Can You Run a Gardening Business as an Auto-Entrepreneur? Insights from Real Experience

Professional Gardening and Auto-Entrepreneur (Micro-Enterprise) Status

Finding the right business structure that aligns perfectly with your services can be challenging.

Is Self-Employed Gardener Status Viable?

When I launched my company, my advisor at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) posed a key question:

• What services do you plan to offer?
• Everything! Garden creation, maintenance, training, and writing articles for commercial blogs.
• Hold on! In auto-entrepreneur status, you can't operate as a landscaper—only as a gardener providing personal services. You're affiliated with RSI, not MSA (Mutualité Sociale Agricole).

The administration's restrictions felt frustrating at first.

• What's the distinction?
• The line between landscaper and gardener lies in the work. As an auto-entrepreneur, you're limited to routine maintenance like pruning, mowing, and weeding. No creative projects, earthworks, garden design, or tree surgery. You can't produce or sell plants either—stick to personal services.

Gardening under this status must pair with services like DIY or household maintenance. Billing is strictly for personal service tasks.

RSI vs. MSA: Key Differences

Gardening typically falls under MSA jurisdiction. As an RSI-affiliated auto-entrepreneur, you're confined to minor gardening and DIY jobs—never full creations.

Raking leaves qualifies as 'small gardening' under auto-entrepreneur rules.

Starting a business involves weighing options like mandatory insurance, protection, retirement, and civil liability.

Remember, auto-entrepreneur status was designed as a salary top-up for employees (or those on Pôle emploi benefits, like me). It's cost-effective—even with zero turnover, fixed costs apply unless exempted.

For detailed guidance, visit the official auto-entrepreneur portal. Their videos explain registration and more.