Currently living in France & want to consult for US companies

My husband and I have been living in France for the past 18 months on long stay visitor visas. We have not had any active or passive income in France or in the USA during that time. We came here to have an adventure, but we have come to love France and would like to stay longer.

Thus, I would like to start consulting with US only clients. I already have some potential clients, but since I do not have the correct visa, I have not taken anything on just yet. Our visa renewals are coming up in the next few months - here are a few questions and a bit more information.

1. Would the next visa renewal be the time and place to apply for the visa commerçant and is that visa in addition to the long-stay visa? By that, I mean do I have to provide all the requested information for both types of visas? (I am assuming yes)

2. I have found information and requirements for the visa commerçant as a foreigner already in France here.  The pièces justificatives listed are below with which I have a couple of questions:

The professional must report to the departmental prefecture with the following proofs:  (I have only listed the ones I have questions about.)

• Cerfa residence permit application form n ° 13473 * 01:  Just to clarify, I am assuming that the auto-entrepreneur I would register for eventually would be ‘profession libérale’, yet on the commerçant form they offer - commerciale/industrielle/artisanale as the options. I’m a bit confused on what to select… probably commercial? As for the rest of the form, I’ll manage.
• declaration on the honour of non-conviction for other countries in which the applicant has, if necessary, resided for the last 10 years. I assume this is a handwritten attestation…?
• declaration of honor of non-bankruptcy in the country of origin and for other countries in which the applicant has, if necessary, resided for the last 10 years, I assume this is also a hand written attestation….?-tax slip relating to the payment of income tax in France, Assume this year we will pay tax, but what is the tax slip this referring to?  We have not paid income tax in France yet as we have only been here 18 months (in the US a bit during that time as well) and we originally had no plans to stay more than 2 years.
• supporting documents relating to the applicant’s capacity to carry on the intended commercial, industrial or craft activity, What sort of thing are they looking for here? Resume? Proof of degree?

3. There was also a statement on the visa commerçant page that stated ‘an economically viable business or, if it incorporates an existing business, its ability to pay sufficient remuneration (at least equal to the Smic)’
How do I justify this if I am a new business? Do I disregard? Income would vary every few months depending on project load. Does having enough money on our own help this?

4. Since I would be working from here but only for US clients, would I then need to be registered in both places as a business? I’m confused as to how I actually need to set myself up according to both countries.

Note: we have enough money to stay longer without a commerçant visa, not sure if this matters when applying for a commerçant visa as a business owner or not.

Well, that’s a lot. Looking forward to any and all help you may be able to provide.
Thank you.