The new year brings the possibility of a fresh start, so what better time to think about making exciting life changes? Here we take a look at the entrepreneurs who are moving to new pastures, opening up opportunities for those who are willing to take the plunge and seek the opportunity to not only be their own boss, but also to live the good life while doing it. . .
“We would like to enjoy life a little more”
In the 1980s, the course of Daniel Flavin’s life was changed forever when a young French woman, Annie, came to work on a neighbor’s dairy farm in the village of Carrignavar, Co Cork. Annie, from the Gers region, was participating in an Irish-French exchange program for young people from an agricultural background.
Daniel and Annie married and started a family, and in 1990 they decided to move to France. “Everyone said it was the place to go,” Flavin recalls. “Financially in Ireland it was very, very difficult to make a living, so we sold the house in Ireland and moved.”
The couple opened a holiday B&B and gîte business on a 200-year-old property in Clisson, on the banks of the Sèvre River in the Loire region, just 40km from Nantes. The property, Gîtes La Sauzaie, is located in the heart of the Muscadet wine district, which means that guests can taste wine in the surrounding vineyards, while also being able to visit the coast, which is only an hour away. distance.
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While the Flavins loved running it, the business is busy year-round and now they plan to step back. “I am 71 this year. My wife is younger than me, but we said that we would like to enjoy life a little more.”
They hope to find someone to take over part or all of the business. “If we can get someone interested, we’ll help them through the first year with all the ins and outs,” she says. “Like any business, you have to…learn to cope.
“If it was an Irish couple, one of them would have to speak French. When dealing with the public, you have to have the language”. Daniel himself began learning vocabulary by reading bedtime stories to his children, and from there he worked his way to fluency.
The property, which includes the main house (five bedrooms), a two-bedroom apartment, a swimming pool and a “garçonnière”, or an additional apartment, in a separate building, is on the market for 975,000 euros.
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With retirement now on the horizon, would you consider returning to Daniel’s home country? that is final not. While they enjoy coming back to Ireland on holiday to meet friends, all of their children live in France and are now married with children of their own.
“Our ties are in France. We enjoy the lifestyle here, especially the weather,” she adds. “We have our friends here. I am a member of the local choral society. We go out, we meet people.” Another important factor in France’s favor is that the cost of living, including medical care, is cheaper than in Ireland. “We couldn’t have our lifestyle here in Ireland. It would cost us too much.”
‘One is for my heart. The other is for my pocket’
In 2016, businesswoman Lisa Wilkinson decided to buy a remote mountain adventure spot in Glen of Imaal, Co Wicklow, as it made a “good marriage” with The Elbowroom, her wellness center at Stoneybatter in Dublin. He managed to transform the place into The Wicklow Escape, a beautiful Blue Book-approved woodland lodge, and for the past six years he has been a “city and country mouse”, traveling back and forth between his two businesses.
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You’ve done it all from private rentals to corporate retreats, weddings, “posh hens,” fine dining experiences, and back to private rental again at The Wicklow Escape, but now it’s time to let someone else take the reins.
“Right now my staff are trying to persuade me not to sell it by managing it very well themselves,” he laughs. “To be honest, it’s on the market (for €750,000 via JP & M Doyle) but I’m really reluctant to part with it. It’s just a beautiful oasis, but I have other plans. If someone can take it off my hands and run it really well, I’ll be willing not to sell it. If that’s not the case, then he leaves.”
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The business comes with an adjoining cabin, extensive gardens and panoramic forest views. “It would really be great for someone if they have the capital to come in and move into the cabin and run the business.”
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Running two businesses isn’t easy, especially since Wilkinson lost the lease on his Stoneybatter location over the summer and had to find an alternate location. Fortunately, he discovered a beautiful old art deco cinema and turned it into a wellness center with a co-working space and a nursery, now in operation as the Manor Picture House.
As if that wasn’t enough of a challenge, Wilkinson, who has two teenage children, is pursuing another ambition close to her heart: studying full-time at King’s Inns to become a lawyer so she can advocate for women’s rights in the care system. to motherhood. “The whole system, it’s broken.”
The businesswoman has been involved in perinatal health advocacy for many years. She trained as a doula, taught childbirth education classes for couples, trained midwives as yoga teachers, and worked in the area of home and hospital births.
As a lawyer, she intends to address serious issues in maternity care and hold people accountable for issues like lack of informed consent. “I can hold my own against an OB when it comes to evidence-based practice, having worked in that field for 20 years.”
She is also interested in construction, having renovated several large industrial spaces, so as a lawyer, she hopes to focus on medical malpractice and construction. “One is for my heart. The other is for my pocket.
Source: news.google.com