Bonjour from My French Neighbor

[myfrenchneighbor]

Bonjour !

I want to introduce myself and our business. We are a family of 5 arriving straight from France to create our French Home Decor and Food business in Orlando Florida.

It was recently our 1st anniversary and it is now more quiet .... The 1st year was hard for us because we had to discover everything about business in the USA. From the marketing habits to the tax system, the sales ...... Everything is different from our other shop in France.

But now, it's okay. We sell in our shop but also online.

Today, I would also like your opinion about the design of our website because it was done by a French company, and it seems that Website designs are also very different in the USA compared to France.

Last, I apologize for my English which is far from perfect (my children who are 6,9 and 12 now correct me. They didn't speak a word of English 18 months ago !).

Thanks.

Sylvain.

[MostHeather]

Hello and welcome to the forum, Sylvain! How exciting that you moved to the States to do business.

I liked your website..

Have a great day and I look forward to your posts..

[vangogh]

Bonjour Sylvain and welcome to the forum. Congratulations on making it through your first year. Many businesses don't survive that long so it's an accomplishment you should be proud of.

The design of your site seems fine to me. I'm not crazy about the background pattern. It may be my personal taste, but I prefer a more neutral background so the eye goes to the content instead of the pattern in the background. It probably makes sense for your site to be designed by a French designer, given the nature of your business. It lends some authenticity to the site. If anything the design should proudly show its French roots. Of course that probably means ignoring my comment above about the background. :)

No need to apologize for your English. Had you not mentioned that English isn't your native language I don't think anyone would have known. Trust me when I say your English is very good.

Looking forward to getting to know you and thanks for joining the community.

[KristineS]

Welcome to the forum.

I don't think the website is bad, if anything it's better than many I've seen. Still, I tend to think of products from France as being elegant and sophisticated, and I'm not sure your website gives that impression. I really don't care for the text along the right hand side, particularly as, in my web browser at least, it was not spaced properly. It looks like that text might have been put there primarily for keyword purposes, and I'm not sure it adds a great deal to the site.

Personally, I'd like the site to be a bit cleaner. There's so much happening that it starts to feel cluttered to me after a bit. Again, it's a perception thing, but I tend to think of the French as concentrating on one perfect thing and presenting that in the best way possible. I know that's an impression based on no real evidence, but a cleaner site would feel more French to me.

That said, it's not a bad site and the real proof of whether or not it needs fixing would be in your sales figures.

[JacobBergeron]

Bienvenue to the forum!

Your website looks lovely, your shop is one I could probably spend hours in. I look forward to speaking with you. And again welcome, this forum as you will find out has lots to offer.

[cbscreative]

Bonjour and welcome; to both the SBF and the USA. Your English is WAY better than my French. I took two years in high school (about 35 years ago) and remember very little of it. You may want to put your site in our web reviews section for better response. I think keeping an authentic French design can work in your favor, but probably needs a bit more US friendly design. It looks good though, just as others have said.

[vangogh]

The site you just linked to is very well done. If you're debating whether or not to hire the designer I'd vote to hire him or her. I don't think your site should necessarily look the same and I'm sure the designer will give you something unique. I can tell by looking through the site it was created by someone who knows what they're doing and is worth hiring.