Do you need advice on how to write a good entrepreneur CV ? Do you want to become an employee again after trying to start a business? Are you afraid that the end of your activity will be a negative point for the recruiter if you mention it on your CV?
Whether your startup was a success or not, it remains an experience that you can value and that gives you real added value compared to a beginner profile. Our examples of CVs for business creation can help you enhance your profile.
In this article, you will discover:
- How to take stock of your entrepreneurial experience
- How to Value the Learning Behind Your Failures
- How to highlight your skills and soft skills
- 5 CV templates for entrepreneurs to download
Take stock of your entrepreneurial experience
Before you start writing cover letters or your entrepreneur CV , it is essential to analyze in detail the reasons for your business termination. This is essential because you will not escape the questions that your recruiter asks:
Why did you move from being a business owner to being an employee? Were the constraints of your entrepreneurial experience too difficult for you?
Whether you stopped your activity by choice or by obligation, it is important to question yourself to prepare for your professional interview and not to be caught off guard when you are questioned by your recruiter. You must prove to your future employer that employment is not a second choice that you fall back on by default.
Think about your true motivations, your failures, your successes, but above all, what you have learned. Transform the end of your business into a career development and focus on the lessons that this experience as a self-employed entrepreneur or business leader has allowed you to acquire.
To help you, we have put together a list of questions that will help you prepare well:
- What are your achievements, your pride?
- What obstacles have you overcome during your entrepreneurship?
- What key skills did you develop through this experience?
- Are you able to analyze why your business didn't work?
- What did this failure teach you and what would you do differently?
- Why do you want to apply to a traditional company rather than start a new business?
You don't need to embellish, just be sincere and objective. Have you made mistakes? The main thing is that you have drawn good conclusions from them. Your sincerity and perspective will prove your analytical and judgmental mind.
Take advantage of this end of entrepreneurial experience to take stock of your skills. It will help you gain perspective on your professional project, but also to better identify your value and motivations to target your next applications and guide your CV.
🚀 To go further in writing your entrepreneur CV, also discover our article which discusses how to give value to an atypical professional career .
Value your learnings behind your business failure
Most entrepreneurs who create their startup fail to turn their project into a success the first time. Don't feel guilty! What makes the difference with other applications is the learnings and skills that you have learned from your failures.
As an entrepreneur, you have to be on all fronts and wear many hats. Marketing, accounting, prospecting, monitoring, customer service, administrative procedures, website management, even advertising on social networks and other media... you have touched on all sectors of activity. Your versatility and your know-how are real assets for a company.
Some recruiters may be wary of hiring a former freelancer. Will you be able to integrate into a team or adapt to the strict framework of the structure? These questions are legitimate, so it is essential to reassure your future business leader by showing them that you are able to overcome obstacles and that your overall vision of the company is a quality.
Some learning ideas to promote:
- Versatility : As an entrepreneur, you have been forced to get your hands dirty in different areas. These experiences make you a proactive, curious and “jack of all trades” employee.
- Rigor : your company required compliance with contracts, deadlines, but also with conditions imposed by the State, your customers, various administrations or even banks.
- Teamwork : self-employed or not, you have certainly had to work in collaboration with your clients, suppliers or even freelancers.
- Respect for hierarchy : an entrepreneur is more aware of the duties of the business manager than an employee, because he knows all the constraints of this profession. Although autonomous, you are also capable of being managed.
- Your adaptability : The ups and downs of your business have forced you to constantly innovate. You have had to adapt to your customers, the market and all the constraints that an entrepreneur can encounter.
Promoting the skills and qualities of an entrepreneur
Now that your CV reflects the learning you have developed as an entrepreneur, it is time to look at the entirety of your skills: your know-how which includes practical knowledge, but also soft skills which are more personal.
Your entrepreneurial and innovative spirit is full of hidden skills that you may not be aware of! But what are the best skills to add to a resume?
During your activity, you have necessarily developed know-how that you might not have had as an employee:
- Computer skills: Managing your business, prospecting or even creating your content have undoubtedly led you to master certain software such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Photoshop, Wordpress or even Prestashop.
- Language skills: Through the creation of an international service or exchanges with foreign suppliers and collaborators, you may have acquired the learning of new languages.
- Hardware skills: Depending on your industry, knowledge of specific hardware such as operating machinery or using specific tools can make all the difference.
- Technical knowledge: Mastery of sales techniques, specific vocabulary or even a computer language such as Python.
- Professional skills: Budget or planning management, for example, are skills to highlight depending on the position sought.
