Starting up a business in Luxembourg

Sheltered under the roofs of Bonnevoie in her own house is the sewing workshop run by Anne Bauler. Sewing has always been her favourite pastime: her grandmother had a fabric shop in Diekirch and her mother loved dressmaking, so it is no surprise that Anne Bauler has been sewing accessories such as bags and scarves since she was very young.

One thing led to another and she gained more sewing skills by working under the supervision of seamstresses already established in the Grand Duchy. After studying and working in the fields of law of chemistry, Anne Bauler discovered that it is possible to take the master craftsman examination without having to take the apprenticeship exam. She already had a baccalaureate qualification, but needed to catch up in the craft to be able to make her way towards independence. She attended theory classes at the Chamber of Skilled Trades and Crafts for more than three years and carried out a number of placements in order to clock up the necessary number of hours of practical work in the profession. She eventually obtained the master craftsman's certificate in 2016!

During 2015, during Luxembourg's Presidency of the Council of the EU, Anne Bauler went to Brussels, working as a legal expert. She took advantage of the experience of being in a different country before finally embarking three years later on the procedure to become self-employed. She started at the Chamber of Skilled Trades and Crafts. Its business creation offer helps beginners to follow the necessary procedures and gather the documents needed for the new business' file. A personal development coach helped Anne Bauler structure her ideas and lay down the guidelines for her project. Her business permit was issued three months later. 

For two months she worked part-time as a civil servant while she went through the procedure for becoming self-employed. In the end she left her job as a civil servant and started her own business in 2018 with a small number of creations. But customers were not forthcoming. She advertised on social media and created a website, but it was above all her friends and family who helped hand out business cards and talked about her to other people. Meanwhile, Anne Bauler continued with her passion and launched her first sewing classes. They were a great success right from the start: individualism, an ecological mindset and the spirit of DIY are more topical than ever. 

Today, she still runs sewing classes in her workshop, and occasionally at various cultural centres. She is a member of the team of examiners for the master craftsman's qualification, and teaches technical theory at the Chamber of Skilled Trades and Crafts. As a dressmaker, Anne Bauler produces garments for special occasions, made-to-measure clothes, designs and costumes for theatre productions, outfits for 'cosplayers' - who have even won prizes thanks to her creations - and authentic costumes for 18th-century historical re-enactments. Alongside these very varied activities, she advises on colours and styles in the capacity of a "colour coach". 

What she likes most about her work is being able to work creatively and, at the end of it, to hold in her hand something she has made herself. The classes provide an opportunity to talk to others and communicate her passion to them. They also give rise to new ideas, while studying colours is a passion she would like to develop further. Anne Bauler works with ecological and fairtrade materials. As a new entrepreneur, she has learned that she can not and should not do everything herself - help is always at hand.