Summary
Highlights
These common errors are often made by those creating a SASU alone or with inadequate support. The video summarizes the five pitfalls: wrong domicile, overly restrictive social object, poorly chosen closing date, conflictual company name, and bad bank choice. Dougs' services help avoid these issues, offering a stress-free creation process, with free creation for accounting subscribers. The speaker invites viewers to join Twitch for legal questions and watch a follow-up video on post-creation errors.
Many entrepreneurs make costly mistakes when creating their SASU due to insufficient information, leading to expenses of hundreds or even thousands of euros to correct later. Creating a SASU involves significant legal decisions that impact the company for years. The video, featuring David from Dougs' legal department, will cover the five most frequent errors seen in SASU creation and how Dougs offers free creation with a accounting subscription.
The domicile, or registered office, is the official address of your company. A common mistake is using a personal address, which can become problematic and costly if you move. Changing the registered office requires an extraordinary general meeting, drafting a report, publishing a legal notice (costing €150-€200), and submitting the file to the commercial court, totaling €300-€500 and several weeks. The solution is using a domiciliation company for a stable professional address (€20-€50 per month), which avoids these long-term issues. Dougs partners with domiciliation services to offer negotiated rates.
Upon SASU creation, a company must deposit its share capital into a blocked bank account to obtain a capital deposit certificate, crucial for registration. Traditional banks can take 3-6 weeks to open such an account, delaying company registration and potential revenue. They also often incur high monthly fees (€30-€80). Dougs partners with Qonto, an online bank, to manage capital deposits, with account opening taking only a few days, accelerating the registration process. Qonto also offers transparent fees and a user-friendly interface.
The 'objet social' (company purpose) describes the company’s activity, defining what it is legally allowed to do. A common mistake is drafting it too restrictively. For instance, a digital marketing consultant specializing in e-commerce might limit their 'objet social' to 'digital marketing consulting for e-commerce companies'. If the activity evolves, doing something outside this narrow definition (like communication consulting or training) requires a costly statutory modification, similar to changing the domicile. A broad, evolutionary 'objet social' that includes a general clause for all commercial, industrial, financial, movable, or immovable operations is recommended to allow for future flexibility. Dougs' jurists draft bespoke statutes with protective 'objet social' clauses.
The closing date marks the end of a company's accounting year. Many reflexively choose December 31st, but this can be a significant error. It might not align with seasonal business cycles and can lead to a very short first fiscal year (e.g., 9 months if created in March and closed in December). A shorter first year means an early rush of declarative obligations. Choosing an extended first fiscal year, up to 24 months, allows more time to build activities, spread startup costs, and postpone initial declarative obligations, offering a substantial fiscal and accounting advantage. Dougs guides clients in choosing the optimal closing date based on their activity and personal situation.
The 'dénomination sociale' is the official company name. A major error is choosing a name without verifying if it's already in use or protected by a trademark. While two companies can have the same name in France, a pre-existing company can demand a name change if there's confusion risk, leading to costly legal fees (€3,000-€10,000), statutory amendments, and a rebrand. More seriously, if the name resembles a trademark registered with the INPI (French Industrial Property Office), the trademark holder can sue for counterfeiting, resulting in judicial proceedings and potential damages. Simple checks on INPI and Infogreffe can prevent these issues. Dougs performs these verifications for clients.