According to APCE statistics, only 15% of entrepreneurs receive support for their projects, and the rate of business acquirers seeking coaches during creation is almost non-existent. Since entrepreneurs do not easily seek out advisors, it is the advisors who will go to them. This is the starting point of the Entrepreneurs’ Caravan adventure.
The Entrepreneurs’ Caravan in a nutshell This itinerant expertise center specializes in business creation, acquisition, and transmission, traveling to between 80 and 100 cities per year in France, Belgium, and Switzerland. Its founder states, “For the past 6 years, less than 10% of the entrepreneurs we meet have received support in their journey, and even fewer have received training, which is tragic. We must, therefore, meet people where they are, on their turf, to organize support through local actors and experts. The environment is complex, and they struggle to find the right advice on their own.”
What is the project of the caravan? The principle of the Entrepreneurs’ Caravan is simple and effective: the Caravan sets up for a day in a highly frequented square in a city center. When entrepreneurs enter the Caravan, they are greeted by consultants who begin by conducting a general diagnosis.
Who is the project bearer? What is their project? Where are they at? What are their needs and difficulties? Based on this diagnosis, visitors are directed to the Caravan’s experts. It should be noted that the experts participating in the Caravan are mostly local (lawyers, accountants, bankers, financiers, insurers, wealth managers, social protection specialists, umbrella companies, as well as consultants in business development, business leaders coaches, internet strategy specialists, etc.).
A approach to support entrepreneurs Following the initial diagnosis, project bearers are individually received by the experts. They can thus feel as if they were in the expert’s actual office, with two differences: all consultations are free, and the experts are all gathered in one place, allowing visitors to move quickly and easily from one expert to another. The process is therefore very effective.
The 2009 edition of the Entrepreneurs’ Caravan made a little over 62 stops in France and Belgium. The Entrepreneurs’ Caravan remains specialized in business creation, acquisition, franchise, and business transfer. However, in the 2009 edition, a business development component was added to the program. It seems important today to also focus on created or acquired businesses.
History of the Caravan Behind the Entrepreneurs’ Caravan lies the passion of a man for entrepreneurship: Jean-Paul Debeuret. He continues his goal of promoting and assisting business creation through various initiatives. With a background in accounting expertise, he starts from scratch and creates his own firm of experts (E3C), which quickly becomes the third-largest in France in terms of SMEs. After growing his business, retaining some 14,000 clients, and creating 700 jobs spread over 80 offices in France, he sells it at the end of 2001.
Jean-Paul Debeuret’s entrepreneurial journey continues with the creation of the company FORCES in 2002. FORCES’ mission is to help create, manage, develop, make profitable, and sustain businesses. To offset the lack of training for creators and entrepreneurs in general, FORCES designs and produces video training, allowing them to adapt to their constraints.
The e-learning site www.forces.fr offers 130 on-demand training courses accessible via the internet (or CD-ROM). Specific pathways (training + coaching) have even been designed: creator, acquirer, franchisee, seller. To promote and facilitate the continuous training of entrepreneurs and managers, FORCES has launched www.tvdesentrepreneurs.com, a web TV that freely broadcasts over 200 video training modules and already has more than 10,000 subscribers.
In addition to training needs, the lack of support for project bearers is the origin of the Entrepreneurs’ Caravan, created in 2004.
