Roast Chickens, Saint Jean Pla de Corts

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Kate
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Roast Chickens, Saint Jean Pla de Corts

Post by Kate »

The young guy who set up his business selling roast chickens in the shop next to the boulangerie at the roundabout in Saint Jean Pla de Corts (near the chemist) is about to close because the high rent is eating up all his profit and he is drowning. He has tried so hard and it's such a shame to see someone who really wants to succeed fall by the wayside. If you can't be bothered to cook this week and fancy a rotisserie chicken and roast spuds, do try and support him to try and stop these small businesses from disappearing.
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Post by Robert Ferrieux »

Starting your own business is so discouraging. The "charges" you have to pay are crippling, and it isn't surprising that a lot of people are tempted to work undeclared (i.e. au noir) but of course that's most unfair to the honest workers.
Beware: if you employ somebody undeclared & an accident should occur, not only will your employee be in trouble but you'll be up to your eyebrows in...........excrement. :cry:

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Post by Santiago »

On the contrary, what I've seen in this region is far too many people resorting to starting their own business as a sole trader because they can't find jobs. The reason they can't find jobs is because the state has a system of social payments that seriously discourages businesses from employing one or two people permanently. In other countries these small businesses with under 10 employees employ fairly large percentages of the population.

I'm not sure why it is like that in France.
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Post by Admin »

But isnt starting up your own business because you can't find a job enterprising and admirable? My son is 20, and most of his mates either do casual work on the SMIC or are on the dole and happy to remain so. They're nice kids but between the beach in summer and the pistes in winter, they just dont want to work. The guy in the chicken shop is also in his 20s but has taken the initiative to try and build a future for himself. I do admire young people who go out and get it, instead of waiting for it to come to them......but yes, France certainly doesnt encourage or make it easy to set up your own business.
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Post by russell »

Well said Kate. Such enterprise should be encouraged.

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Post by Santiago »

Enterprising is one thing but setting up a business on your own without the necessary experience is often going to fail. How many small businesses have we seen fail in this region? Shops and snack restos are the most common because the owners haven't realistically looked at the likely revenue versus the rents they are asked to pay. Credit to people who have the guts and determination to make a go of it but I just feel there is not enough support to help them succeed. What I see is grants to allow people to get started but very little advice or support in the growth of their businesses. It just encourages short-term business ideas.

Over the last few years I've seen numerous young people encouraged to start agricultural businesses where the sole revenue stream is selling direct to the local public. Given that people here are not starving and there are new supermarkets opening up every month, I don't see how that sales plan can ever succeed.
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Post by opas »

I would love to buy a roast chicken on a day like this, but it is too far.

Our daughters friends sound like your sons mates, get up and go to the beach or drive 30k to an open air boite but no initiative to work unless it is given them. They have qualifications that enable them to earn .

We are proud that Jennifer has used her education here to start on her own..........even if she was given a kick up the rear by me.....the gift of her little car obviously helped.
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Post by Robert Ferrieux »

Good for Jennifer! She's obviously got a good clientèle that enables her to keep her head above water financially.
Our younger son (a kiné) has his own practice; he works like the proverbial donkey, but once he's coughed up for rent, URSAFF etc., paying back the loan for his material, salary for secretary & cleaning lady, he's got far, far less in his pocket than he had when he was employed at Medipole...where he could go home at 6 p.m.
But I get your point about seeking & finding employment.
Of course small business must be encouraged...local shops rather than supermarkets must be patronised. Sure, you spend a little more but think of the saving in petrol (& time).
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Post by Santiago »

I've often posted in favour of shopping at independent stores rather than supermarkets but I don't believe we should do it because we feel sorry for them or simply because they are there. We should do it because they provide a better service or sell better produce, often offering better value for money than some overly-packaged alternative that has been shipped thousands of Kms to make a bit more profit for the execs and shareholders of a supermarket chain.

I'm a big fan of Raphael at La Voie Lactée (cheese and wine) in Thuir, Maison Paré (butchers) and Soleils du Terroir (fruit and veg) in Llupia. I buy whatever I can from Le Fuon Rouge farm shop in Trouillas. I always get my tyres changed at Bota instead of Feu Vert. I eat in family restaurants far more often than a chain like Courtpaille or Buffalo Grill. I buy bread every day from my village (artisan) boulangerie. I don't go to any of them simply to keep them in business, I go because they do what they do better than the supermarkets.

