Business and employment co-operatives (BECs) represent a new approach to providing support to the creation of new businesses. The first BEC was started in France in 1996, since when a further 55 such enterprises operating in 100 locations across the country has sprung up. The idea has also been adopted in Belgium, Sweden, Quebec, Morocco and Madagascar. A BEC thus provides budding business people with an easy transition from inactivity to self-employment, but in a collective framework. Intending entrepreneurs pass through three stages: