“What interests us is that in these neighborhoods, there are people, and these people need jobs, services, everything that those who do not live in these neighborhoods have at their disposal,” explains Sylvain Moineau.
For the past 10 years, IMPACT Local has been supporting entrepreneurs in launching or taking over a branded business. To do this, IMPACT Local pays attention to the entrepreneur's ability to carry the project. “A business is still a company in an economic context that is not simple, and therefore it requires multiple skills, and it is our duty to be vigilant about the fact that these entrepreneurs have the capacity to carry this project.”
Next, it will be necessary to look at the brand they wish to launch. Is it relevant to the location the entrepreneur is targeting? What are the performances of other points of sale?
"The entrepreneurs who turn to us do so to facilitate obtaining bank financing, as we support their own funds,” specifies Sylvain Moineau. “So these are necessarily entrepreneurs, a large part of whom have life trajectories or profiles that would make them ineligible for a bank loan without our help. This tool has ultimately allowed them to realize what was their life project.”
More than 400 entrepreneurs have been supported, resulting in 400 businesses and life projects realized, which are part of a logic of dynamization or revitalization of rural and urban territories that need these businesses to be attractive and provide services to the population.
“But a branded business is not enough to transform a territory. Often, we are part of the solution,” emphasizes Sylvain Moineau. “The ability to position a branded business will serve as a locomotive and thus allow the territory as a whole to develop.”
Four hundred entrepreneurs supported, and therefore several thousand jobs created or maintained in these territories, a large majority of which are unskilled jobs that are accessible.
"We are moving the lines because we are the trigger that brings a project to fruition,” specifies Sylvain Moineau. “We are just the missing piece in an entrepreneurial project that will allow it to be realized. It is possible with a lot of will and many qualities. One should not underestimate the difficulty of realizing an entrepreneurial project, whatever it may be, especially in retail. So kindness does not exclude rigor. But ultimately, it is possible.”