Some of these small business get ignored because people can't be bothered to shop around or follow up on advice or are afraid of being faced with spending more than they wanted or some other emotional reasons. We should all make a bit of effort to at least try a small business before resorting to the big corporates. However, if they are simply not very good or they get their finances wrong, we shouldn't feel obliged to keep them in business.
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Post by Admin »

Chickens here very good with half a lemon shoved up their bums, nicely seasoned, and ordinary ones same price as supermarket (free range farm ones much more expensive as everywhere). The place is always immaculate, and we buy chickens there because they are far superior to the supermarket, not because we feel sorry for him. En plus, quite honestly, I wouldn't recommend someone just out of pity....there are so many struggling businesses that we could have a whole 'sorry for' section. They are genuinely good quality and good price.

Having said that when I bought my last chicken at the weekend, he looked battered and bruised (mentally) and ready to give up at the end of the month, so in my experience, once somebody has already decided to give up, the quality suffers in those last weeks/months.

Either way, good luck to you chicken man. I know you dont speak English and will never read this, but well done for giving it a go and don't let this set back stop you from trying other things. You're in your 20s - the world is your lobster! :lol:
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Post by Robert Ferrieux »

(free range farm ones much more expensive as everywhere).

I bought my last chicken at the weekend, he looked battered and bruised (mentally)
quoted by Admin.

Yes, free-range (élévé en liberté) chickens ARE more expensive....in our family we eat smaller portions & stock up on spuds & veggies! If you can happily eat a bird that's been raised in a cage so small that it can't turn around or move its wings, where its droppings fall onto the chicken below then what can I say? Good luck to your conscience!

If the chicken you buy looks battered & bruised, then it was battered & bruised whilst it was alive. You don't get bruised after death! Again it's your conscience which dictates.

I'll get "red arrowed" & told "It's all right for some.."but it comes down to a choice. We can spend money on healthy eating or we can spend it on quickly defrosted processed food containing more E s than in "Eeeeeeeeeee ba gum".
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Post by Admin »

Sorrrrrrrrrrrrrry. I need some English grammar lessons innit! I meant that the lad who is closing looked battered and bruised, not the chicken, who was plump and delicious. As most people know, I am a theoretical and hypocritical vegetarian cos I hate the idea of eating meat.....but it is sooooooo tasty and my high principles just melt......

Totally agree with all you say above Helen - just grant me some willpower and zap and realign my taste buds!! :lol:
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Post by opas »

Admin wrote:Sorrrrrrrrrrrrrry. I need some English grammar lessons innit! I meant that the lad who is closing looked battered and bruised, not the chicken, who was plump and delicious. As most people know, I am a theoretical and hypocritical vegetarian cos I hate the idea of eating meat.....but it is sooooooo tasty and my high principles just melt......

Totally agree with all you say above Helen - just grant me some willpower and zap and realign my taste buds!! :lol:
I must need English lessons too Kate, I understood you meant the lad, not the chicken :lol:
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Post by Sue »

I would have put that down to you both being northerners but I understood Kate was talking about the young lad too and Im a southerner. So bang goes that theory!! :lol:
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Post by Phipplebert »

Oh we love roast chicken, might see if we can pop by and give him a boost before he shuts down.

Hopefully he will start up something else, lots of people who become successful have failures in their past, hopefully he will move on to better things. Starting businesses anywhere is hard, especially now, at least he gave it a go.

I have to say, above comments did make me laugh! I undstand you meant the chap...how on earth you can tell the if a chicken is mentally bruised and battered when its cooked I will never know! :lol: :lol: :lol: especially after all the good stuff you have said about his produce ;)
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Post by Colin L »

Admin wrote:
Having said that when I bought my last chicken at the weekend, he looked battered and bruised (mentally) and ready to give up at the end of the month ..........
Nowt wrong with your grammar, Kate. "He" in that sentence clearly refers back to the chicken seller, not the chicken. Apart from anything else, we wouldn't refer to a dead chicken as "he", would we?
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Post by sue and paul »

"we wouldn't refer to a dead chicken as "he", would we?"

Especially if it had been a hen, cock! (That's a Lancashire term of endearment :lol: )
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