Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development next to entrepreneurs

The committee will seek to define the standards that are considered an obstacle for SMEs at the national, European and international levels. © Getty Images

“SMEs have not been in the spotlight in the OECD for a long time,” said Cabinet Minister Olivia Gregoire, Minister Delegate responsible for SMEs, Trade, Crafts and Tourism. For two days, the 29 ministers present in Bercy will discuss their issues at an OECD ministerial meeting dedicated to SMEs and entrepreneurship.

This committee, which was organized on the initiative of Olivia Gregoire, her New Zealand counterpart Jenny Andersen, who is also the chair of this ministerial meeting and Ulrik Vestergaard Knudsen, Deputy Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, will deal with various topics. Especially the resilience of SMEs and entrepreneurs in the face of various crises and shocks, and their contribution to digital transformation, the environment and the mental health of entrepreneurs and SME/SME managers.

70% of entrepreneurs are in default

After several years of crisis, the OECD would like to assess their psychological state. The delegation accompanying the minister confirms that “mental health is an issue for which the government is particularly mobilized.” Olivia Gregoire was an entrepreneur, “she is committed to dealing with this topic at the European and OECD level.” The latest surveys indicate a deteriorating mental state.

Thus, according to the MMA Foundation *, 70% of entrepreneurs declare that they are severely affected by stress (about 70%) and overwork. For the company, “every entrepreneur faces failures as well as successes and must be prepared for them,” noting the “fears and hassles” they might face, among others “facing problems with payment deadlines and recovering in the event of failure.”

Thus, Percy empowers every manager in difficulty to find support, particularly by relying on the Portail du Rebond. This portal, made up of volunteers, ex-businessmen, ex-commercial court judges, coaches and psychologists, brings together four associations – Souffle II, 60K Rebounds, Re Crere and Amarok Association. It aims to help very small businesses and individual entrepreneurs recover when they encounter or experience difficulties.

Its aim is “to provide managers with a listening ear, economic and financial advice, and to inform them of various measures.” The portal also aims to change the relationship to failure in France and remove obstacles to the culture of entrepreneurship. “This is an opportunity to be able to present the support ecosystem in France and the importance of its work recognized at the European level.”

Another French psychological aid structure that will be highlighted is the network of Apesa – psychological assistance for entrepreneurs in acute suffering – created by the writer at the Commercial Court of Sants Marc Penne and Jean-Luc Duillard, a clinical psychologist. It allows any business manager who feels the need to benefit from fast, free, confidential and local psychological support by professional psychologists.

Read also [Interview] Companies in difficulty: “Many managers come too late, don’t get carried away! (P. Fourquet)

“bureaucratic” standards

Another major topic of the SMEs and Entrepreneurship Committee, standards. “It has to be done on good terms with the small businesses,” assures Olivia Gregoire, a member of the Cabinet. He admits that “some carry leaders and others slow them down”, and can be seen as a “bureaucrat”. In this sense, the Commission will seek to identify those that are considered obstacles at the national, European and international levels.

“There is a will on the part of the government to listen to, define and raise these standards” by soliciting feedback from actors in the field. “Each of them must be justified and serve the public interest,” the company continues, which points out that leaders at the European level have “doubts about the upcoming texts, in the context of major transformations such as the environmental transition that requires large investments and a change in production tools.”

At the end of these meetings, which will bring together ideas and exchange good practices on these topics with the aim of “disseminating the best public policies” and “strengthening the resilience of companies, especially the smallest ones,” there is no publication of a report but a “common declaration of principles shared by all ministers,” one of them explains in Percy.

* The 9th Measure of Leaders’ Health, produced by the MMA Foundation for Future Entrepreneurs

Charlotte de Santignon