in communication, entertainment, scientific and technical fields, industry… Remember that the maximum turnover threshold to benefit from the status of auto-entrepreneur now amounts to 72,600 euros for the provision of services and some exploit this possibility to the maximum. Auto-entrepreneurs whose income is around 40,000 euros net are therefore much more numerous than one might think at first glance.
More women are starting sole proprietorships
43% of businesses created in 2022 under the micro-enterprise regime were created by women, and 55% of traditional individual businesses. These percentages are increasing and can be explained by the fact that certain “feminized” sectors are very dynamic. Women are in the majority in “other household services” (77%), human health and social work (73%), industry and education (52%).
Moreover, contrary to certain received ideas, the status of self-employed person has no particular impact on the income gap between men and women, which is equivalent to the gap observed in the salaried world.
Auto-entrepreneurship is not the prerogative of big cities
Ile-de-France certainly continues to concentrate more than a quarter of total registrations in France. But rural areas, with 14% of business creations in 2022, have a stronger dynamic than urban areas. This is explained in particular by the fact that with teleworking, a large number of activities can now be carried out remotely. Entrepreneurs prefer to work in quiet surroundings, in accommodation that is often more pleasant and less expensive than in town.
Auto-entrepreneurs are responsible for six out of ten registrations, the record being reached in Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur, with 66.3%. It is so much less painful to work in the sun…
And Pascal Ferron went one better by saying that “flexibility, agility and low constraints were terribly lacking in the entrepreneurial landscape and more and more future self-employed entrepreneurs have understood this. »