Who would dream of associating the figure of the entrepreneur with poverty and precariousness? Traditionally, society and literature paint a very different picture of the entrepreneur, who embodies such values as risk and initiative-taking, a strong sense of responsibility, action- and result-orientation, and even opportunism, etc. The author argues in this paper that present (and past) measures intended, in the French context, to encourage the creation of new jobs and new ventures by job seekers and/or individuals in precarious situations contributes greatly to the development of some forms of ‘forced’ entrepreneurship, which may have dramatic consequences for the individuals concerned and society at large. The objective of this paper is to shed some light on these particular forms of entrepreneurship, which are likely to increase in the current context of uncertainty and change.