10,000 Small Businesses France Generation Growth

In 2020, France became the third location in the world where Goldman Sachs launched 10,000 Small Businesses – a program with a 15-year history of proven impact across the US and the UK, founded on one very simple idea: that the small business community is the engine of regional, national and global economies.

Since launching in France, more than 400 entrepreneurs from across the country have graduated – in 2023, 75% of this group increased their business revenue since graduating, 65% created jobs in their local communities, and 79% plan to increase the amount they export in the next few years.1 All this, in what has been an extraordinarily tumultuous market backdrop for all businesses, let alone the small.

On Wednesday, 24 January, we convened graduates and friends of the program at the Ministry of Finance in Paris to celebrate the collective impact of the program and underscore our commitment to the region. Supported by Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, and with remarks from Bertrand Dumont, director general of the Treasury, attendees heard from Richard Gnodde, chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs International, Asahi Pompey, global head of Corporate Engagement, as well as a panel of three 10,000 Small Businesses France graduates.

The panel featured: Sylvia Casset of Ilon Hardware, which delivers the sale, rental, and reconditioning of construction equipment, as well as advisory service for large scale works; Emilie de Barros of Sogemi, a glassworks specialist in cutting and shaping all glass products; and, Khelil Kchouk of JM Concept, a leading Electronics manufacturer in Brignais. These innovative founders and business owners spoke about what it has been like to be part of this cohort of change makers, to be part of 10,000 Small Businesses Generation Growth.

Small businesses are the backbone of a strong economy, and the key to a resilient one. Through 10,000 Small Businesses we are unrelenting in our commitment to support small business growth.

10,000 Small Businesses France is a fully-funded, nationwide, small business education program, delivered in partnership with ESSEC Business School.

Aimed specifically at ambitious small-business leaders, the program offers a comprehensive package of business development and leadership support, designed to help businesses reach their potential. The program helps build small-business leaders’ knowledge and confidence in core areas, and enables them to apply this knowledge directly and immediately back into their businesses.

If you are an entrepreneur and keen on learning more about the program, visit here.

¹Statistical analysis was provided by Professor Mark Hart of the Aston Centre for Growth and Enterprise Research Centre. Read the full summary produced in partnership between the Aston Centre for Growth, ESSEC Business School and the Goldman Sachs Foundation in May 2023.