For three months, about ten young people, supported by MILCEM and the Coopérative d’Initiatives Jeunes Entrepreneurs, created and ran BLICK, a service that connects customers with professional drivers for nighttime and event-related trips. Unveiled this Friday, September 11, in Le Lamentin, the results of this first pop-up cooperative in Martinique show more than 13 trips and 1,300 euros in revenue. The experience raises a broader question: How can we enable young people to transform a need identified in their community into an economic activity and, perhaps in the future, into a sustainable business?
In Martinique, transportation challenges aren’t limited to commuting to and from work. They become particularly evident in the evening, when public transportation options are limited and getting home from an event, a restaurant, or a party can be difficult.
It was based on this observation that BLICK, which stands for «Get Moving in 1 Click».
The concept is simple. The customer submits a request—nowadays mainly via WhatsApp—and the team searches its network of transportation professionals to find an available driver who meets the customer’s needs. Taxis, vans, or motorcycles can be arranged. The network also includes drivers who speak multiple languages and professionals certified to transport people with limited mobility.
But behind this service lies another experiment: that of collective entrepreneurship.
Three months to build a real business
MILCEM and the Cooperative for Young Entrepreneurs' Initiatives (CIJE), launched the first pop-up cooperative in Martinique in the spring of 2026.
The idea is to place participants in real-world conditions for starting a business. Over the course of a few months, they must develop a business offering, divide up responsibilities, make decisions collectively, find customers, manage their partners, and generate revenue.
In a cooperative, operations are also based on a specific principle: one person, one vote.
The program is therefore not just about learning how to write a business plan; it directly exposes participants to the realities on the ground.
After several weeks spent defining the project and providing training, BLICK officially launched its operations on June 16.
13 races and 1,300 euros in revenue
After three months of testing, the team reports that it has achieved 13 races, identified 24 prospects, served 14 customers and generated approximately 1,300 euros in revenue.
Of course, these figures reflect an initiative that is still in the testing phase. But the cooperative’s goal was precisely to determine whether the idea could work under real-world conditions.
The young people believe they have confirmed several factors: the existence of demand, the opportunity to work with a network of professional drivers, and the team’s ability to organize requests and trips.
Learn from it even when things don't work out
The value of the experiment is perhaps even more evident in the difficulties encountered.
First, the payment system proved to be ill-suited. In the absence of an integrated solution, customers paid the drivers directly, who then forwarded the funds to the CIJE. This arrangement was difficult to reconcile with a business that was poised to expand.
Another challenge: the emergence of a competitor in the night and event transportation market, one that has its own app and more extensive communication resources.
For the young people, the competition was brutal, but it forced them to analyze the competition and reevaluate certain aspects of their positioning.
« We told ourselves: We have nothing to lose, so we might as well keep going and fight. », explains one of the volunteers.
Someone else draws a very entrepreneurial conclusion from this:
« The more competitors there are, the more customers there are. »
An experience that changes one's perspective on entrepreneurship
Communication with customers and drivers, administrative tasks, finance, social media, teamwork, finding partners, and adapting to the unexpected: over the course of a few weeks, the participants gained insight into various aspects of running a business.
Some even had to respond to requests in the middle of the night.
« Sometimes we'd get a call at 2 a.m., and we had to answer anyway. It was a powerful experience that showed us the reality of entrepreneurship. »,
says a volunteer.
Perhaps the most interesting finding is this: According to MILCEM’s support staff, none of the young people present had initially planned to pursue a career in entrepreneurship. Several now say they are considering starting their own business, whether with BLICK or in other sectors.
For Claudie Vétro, President of MILCEM, starting a business is precisely one of the possible tools for integration: « We believe in social integration through the creation of activities—not necessarily businesses, but activities. »
And now, let's keep BLICK going
The pop-up cooperative is coming to an end, but the young people don't necessarily want to shut down BLICK.
They are now focusing on four areas: establishing a legal framework for the project, securing funding, improving their tools, and strengthening their relationships with partner drivers.
A association This should initially make it possible to continue operations with limited resources. A subsequent conversion into a corporation could be considered if the business model proves successful. CRESS Martinique is already assisting the team in this process.
An app is also being considered. A developer has been selected, and efforts to secure funding are set to begin. The goal is to have a tool in place by the end of 2026 that will simplify reservations, payments, and trip tracking.
BLICK also hopes to build stronger relationships with hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, tourist offices, and event organizers.
Only time will tell whether BLICK succeeds in becoming a sustainable economic venture. But the first phase has already demonstrated something else: presenting young people from Martinique with a concrete local problem and then giving them a few months to try to find a solution on their own can yield much more than just a training exercise.
This can inspire a desire to start a business.
MV
