The micro-enterprise is a special legal status offering particularly streamlined formalities and conditions for setting up, managing and winding up a business. In fact, the system is the most dynamic in France, with new businesses breaking records every year!
However, this does not exempt them from having a registered address. This is the official administrative and tax address used as a point of contact with the authorities. It defines the company's nationality, country of taxation and jurisdiction in the event of a dispute.
Domiciliation of a company is mandatory in order to obtain RCS registration. How do you choose the best domiciliation address for a micro-business? Should you rent premises, set up your head office in your own home, or choose a commercial address for your micro-business?
Explanations.
The address of a micro-enterprise's (formerly auto-entreprise) head office is first and foremost a practical element. This is its official point of contact with the authorities, where all its official mail is forwarded.
The address at which a micro-business is domiciled is also of vital symbolic importance. It must appear on all official documents (purchase orders, quotations, invoices, delivery notes, administrative correspondence, etc.).
It is therefore visible to all your business and financial partners, and to all your customers. That's why it's vital to have a professional, attractive address that conveys a positive image of your business.
French law distinguishes between a company's registered address and its place of business. A manager wishing to domicile his micro-business can therefore choose between several options:
The auto-entrepreneur's personal residence
Although it may seem a cost-effective solution, it hasmajor drawbacks when it comes to protecting your privacy. The address of a micro-business's head office must appear on all its official documents, which means that your personal address has to be made public.
However, depending on where you live, you may be faced with certain limitations. For example, if the manager rents his home, you need to check that the co-ownership regulations or the lease contract do not contain any clauses prohibiting him from carrying on business at the address indicated.
In fact, domiciling a micro-business at your personal address must not disrupt the organization of the condominium or the building's tenants.
Renting commercial premises
Commercial premises can be purchased or leased.
When a contractor rents premises, it is necessary to sign :
- A commercial lease for a craft or commercial activity,
- A professional lease for a liberal profession.
This option is particularly costly, and obliges a micro-entrepreneur to pay monthly rent, depositsand guarantees. As these are generally structures generating moderate sales, this solution is often unfavorable for a self-employed entrepreneur.
Opt for a shared space
A business incubator offers domiciliation for self-employed entrepreneurs.
An incubator is a structure for hosting startups, providing support to company directors and project leaders by enabling them to set up their own business in the space.
Using a domiciliation company
This alternative is the ideal choice to benefit from a prestigious business address, numerous additional services and CFE reductions.
Much more than a simple P.O. box service, corporate domiciliation offers a number of major advantages:
- Display a prestigious and prestigious head office address in France's most fashionable cities and metropolises. Thanks to domiciliation companies, you can easily separate your domiciliation from your actual workspace.
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Save money. You can access a vast panel of prestigious addresses in French towns and cities while working from your own home. This makes it easy to display a prestigious address without incurring the cost of renting commercial premises.
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Protect your privacy. By separating the address of the registered office from that of the actual place of work, business domiciliation enables self-employed entrepreneurs to keep their personal address secret from the general public. In this way, you protect your privacy.
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Tax savings. By locating your head office in a commune with a low CFE (Cotisation Foncière des Entreprises) tax rate, you can easily make tax savings.
A domiciliation company offers legal domiciliation services for all self-employed entrepreneurs, whatever their sector of activity.
The domiciliation company must be approved by its local prefecture. It provides its customers with a registered office as well as a postal, commercial and administrative address.
Domiciliation companies also offer their customers a wide range of additional services:
- P.O. box service with daily mail management (scanning, forwarding and provision of business mail)
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Telephone switchboard to take messages in your absence
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Legal and administrative assistance, handling your legal formalities when setting up your company
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Rental of meeting rooms, equipped premises, etc.
All these services can be chosen " à la carte " to suit your particular needs. So each customer only pays for what they really need. It's easy to add or cancel a service, with no commitment, as your micro-business grows.
Would you like to use a domiciliation company to set up the headquarters of your micro-business? Nothing could be simpler.
At SeDomicilier, a simplified three-step procedure allows you to obtain a certificate of domiciliation in less than 5 minutes online:
- Choose a head office address from a wide range of prestigious locations in France's best-valued cities and metropolises
- Add additional services to suit your needs and budget
- Sign your contract and get your direct debit contract in just a few clicks!
Available from €16 per month, commercial domiciliation is a real tool contributing to the success of your micro-business.
It offers a number of invaluable services that enable auto-entrepreneurs to focus on what really matters: the success of their project.
SeDomicilier offers a complete, flexible range of domiciliation services for micro-businesses, with no hidden charges: all it takes is 5 minutes to obtain your domiciliation certificate!
Written by our expert Paul LASBARRERES-CANDAU
September 10, 2021
