When you run a business in Mauritius, you quickly find yourself alone with your questions: a good service provider, a tool, a contact, or simply someone to talk business with, no filter. That is why Entrepreneurs de l’Ouest exists: a French-speaking group of entrepreneurs living in the west of the island, also known as Entrepreneurs Tamarin. It now brings together 180 members on WhatsApp. Here is how it works.
What is Entrepreneurs de l’Ouest?
The group was created in 2020 under the name Entrepreneurs Tamarin, with a simple idea: to organise informal meetups to exchange about entrepreneurship, with a lean towards digital without being limited to it, and about life in Mauritius.
It was recently relaunched by a small core group of members. The goal remains the same: to make it easier to meet and exchange, around business but also hobbies and neighbours.
Informal meetups in different venues
No conferences or formal presentations. What keeps the group alive are simple moments to get together: casual drinks and buffet evenings or regular dinners, in different venues in the west. The latest meetups took place at LNV, Open House, Moustache, Roots and the Club House Padel.
The idea is to meet people, not to collect business cards.
How the WhatsApp group works
Conversations happen in a WhatsApp group, with clear rules to keep it useful:
- you can ask a question related to your work as an entrepreneur, share a resource or some news, or look for a tool or a service provider;
- exchanges must stay kind and add value;
- self-promotion and prospecting have no place here: the right moment to present your activity is when you join the group and during the meetups;
- inactive members are removed regularly, to keep the group alive.
The group is reserved for Mauritian residents.
Who can join?
The group works by sponsorship: you need to be introduced by a member. The sponsor vouches for the quality of the people they bring in, so that everyone has a profile and an activity in line with the spirit of the group.
Once introduced, you add yourself to the member directory, join the WhatsApp group, then introduce yourself in a few lines, naming your sponsor.
You live in the west of the island, you run a business and you would like to join the group? Write to me at info@fromparistomoris.com and we will look together at whether your profile fits.
