French-Speaking Market Researcher – SME Problem Discovery

We are looking for a French-speaking market researcher / B2B researcher to conduct an initial market discovery project with small and medium-sized businesses in French-speaking markets.

Objective

We are not selling a product and this is not a traditional lead-generation or cold-calling campaign.

Our goal is to discover real, recurring operational problems faced by SMEs that could potentially be solved with software.

We want evidence from real businesses rather than assumptions or generic market reports.

Target market

Please research SMEs in:

* France
* Wallonia, Belgium
* Luxembourg

Priority sectors:

* Real estate
* Consulting / professional services / agencies
* E-commerce

Your responsibilities

You will:

* Identify approximately 30 relevant SMEs.
* Identify the appropriate decision-maker (owner, founder, manager, etc.).
* Research and document each company and contact.
* Contact decision-makers in French using personalized outreach.
* Request short 10–15 minute research conversations.
* Conduct interviews when business owners/managers are willing to participate.
* Ask open-ended questions and follow up on concrete examples.
* Understand how businesses currently handle the problem and what tools/workarounds they use.
* Document the findings clearly in Google Sheets.
* Identify recurring problems, their frequency, impact and current solutions.
* Provide a concise final summary of the strongest recurring problems and interesting opportunities.

Important – research integrity

This is extremely important to us.

All businesses, contacts, conversations and findings must be real.

We do not want AI-generated interviews, invented answers, fabricated conversations or research presented as real when it was not actually conducted.

AI tools may be used for organization, transcription or summarization of real research, but they must not be used to fabricate evidence.

For each completed interview, we expect enough information to verify that the interview actually took place, including the company, decision-maker, date/status and documented findings.

What we are looking for

* Fluent French (C1/C2 or native)
* Good English communication
* Experience in market research, customer discovery, qualitative research, B2B research, appointment setting or similar work
* Comfortable communicating with business owners and managers
* Strong online research skills
* Good Google Sheets / Excel skills
* Able to ask natural follow-up questions rather than simply reading a questionnaire
* Reliable, organized and detail-oriented

Experience with French, Belgian or Luxembourg SMEs is a strong plus.

Deliverables

1. Structured list of approximately 30 qualified SMEs
2. Decision-maker/contact research
3. Personalized outreach activity
4. Research interviews where owners/managers agree
5. Interview notes and documented findings
6. Google Sheet containing the research
7. Final summary of recurring problems, current workarounds and potential opportunities

When applying

Please answer these questions:

1. What experience do you have conducting research or interviews with business owners/managers?
2. How would you find suitable SMEs in France, Wallonia and Luxembourg?
3. How would you encourage a business owner to participate in a 10–15 minute research conversation?
4. How would you make sure the research is based on real conversations rather than assumptions?
5. Please provide a short example of a French message you would send to a business owner to request a research conversation.

We are looking for quality and genuine research, not hundreds of generic messages.

If the initial project is successful, there may be an opportunity for continued research work.