Since 2013, employment has increased by 19% among French worker and social cooperatives. Only in 2017, 300 new cooperatives were created, bringing 4,000 new jobs, with an increase by 7.6% compared to the previous year. And there is even more good news from our French member CG Scop: in 2015, young managers (≤ 35) represented 15.5% of all managers within worker and social cooperatives, compared to 11.3% in conventional enterprises. That reinforces the idea that youth is also benefiting from this cooperative positive trend in France. In response to the growing interest of young people towards cooperative enterprises, CG Scop has launched a new website addressed to young entrepreneurs in search of tips and inspirations: start-scop.fr

How does a cooperative work? Will I get there? Is it difficult? Before setting up a cooperative, there are many questions young entrepreneurs have in mind, and finding the right answers when overwhelmed with red tape and regulations is not easy at all. That's why a website like start-scop.fr provides what young people often look for.

First of all, it guides users in tackling the toughest issues when it comes to establish a cooperative business from scratch: making a feasibility study; setting-up a financing plan; preparing a statute; going over all the paperwork, etc. Through the website, it is possible to discover the diverse entities composing the CG Scop network who are there to advise and assist, from regional federations to business incubators. And for sure financing is not left out: CG Scop movement has developed a sophisticate range of tools to meet the financial needs of cooperatives at all stages of their life, from their creation to its later development and, by surfing the website, aspirant entrepreneurs can get a clear idea of it.

And what about illuminating experiences from which to get ideas and inspirations? One of the specific advantages of being part of a cooperative is being part of a wider cooperative community: we are the only entrepreneurial model organised as a movement, which opens doors to great opportunities in terms of sharing information and practices on the basis of common values. start-scop.fr puts this principle into practices, sharing videos of young entrepreneurs who, through cooperatives, are trying to fulfill their aspirations and find an answer to their needs.