On Friday, October 22, at The Residency Towers hotel, French entrepreneurs in Pondicherry gathered for a friendly event to get to know one another and exchange ideas on the various challenges of entrepreneurial life.
It was also an opportunity for Damien Berville, President of the CEFP, to introduce the new Board of Directors and unveil the Club’s renewed vision.
The primary mission is to bring together French entrepreneurs by creating a platform to share their knowledge, skills, challenges, and difficulties, with the aim of energizing the development of this community.
The new website was also unveiled and will allow each member to easily create a personal space to showcase their business, connect with fellow entrepreneurs, or search for information or services offered by other members.
During the second part of the evening, the entrepreneurs took part in a collective reflection on key topics such as their current needs, challenges, possible solutions, and shared knowledge.
Here are the needs that were expressed:
- Creation of a reliable network for local tax, legal, and administrative advice
- Handling of HR issues, management, egos, conflicts, and intercultural dynamics
- Finding quality human resources and reliable suppliers
- Support in marketing and communication
- Support with visas and employee health insurance
Advice / Expertise to Share:
- Sharing insights on the HR tool sumHR
- Sharing insights on a marketplace platform/tool
Event ideas:
- Sector-specific meetups (tourism, IT, crafts)
- Visit to the Baladarshan workshop in Chennai (fair trade crafts)
- Handcrafted furniture-making workshop
- Meetups between entrepreneurs
Suggestions/Ideas:
- Introducing high school students to the world of entrepreneurship through internships, company visits, the LFIP business forum, and synergies with LFIP alumni
- Meetings with other entrepreneur clubs (Chennai, Bangalore)
- Meetup with businesses from Auroville
- Trade fair dedicated to French businesses in India
- Create a business setup guide for India → in progress, join the working group
- Promote Club members and their sectors → online directory in progress
The CEFP warmly thanks all the sponsors who contributed to the success of this event: Hotel The Residency Towers for providing the venue and the cocktail reception, Mr. Gopady Pajaniradja from the company Vanni Impex for offering the champagne, M. Prosper Emmanuel from the company ICON Mobility Management, and Mr Sylvain Paquiry from the companies Villa Shanti Pondicherry and La Villa for sponsoring the evening.
At the end of the event, networking continued spontaneously in a very friendly atmosphere. You can find all the photos from the event in the gallery below.
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