Long salaried employees, their career path suffered a setback during an economic downturn. To bounce back, franchising appeared to be the solution best suited to their needs.
After a twenty-five-year career with Stellantis (formerly PSA), Isabelle Dewimille has been offered a voluntary redundancy scheme. She accepted her employer’s offer and took advantage of the opportunity to carry out a skills assessment. “It reinforced my idea of moving into a different position, more focused on health and social care or training and transmission”, she confides. One thing led to another, and Isabelle Dewimille discovered the Apef franchise network, which specializes in personal services. “A career change in this sector suited my desire to work in people management and in a service-oriented sector”. She opened her agency in April 2023, in the town of Belfort. She financed the entry fees with her severance bonus, and also planned her first salaries, as she wasn’t sure she would be able to pay herself immediately. ” The reassuring aspect of franchising was an obvious choice for me,” continues the entrepreneur.
Bouncing back: the importance of a good feeling
The word “reassuring” is on the lips of all employees attracted to franchising. This model is well suited to the needs of those who have undergone a voluntary departure plan,” agrees Serge Voiry, human resources consultant. This kind of event leads the people concerned to think first and foremost in ‘project’ mode. to be your own boss and turn to a certain type of sector. With franchising, they save time by benefiting from a product, support and a network right from the start. “This solution therefore appears less risky than setting up a company outright. “It’s also a reaction to the wage-earning world: I want to be autonomous, independent,” says Serge Voiry.
This is what convinced this former financial sector employee to open his own Prelys Courtage branch: “I discovered brokerage when I applied for a home loan. I realized that there was a lot to be done from a commercial point of view in this sector. For him, having experienced the violence of redundancy, being an employee was out of the question. And you can’t go it alone if you don’t know much about mortgages. The risk was too great. This prospective franchisee benefited from training and weekly, then monthly, support for the first year.
Franchising: open a business with confidence
Former employees often need support to restore their confidence. Serge Voiry comments: “They’ll appreciate reintegrating a brand or a company, no longer with the same positioning, as an employee, but as the head of an organization. Beware, however, that there is also a process to be respected and, in some cases, networks that leave less autonomy.” And it’s according to your expectations and desire for creativity that you should choose your franchisor.
For example, Elian Condomines, a former employee in the building products trade, chose to rebound with France Hygiène Ventilation, a very young structure created in 2016. I was looking for a B-to-B franchise where I could retain a certain degree of freedom,” he explains. With an established franchise, you have to be willing to learn a lot, to conform and to have less influence on its organization.” The icing on the cake? This reconversion enabled him to open his branch in Isère, fulfilling his desire to live in the countryside. Wage-earning was over, and so was the city.
