Business and establishment set-ups in 2021 Arrondissement of Alençon (611)

An enterprise is the smallest combination of legal units that is an organisational unit producing goods and services, enjoying a certain decision-making autonomy, especially for the allocation of its current resources.

The enterprise defined here is a statistical unit that has no legal existence. This concept is often more relevant than the legal unit for economic analysis and is used, for example, to determine the category of enterprise (SME, intermediate-sized or large enterprise).

A sole proprietorship is an enterprise owned exclusively by one natural person and in which there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business entity.

The entrepreneur exercises his activity without having created a distinct legal person. In addition, since 2022, his professional and personal assets have been automatically separated. A sole proprietor may be a storekeeper, a craftsman, a farmer or a liberal professional.

Every sole proprietorship (like every company) is listed as a legal unit in the Sirene business register.

A local unit is a production unit that is geographically individual but legally dependent on a legal unit.An establishment produces goods or services: it can be a factory, a bakery, a clothing store, one of the hotels of a hotel chain, the "shop" of a repairer of computer hardware ...

The establishment or production unit is the most suitable level for a geographical approach to the economy.

Enterprise birth corresponds to the creation of a new combination of production factors with the restriction that no other enterprise is involved in the event.

Enterprise births are legal units creations. But we use the term "Enterprise" in reason of the specificity of the situation when a new legal unit is created. Indeed, at the moment of the registration, it is impossible to determine if a legal unit is independant or a part of a group. Thus, the birth of a legal unit is considered as a birth of enterprise.

Monthly statistics concerning enterprises births are compiled using the information system SIDE, which is supplied with data from SIRENE and enriched with elements from the SIRUS statistical register.

Enterprise birth correspond to legal units registered in Sirene that become active due to the following reasons :

• new registration of a legal unit with the creation of a new combination of production factors ;
• case where the entrepreneur restart an activity after an interruption of more than one year (there is no new registration but use of the former Siren number, generally for a sole proprietorship) ;
• case where the entrepreneur restart an activity after an interruption of less than one year but with a change of activity ;
• take over by a legal unit newly registered of all or part of another legal units activities and production factors where there is no economic continuity between the two units.

It is considered that there is no economic continuity of the legal unit if out of the three following components concerning the company's head office, at least two are modified during the takeover: the legal unit controlling the company, the economic activity, and the location.

Since data relative to January 2009, following the enforcement of "auto-entrepreneur" status (renamed "micro-entrepreneur" since December 19, 2014), enterprises births statistics include the registrations registered in Sirene under this status.This counting does not include the entrepreneurs already active before January 1st, 2009 who requested, in exceptional title by March 31st, 2009, at the latest, to benefit from the micro-social system and from the fiscal payment in full discharge for 2009.

The business creation statistics cover all market activities other than agriculture.

Since 1 January 2007, the notion of creations of establishments corresponds to the implementation of new means of production, in keeping with the notion of enterprise birth which is based on a harmonised concept at the European level to facilitate comparisons.

Enterprise birth correspond to establishments registered in Sirene that become active due to the following reasons :

1) new registration of an establishment with the creation of a new combination of production factors ;

2) case where the establishment restart an activity after an interruption of more than one year (there is no new registration in Sirene but use of the former Siret number, generally for a sole proprietorship) ;

3) case where the establishment restart an activity after an interruption of less than one year but with a change of activity ;

4) takeover by an establishment newly registered of all or part of another establishment's activities and production factors where there is no economic continuity between the two establishments.

It is considered that there is no economic continuity of the establishment if out of the three following components, at least two are modified during the takeover: the legal unit controlling the establishment, the economic activity, and the location.

A legal unit is a legal entity of public or private law. This legal entity can be:

• A legal entity, whose existence is recognized by the law independently of the persons or institutions which possess it or are members;
• A natural person, who, as independent, can exercise an economic activity.

It must be declared to the competent administrative bodies (commercial court registries, social security, tax office, etc.) in order to exist. The existence of this sort of unit depends on the choice of the owners (for organisational, legal or fiscal reasons). The legal unit is the principal unit registered in Sirene.