Charles Ponsonnard

Hello everyone,

I'm Charles, a young man with a passion for investment (cars, property and watches), golf since the age of 8 and personal development (finding your path).

As a former entrepreneur and car sales consultant, I enjoy implementing a variety of strategies to help projects move towards greater sustainability. I like to understand customers' needs and find a solution that's right for them.  

Listening, analysing and taking action are the watchwords of my work.

I look forward to hearing from you! 

My work experience is as varied and unlikely as my school career. 

I worked in a factory in the summer of my 18th birthday and every summer for 3 years. There's nothing better for getting a feel for money than doing physical, repetitive work. I learnt a lot about optimising your work and always doing better.

I also did one-month consultancy assignments for companies like Komi (a food company) and DEMECA (a mechanical engineering company). These assignments were based on optimising financial management and on the commercial strategy adopted to launch a new product range. The assignments were diverse and rich in learning: tax, accounting, distribution, marketing and communication. Then, when you see the results and the gratitude of the clients for the help and advice, you know that your work has been well done.  These two assignments made me realise that you have two ears and one mouth.

My most rewarding experience was setting up my own company during my Masters 2 at ESCP. I decided to create a new sports car brand with a hydrogen combustion engine.  I was lucky enough to find committed partners who had the same vision as us and who put the emphasis on know-how. I learnt how to manage, negotiate contracts, carry out qualitative market research, canvass companies, prospect, but above all put in place short and long-term strategies to ensure the company's long-term future. Whether it was developing a new marketing strategy for luxury goods, an R&D strategy, a distribution strategy... questions and analyses to develop the project. This 2-year experience taught me that nothing is impossible when your heart is in the right place

Finally, my last experience was as a car sales advisor at Fisker. A start-up that launched its marketing in France at the beginning of my contract. Apart from sales work, prospecting, negotiation and delivery, working in a start-up leaves the field of possibilities wide open and allowed me to touch on everything. Along with my sales colleagues, I had the chance to put sales strategies in place (events, inauguration days, etc.) and also to think about acquisition strategies and put them in place (visits to golf courses, shopping centres, etc.). It was an enriching experience that taught me how to understand customer needs and how to analyse them so as to act more effectively.

After taking an STMG baccalauréat with a major in financial management, I went on to study accountancy with a DUT GEA and then a licence 3 in economics and management with a major in finance. These years of study taught me the rigour of taxation, the accuracy of accounting and the meaning of words in law. Much to my parents' regret, I didn't continue in finance, preferring to round off my studies with more diversity by going to business school and doing a Masters in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. It was a decision that led me to ESCP, by far the most rewarding course of study, where marketing, sales, R&D and financial strategy were taught to me by an investment fund manager who had a lot to pass on. Analysing the strategies of start-ups as well as large companies was one of the main themes of the programme, which culminated in me setting up my own company to complete my Master's degree. The pressure at the start of the year turned out to be a journey into the depths of his being, to create a company that is the edifice of his uniqueness. I might as well tell you that everything you read in "How to set up a company for dummies" is far from giving you all the keys to success. This master's degree taught me that success is forged on the individual and who he is, rather than on a piece of paper that traces his 'life'. Determination, listening, hard work, mutual support and confidence are far more powerful weapons than knowing how to do a calculation on a calculator to give you the amount you need to declare for tax purposes.

Des années au combien enrichissantes de savoir mais aussi de soft skills qui ont elles aussi été importantes à mon évolution scolaire et professionnelle que j’espère vous montrer lors d’un entretien.