60 000 Rebonds, France

Description of the approach

60 000 Rebonds is an association committed to helping entrepreneurs who have experienced a bankruptcy get a second chance. 60 000 Rebonds was founded by Mr. Philippe Rambaud in 2012 after he went through a bankruptcy of his own. The experience made him realise that there were no support measures available to entrepreneurs that could help them to move forward and rebuild their lives after experiencing a bankruptcy.

The purpose of 60 000 Rebonds is:

To assist entrepreneurs to move forward and rebuild their lives after a bankruptcy both personally and professionally.
To reduce the economic loss for society by helping the entrepreneurs find their way back into society and start new initiatives.

Since 2012, 60 000 Rebonds has helped a total of 600 entrepreneurs, and 95% of the entrepreneurs have moved forward to new professional possibilities does this also include entrepreneurs who have decided to end their entrepreneurial career and start as an employee?. In 2016, 60 000 Rebonds successfully helped 300 entrepreneurs and in 2017, 60 000 Rebonds expects to help 500 entrepreneurs. It is the association’s ambition to help 2 000 entrepreneurs in 2020. That 60 000 Rebonds focus on entrepreneurs and not companies is of course due to the fact that 60000 Rebonds come in contact with the entrepreneurs after the bankruptcy, where the company does not exist anymore.

The 60 000 Rebonds organisation consists of 11 employees, who collaborate with 600 volunteers (June 2017 figures) Many volunteers considering the number of clients, please elaborate. Also, what are the main tasks of the employees and which tasks are the volunteers responsible for? How do you recruit the volunteers?. 60 000 Rebonds is currently present in 19 cities in France and by the end of 2017 the organisation expects to be present in 27 cities.

The services provided by 60 000 Rebonds are free of charge and include three main services:

A seven-session progress of individual coaching, which is delivered by qualified and experienced coaches.
A monthly individual business mentoring delivered by business owners or executive directors
Monthly community group sessions including collective development sessions and business training sessions delivered by skilled experts.

60 000 Rebonds currently identify and get in contact to entrepreneurs through community networks in the entrepreneurial sector as well as from business courts and the association of entrepreneurs name?. 60 000 Rebounds is currently working on a communication campaign to be more visible to entrepreneurs in distress.

The total annual budget (2016) for 60 000 Rebonds is 800 000 EUR. 60 000 Rebonds is primarily funded through private contributions (80%) and some public funding (20%), which comes partly the national Ministry of Finance and partly from Regional support and Regional Councils.

Key success factors

A key success factor is to deliver high-quality services to entrepreneurs who want a second chance. 60 000 Rebonds is delivering a dedicated programme for entrepreneurs offering personal coaching and business mentoring provided by highly qualified volunteers in combination with group sessions delivered on a monthly base.

Also, it is important to be visible to the target group. 60 000 Rebonds is currently focusing on becoming more visible across France through communication activities. These activities include participation at conferences, organising events, taking part in interviews with the media (National and regional TV, newspapers, weekly or monthly magazines).

Main challenges

The main challenge for 60 000 Rebonds is to convince entrepreneurs in distress to join the association and to do so in time are you also providing support to entrepreneurs who are ‘only’ in distress and who have not (yet) experienced a bankruptcy?. Some of the entrepreneurs in the programme knew 60 000 Rebonds for months and sometimes even years before deciding to contact the association. A second challenge is to find and recruit highly qualified volunteers to the programme. A third challenge is to secure the financing for the organisation on a long-term basis.

Key learning points

The 60 000 Rebonds 2nd chance programme is based on a methodology combining individual coaching and business mentoring by dedicated volunteers. The methodology is nothing without a high quality volunteer network and it is crucial that the selection process ensures that the volunteers who join the association are highly qualified, committed and fully aligned with the values of the association. Otherwise, the work that 60 000 Rebonds does would be without effect.

Further information about 60 000 Rebonds:
Website: http://60000rebonds.com/

Contact:
Délégué Général Franck Hégelé, franck.hegele@60000rebonds.com