Soft skills are new assets to pull out of your pocket to finish convincing your recruiter. They concern your relational and human qualities, behavioral skills, interpersonal skills . These soft skills are useful in all sectors of activity and you can therefore highlight them for any job.
Do they seem secondary to you? Think again, because they have become as important as “hard skills” for recruiters.
Here are some examples of qualities to help you draw up your entrepreneur profile:
- Autonomous: take initiatives and organize yourself every day to develop your business.
- Creative: Finding new ideas, hypotheses to test or new ways to distinguish yourself in your market.
- Determined: No matter the failures and doubts, you hold on!
- Open-minded: you have no preconceptions, you put your pride aside to question yourself.
- Empathetic: put yourself in your customers’ shoes to understand their problems and develop solutions!
- Teacher: you know how to pitch your startup like no one else.
- Curious: Whether it’s from those around you or your customers, you never stop learning.
- Risk-taking: it's part of being an entrepreneur. But you've developed methods to manage it.
Rather than simply listing your skills and qualities, we recommend that you justify them with brief but concrete examples.
🚀 To learn more, read our article on professional skills and how to promote them.
🛑 Pro tip
Not all recruiters are looking for the same profile. Rather than listing the same inventory of skills for all your job searches, it is wise to adapt your entrepreneur CV to the job offer . Establish a list of skills and soft skills based on the position sought . Some sectors will favor autonomous and innovative profiles, while others will prefer those capable of working in a team and rigorously respecting the framework imposed by the company.
Discover our CV templates for entrepreneurs
Do you need a business creator CV template to save time in creating your CV? Do you need examples of business creation CVs to inspire you? We share with you 5 attractive examples to download for Word, Powerpoint and Google slides.
Self-employed CV template
In this special micro-entrepreneur CV template, it is the "human" side that is highlighted. The candidate's photograph stands out thanks to the colorful header, then the eye is drawn to the name and the position sought or previously held.
A few lines allow you to take care of your "about" to convince the recruiter in a few words. The sober and worked layout demonstrates your professionalism and your rigor. It is organized on two columns: a contact and skills section, another for your training and professional experience. The six chosen skills are supported by progress bars that attest to your level, in the same color as the header to maintain consistency.
📥 Download this example of a CV for self-employed people
Business Creator Resume Template
This creative business resume template is organized on three levels. Forget the simple white background and stand out with a professional photograph and a neutral colored background.
The candidate's name is written on the left, vertically, to highlight the photograph that completely fills the header of this resume. The "about" section, on the left, allows you to describe yourself in a few lines to convince your future business leader. At a glance, he will have access to your latest professional experience thanks to the right column. The positions are listed, by date of activity.
The third level corresponds to the candidate's training, the skills highlighted by evocative logos and a reference column which includes: address, telephone number, e-mail and a link to your website.
📥 Download this business creation CV template
Freelance CV Template
Original while remaining very professional, this freelance CV template allows you to highlight your bold personality. What will impress your recruiter? An effective layout, sober and worked colors, a quick glance at your skill levels.
The candidate's photograph on the left helps you highlight your name and the type of position you are looking for, as in our example. A well-defined and contrasted column allows you to describe yourself in a few short and evocative lines, to mention your awards and to enter your contact details, highlighted by icons.
The main column contains your freelance experience with the job title, company name, activity date and a short description. This is followed by your education and skills for which you can fill in level bars.
This CV is suitable for all freelance professions such as: graphic designer, web editor, community manager, motion designer or even developer.
📥 Download this sample freelance resume
Business executive resume template
Clear and effective, this CV example is suitable for business managers with a wealth of professional experience. Its main column, dedicated to the functions held, allows you to detail the missions that have been entrusted to you thanks to well-thought-out bullet points under each job description.
The focus is on your experience as a manager and your results. With this CV template, you don't need catchy sentences to convince your recruiter.
Less important, training can be added in the left column, between the "contact" section and a list of 9 skills. The header remains sober, allowing only a few colors to stand out. The candidate's photo is presented on the left in a contrasting frame.
📥 Download our business manager CV template
Startup Resume Template
Our example of a business creation CV for start-ups is based on an original, clever and graphic layout whose appearance is reminiscent of a file or a web page.
A check mark highlights the candidate's name and a different typography indicates the previous or sought-after position. The contact details are displayed in a small table, in the left column which is contrasted. Tabs highlight professional experience and training followed, indicating the dates of activities.
In the right column, there is a small "About" section in which to describe your profile or your start-up. The skills, strengths of the job seeker and language abilities are given by progress bars.
📥 Download this example of a special startup CV
🚀 Over 300 CV templates to download
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Choosing a CV template
