The Law on Economic Modernization of 4 August 2008 introduced a new form of individual entrepreneur, the ‘auto-entrepreneur,’ the goal being to enhance the competitiveness of the French economy by promoting entrepreneurial spirit. This paper proposes to discuss the ‘auto-entrepreneur’ model with reference to the fundamentals of the theory of the firm and the legal variants of the ‘auto-entrepreneur.’ The argument will be structured around the criterion of independence, and its various interpretations, which will be used to put the auto-entrepreneur model to the test. Three forms of autonomy are given precedence: productive (Section 1), concerning the availability of sufficient financing and material to provide professional services; managerial (Section 2), which measures the ability to assume the risks inherent to business, regarding both interested and third parties; and financial (Section 3), or the chances of earning enough money to subsist upon. The result, highlighted in the conclusion to this article, is that the ‘auto-entrepreneur’ regime is contrary to every referenced approach to the firm. This business model appears best adapted as a means of supplementing income from another, unrelated activity or in retirement.