Why did your company choose to invest in France?

We represent small and medium businesses and we operate primarily in intellectual property; France and Germany are two huge markets for us. We found that we could do business in English in Germany, but we really needed the language skills in France. So we decided that we were going to invest in France and set up shop here, and we found to our great satisfaction that once we came here it was so easy to do business. The culture was so similar to the US, whereas even though Germany had the language, it was much more difficult for us to do business there: the sales cycles were longer and the way and culture of doing business was very different from the US. So we have been very pleasantly surprised by investing in France. Since then, we have merged with a company in France and we intend to grow more; we are very excited about this.
 

What makes France attractive to you as an investor?

First of all, I think that the culture in this country is fantastic. Secondly, there is the talent; the people here are really incredible. We are a very entrepreneurial company and we’ve found it easy to find very entrepreneurial-minded people in France. They have ideas and they want to take action on their ideas; they are passionate about their ideas, which is just excellent for us. The third thing I would say about France that is really great for us is the city of Paris. When you come to Paris, you have access to so many businesses in one place, which is great.  

What are your company’s future investment plans in France?

We are finding that several of our competitors have actually exited France while we on the other hand have entered the market. Consequently, many more businesses in France seem to want to do business with us because we are located here. Also, with the education system and the talent pool in France, we really hope and intend to increase our R&D presence here and, of course, the tax laws are just fantastic for doing that.

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