Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) is a market research framework that helps businesses understand why people choose a product or service. At its core, JTBD is based on one simple idea: customers “hire” products to do a specific job in their lives. When that product does the job well, they keep it. When it doesn’t, they look elsewhere.

For entrepreneurs, this mindset shift is powerful. It moves the focus from building features for a hypothetical customer profile to solving real problems for real people. Instead of designing something for millennials or for busy parents, you start asking: what are they trying to achieve? What causes frustration in their daily routines? And how can my product help them make progress?

JTBD isn't a trend – it's a practical tool for product success

Startups often struggle not because their idea is bad, but because it's disconnected from what their audience actually needs. JTBD helps reveal those needs by digging into your customers’ actual decision-making process. It’s especially helpful in early-stage companies, where clarity about product–market fit can mean the difference between growth and stall-out.

Why should entrepreneurs care? Because JTBD gives you practical answers to questions like:

• What problem is my customer trying to solve?
• What makes them switch from one solution to another?
• What’s going on in their life when they look for a new option?

Understanding the answers to these leads to stronger messaging, smarter product development, and more focused marketing. It also helps teams align around the real “why” behind your customer’s decisions – a critical ingredient for innovation strategy and new business growth.

Think of JTBD as a customer-first lens

Imagine a fictional startup building a meal planning app. Instead of targeting "health-conscious adults aged 25-40," a JTBD approach would ask: What job are these users hiring the app to do? The real job might be something like "Help me eat healthier meals during a busy workweek without thinking too much." That changes how you design the app, how you communicate its value, and how you decide what features to prioritize.

That’s the power of Jobs To Be Done – and why it’s among the best tools for entrepreneurs trying to create more relevant offerings and find real traction in the market.

Many startups begin by segmenting their audience based on age, income level, or lifestyle. While demographic data is useful, it doesn’t tell you why someone chooses your product – or why they might walk away. Jobs To Be Done flips the focus from who the person is, to what they’re trying to get done. That’s where meaningful consumer insights live.

Understanding customer needs through a JTBD lens allows you to see the real forces behind purchase decisions. It uncovers context – the situation someone is in before, during, and after using a product – which is often missing from traditional profiles.

Demographics tell you the “who.” JTBD tells you the “why.”

Let’s use a fictional example to illustrate. Say two customers download your fitness coaching app. One is a 28-year-old professional woman; the other, a 52-year-old stay-at-home dad. On paper, their demographics couldn’t be more different. But what if both are hiring your app for the same job: “Help me stay consistent with exercise even when I have a hectic schedule”? That shared motivation is far more useful than age or gender when it comes to building features or targeting messaging.

By focusing on the job to be done, entrepreneurial teams can design around actual behaviors and goals – not assumptions based on demographics. This helps in several key ways:

• Build products people truly want – not just ones that match a persona
• Uncover unmet needs that customers might not even articulate
• Create relevance in your positioning and marketing
• Drive innovation based on real-life use cases, not generic trends

JTBD helps with deeper idea validation

If you're an entrepreneur trying to validate a business idea using JTBD, look for the “struggling moments” your target user might face. These are the friction points in their daily life where current solutions fall short. For example, if people are switching between several meal prep services, JTBD research might reveal they’re trying to solve the job: “Feed my family nutritious meals without going to multiple grocery stores.” That simple insight could change your entire product roadmap and help you outpace competitors.

Best of all, you don’t need a large data set or expensive platforms to start seeing results. A few well-conducted interviews – structured around the JTBD approach – can unlock major clarity. That’s why JTBD is considered one of the best market research methods for new businesses looking for agility, direction, and closer alignment with the people they serve.

Understanding the Real Job Behind the Product

One of the biggest reasons startups struggle with product-market fit is that they build solutions based on assumptions rather than real user needs. The Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework flips that approach by focusing on the progress customers actually want to make – not just what the product does, but what outcome the user is hiring it to achieve.

This insight empowers entrepreneurs to stop thinking only about features and to start thinking about functions – what job is the customer trying to get done, and how can we help?

Move from Features to Outcomes

Instead of asking “How do we make this feature better?” JTBD pushes founders to ask, “What is this customer trying to accomplish in their day or life, and how can we design something to help them succeed?” This mindset fuels smarter product development and informs better design decisions, no matter the industry.

