If you don't know where to start, you've come to the right place. Here we explain what it means to be self-employed, from the status of the profession to its advantages.
A self-employed worker is defined as a person who carries out an activity on his or her own account. He or she bears the risks, but enjoys the benefits. To this end, the self-employed worker is :
- registered,
- a company director engaged in an economic activity,
- free to decide its own working conditions.
As a result, freelancers, farmers, craftsmen and shopkeepers can all be self-employed.
The difference between a self-employed worker and an employee lies in the very characteristics of the employment contract. Although there is no legal definition of the employment contract, it is based on the following criteria:
- a contract (oral or written),
- a job,
- a subordinate relationship,
- remuneration.
Being a salaried employee means working under the orders of a boss, in return for a salary. Wages can be paid by the job, by the piece, or by the hour.
In contrast, the self-employed worker has no subordinate relationship. They work for themselves, according to their own standards. He chooses his own customers, sets his own rates for services, or negotiates them.
There is normally no contract of employment between you and your customers. This is where self-employed workers need to be careful about their independence. It is indeed possible that a contractual relationship may develop with one of his customers, establishing this famous subordinate relationship. If this happens, the self-employed worker will no longer be considered as a freelancer, but as an employee of the company, and the judge may reclassify the contract.
This reality should make you realize that self-employment may not be as free as it seems. Admittedly, they are not in a direct subordinate relationship with an employer, but their relationship with their customers can sometimes closely resemble that of a salaried employee, with fewer legal guarantees.
Once you've decided to become self-employed, there are three different types of status to choose from:
- sole proprietorships or micro-businesses,
- the one-person company,
- wage portage.
Let's take a quick look at each of these statuses.
1. Sole trader or micro-entrepreneur status
The individual entrepreneur differs from the micro-entrepreneur in the tax regime to which he or she is subject. The "classic" sole trader is subject to a real income tax system.
✏️ However, sole proprietorship status allows you to opt for the micro-business regime. This means you can benefit from the micro-social and micro-tax systems. You will then be considered a micro-entrepreneur.
The former has no sales ceiling. On the contrary, micro-businesses may not exceed a sales figure which, depending on the activity, may be limited to €176,200 (e.g. sale of goods) or €72,600 (e.g. services).
2. What are one-person companies?
The single-member company is a legal status that allows you to choose between two corporate forms:
- EURL (entreprise unipersonnelle à responsabilité limitée),
- SASU (société à actions simplifiées unipersonnelles).
These legal forms are more complex to set up and manage, but they do have their advantages. The SASU, for example, puts you on the same footing as an employee in terms of social security. The EURL, for example, allows you to opt for either income tax or corporation tax for an unlimited period.
3. Portage salarial
It is a contract between three parties:
- the ported employee,
- theportage company,
- the customer company.
In this case, a client company had a need for expertise in a field it was not accustomed to using. A "portage" company provides a ported employee. As the name suggests, you won't, strictly speaking, be self-employed. So why use it?
🔎 This status can be interesting when you're thinking of launching a self-employed business. It can give you a better understanding of your market, while providing you with an attractive salary.
4. Which status to choose?
When you think about becoming self-employed, you're often on your own. Not that you think about it alone in your living room, but you're going to be doing it alone. And that means a lot of work.
Doing business takes time. Whether in terms of actual work or training to enable you to become more competitive than your competitors.
Then there's the day-to-day management. To limit these tax and accounting obligations, the sole proprietorship solution, with an option for the micro-enterprise regime, is often the simplest and least costly to set up.Registration is free of charge.
Being self-employed has its advantages, whatever legal form you choose:
- autonomous work organization.
- uncapped income,
- no hierarchical constraints.
1. The self-employed worker is autonomous
Independence is the dream of every employee. That's exactly what the self-employed person achieves. Whether you want to start your day at 3 a.m. or 10 p.m., as a freelancer, you can.
In the same way, you are not limited by any legal working hours. If you want to work 120-hour weeks, or 30-hour weeks, you're on your own. Which naturally brings us to the subject of income.
2. Unlimited income
If you're a salaried employee, you may be paid for your overtime, with extra pay depending on the period you work. However, you will never be paid according to the added value you create for your company.
On the contrary, as a freelancer, the more you work, the more you earn. The only limit is the business model you choose. So, if you know how, you can earn far more money as a freelancer than you ever will as an employee.
3. The self-employed are their own bosses
We have already discussed the concept of subordination. The very thing that often complicates employment relationships. As a self-employed person, you no longer have to worry about the quality of your employee-boss relationship. You're your own boss.
However, as we've already pointed out, be careful not to become your customers' hidden employee. In other words, falling into a subordinate relationship in spite of yourself. Without good discipline and clear principles, you could very quickly slide into this type of relationship. Freelancers must never lose sight of their independence.
Being self-employed is the dream of many, and rightly so. This new role breaks with the traditional employment contract, which implies "subordination" and "payment of a salary".
This status seems to open up a whole new range of possibilities, including an income with no ceiling, and no need to renegotiate with a boss or human resources department.
However, while the self-employed worker is free to organize his or her working day and put in the number of hours per week that suits him or her, this new siren song should not be allowed to lull you into complacency.
Self-employment is very much in vogue. It's part of what the Americans call the "gig economy". It's a business model that benefits companies like Uber and Deliveroo, who don't have to bear any payroll costs.
This model implies that the self-employed worker has no paid vacations or social benefits, other than those for which he or she pays contributions. So before you enter the world of self-employment, be sure that the business you choose will generate enough income to live decently.
