"New York is made for entrepreneurs": Céline Legros, Les canelés de Céline

You won the Club des 600 competition, which encourages young French entrepreneurs in New York. Did this award change your career path?

Céline Legros : Even if the financial gain was not negligible, the most useful thing for me was first and foremost the coaching offered in different areas such as sales, marketing, etc. But this prize also enabled me to challenge my sales development projects and to think about new concepts.

Are you planning to develop your business on a large scale?

C. L. : Certainly. At the moment, I'm working on a project to develop sales in a more modern and flexible form, based in particular on the concept of 'mobile food vendors' like food trucks, the travelling restaurants that are very much in vogue in New York at the moment.

Do you think New York is still a welcoming city for entrepreneurs, even foreign ones?

C. L. : Yes, New York is MADE for entrepreneurs, because of its optimism and energy. However, it's also a 'tough' city, where you have to be able to stand out from the multitude of 'trendy' brands being launched every day. In particular, you have to work on the durability of the product. It's also preferable to have the financial resources to get started and to have a marketing budget that will enable you to gain a certain visibility more quickly. From a practical point of view, it's very simple to set up a company, but it's much more complicated and costly to maintain your business!