starting up in france

[harley munky]

hey guys, im new to this part of PH so be gentle .
my dads been offered a large plot of land with 2 big houses (need renovating) and 2 barns just outside brittany in france. the owners started turning it into a campsite. it has all the electric hook ups ready to be installed and toilet/shower blocks partly built/plumbed. seems a good location being not to far from the ferry/tunnel crossing.
its a friend of his who is selling (some family issues causing sale) and hes gettting it very VERY cheap.

were going over to have a look in the next couple of weeks and if all is good dads thinking of handing hes pub lease back over and moving to france.
dads been in the building trade most of his life and my younger brother has helped out too so renovating the houses/barns and finishing off the shower blocks wont be an issue. dad has his pub liscence and me and my brother both work the bar so having an onsite bar could be an option?
how hard is it to start up a business like a campsite in france?
any advice would be great

cheers

tony

[smifffymoto]

Very difficult and very expensive.Do your home work,make sure that it has all its permits,how many emplacements dictates the rules you have to adhere to,is it registered as a campsite or camping a la ferme or aire naturelle.

A bar is also expensive as you need a licence 4 to operate similar to a pub as these are usually allocated to bars in towns which will provide a local service.Your best bet would be to open a snack bar and apply to the Douanes for a petit restaurant licence which lets you serve beer,wine and soft drinks with food.

Before you do anything,do your home work,get an accountant(this is cruial)to help you register as a business and advise you.
If you really want a campsite I would suggest buying one that is already up and running,every year there are new rules and regulations which have to be followed.

[rdjohn]

I would second Smiffymoto

If it looks to good to be true; then it probably is
Bureaucracy is a French word.

[harley munky]

thanks for the advice/tips guys. have passed it on to my dad. il let you know the outcome.
if he dose take it maybe i can get him to sort a discount for PH'ers

[Sortie 10]

As has been previously suggested, homework is the key together with marketing. Slightly confused about location - you say it is just outside Brittany and not too far from the ferry/tunnel; short sea crossings & the tunnel are in Nord-Pas de Calais, you would need to cross Picardie, Upper & Lower Normandy before you get close to Brittany - a fair old schlepp!

[BingoBob]

Depends how cheap it is. The French have lots of silly rules, but that works both ways and they have to abide by them too.

You woudln't necessarily need a Licence IV to serve beer and wine, which is probably all you want at a campsite anyway. Licence II would probably do you, and they are much easier to get than the licence IV.

I'm not sure where the value added is in a campsite, but I would guess that it's not in the bar revenue, anyway.

The idea of running a campsite is quite appealing. I wouldn't let any French stay, of course - woudln't want to lower the tone