For example, someone buying a baby monitor isn't just purchasing a tech device – they're hiring a tool that provides peace of mind while they focus on other tasks or sleep. A camera with night vision might seem impressive, but what really matters is whether it lets a parent relax, knowing their baby is safe.

JTBD for Startups Seeking Product-Market Fit

Early-stage startups can use Jobs To Be Done to uncover the root motivations behind a customer’s choices. This helps avoid common traps like building for your own preferences, following competitors blindly, or prioritizing “nice-to-have” features.

JTBD research helps founders:

• Identify unmet customer needs
• Replace guesswork with clarity about what customers truly value
• Validate business ideas early, reducing risk
• Spot opportunities for innovation strategy grounded in customer reality

By focusing on customer jobs rather than demographics or personas alone, the JTBD framework enables entrepreneurs to create products people are eager to adopt – because they solve real problems.

Turning Customer Motivation into Market Success

Understanding the job your customer is trying to complete can be the difference between a business idea taking off – or fading out. Many successful entrepreneurs (fictional examples used here for illustration) have used the Jobs To Be Done approach to unlock powerful insights that reshaped their product strategy and fueled growth.

Example 1: A Meal Delivery Startup

A new meal delivery service thought their target market was busy professionals who wanted fast, healthy meals. But through JTBD interviews, they discovered that their customers were really hiring the service to reduce daily decision fatigue, not just save time. The team adjusted their marketing to focus on “solving the mental load of what’s for dinner” rather than just promoting convenience. The result was a 25% lift in first-month sign-ups.

Example 2: A Budgeting App for Freelancers

Another (fictional) founder built a financial app aimed at freelancers to track income and expenses. Traditional personas framed users as “tech-savvy” or “budget-conscious,” but JTBD revealed that many users were hiring the product to feel in control after inconsistent income months. This led to adding features like projected cash flow and automatic categorization tied to emotional wins – not just spreadsheets. User retention increased significantly.

Example 3: A Fitness Coach Platform

An entrepreneur building a virtual coaching platform realized through JTBD research that customers weren’t just hiring a coach for accountability – they were seeking identity transformation (e.g., “I want to become the type of person who works out regularly”). By adjusting messaging and features to support that deeper job, such as celebration milestones and habit-building tools, the platform saw improved engagement across all segments.

What These JTBD Examples Teach Us

Across these examples, JTBD helped founders go beyond demographic insights, unlocking why customers make choices and how to design for meaningful outcomes. These are just sample scenarios, but they reflect how real-world entrepreneurs can use the JTBD framework to adjust product positioning, improve product-market fit, and build lasting customer relationships.

In short, understanding your customer's internal motivations with JTBD leads to smarter decisions aligned with how people think – not just what they say.

You don’t need to be a researcher to begin applying the Jobs To Be Done framework. Whether you’re building your first product or refining your existing offer, a basic JTBD process can help you uncover valuable consumer insights quickly.

Start with Conversations, Not Surveys

The core of JTBD is listening – asking real customers or prospects to walk you through a recent experience where they ‘hired’ a product to solve a need. Open-ended conversations work best. Skip the script and encourage stories that reveal motivations, trade-offs, and context.

Look for Patterns Behind the Products

As you gather these stories, look for common triggers or “struggling moments.” These are the clues that highlight what job the customer is trying to do. For instance:

• Why did they switch from a previous solution?
• What frustrations were they trying to solve?
• What outcome were they hoping for?

Recording a handful of rich interviews can reveal valuable insights. You don’t need hundreds of responses – with JTBD, even 8-10 conversations can surface meaningful themes.

Develop Simple Job Statements

Translate what you hear into clear, actionable job statements. A helpful format is: “When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [desired outcome].”

Example: “When I start freelancing for the first time, I want to track client payments easily, so I can stay organized and feel confident in my finances.”

Apply What You Learn to Your Product

Once you’ve identified the main jobs your customer is trying to get done, map those insights directly to product features, messaging, UX, or even pricing. This bridges your customer motivation efforts with real-world product development.

For entrepreneurs, JTBD is one of the best market research methods for new businesses because it starts real, and stays practical. Whether you’re testing product-market fit, developing a new offering, or validating a business idea – this is a tool you can use right away.