# Jobs to Be Done (JTBD)

## Purpose
Understand what customers are truly "hiring" your product to do, revealing the underlying job beyond surface-level features.

## When to Use
- Validating new business ideas or offers
- Refining value propositions
- When you're focused on features instead of outcomes
- GTM strategy development

## Process

1. **Identify the "job"**
   - What progress is the customer trying to make?
   - What situation triggers their need?
   - "When _____, I want to _____, so I can _____"

2. **Understand the job context**
   - Functional job: What task are they trying to complete?
   - Emotional job: How do they want to feel?
   - Social job: How do they want to be perceived?

3. **Map the current solution**
   - What are they "hiring" today to do this job?
   - What are they "firing" by choosing your idea?
   - What are the switching costs?

4. **Customer interview (10 questions, ranked by importance)**

   Prepare a script of 10 open-ended questions tailored to the idea. Use this template as a starting point, adapting language and specifics to the target customer:

   | # | Question | Why it matters |
   |---|---------|---------------|
   | 1 | "Walk me through what happens when [trigger event]." | Opens the floodgates. Reveals the full workflow without leading. Listen for pain, bottlenecks, and workarounds. |
   | 2 | "What happens when you can't deal with [the job] right away?" | Tests the cost of delay — the core pain. Listen for: missed opportunities, stress, knock-on effects. |
   | 3 | "How do you currently handle [the job]? What tools, people, or processes?" | Maps current solutions being "hired." Listen for: makeshift tools, people doing it manually, things that don't scale. |
   | 4 | "Can you tell me about a time when [the job] went wrong or fell through the cracks?" | Concrete stories beat hypotheticals. Listen for: specific examples, what it cost them, how it felt. |
   | 5 | "Who else is involved in [the job]? Does anyone help you with it?" | Identifies the real buyer vs the real user — they're often different people. Listen for: partners, assistants, colleagues picking up slack. |
   | 6 | "What's the most time-consuming part of [the job]?" | Pinpoints the highest-value automation target. Listen for: the 20% that takes 80% of the time. |
   | 7 | "What would you never want something to do on your behalf? What's off limits?" | Tests trust boundaries without asking "would you trust X?" Reveals what they WOULD trust by elimination. |
   | 8 | "If something could handle [the job] for you — automatically, 24/7 — what would that free you up to do?" | Lets them articulate the value in their own words. Don't mention price yet. Listen for: time, stress, relationships, revenue. |
   | 9 | "What have you tried before to solve this? What worked, what didn't?" | Reveals failed alternatives and switching triggers. Listen for: tools abandoned, services cancelled, why they stopped. |
   | 10 | "If this cost about [anchor price] per month, and it meant [core outcome], would that be worth it?" | Last question deliberately. By now they've articulated the pain. Tests willingness to pay against a concrete anchor. Listen for: "definitely", "I'd need to see it", "that's a lot." |

   **Follow-up prompts (use throughout):**
   - "Tell me more about that..."
   - "How often does that happen?"
   - "What did that cost you?"
   - "Who else is affected by that?"

   **Interview principles:**
   - One question at a time. Let them talk. Silence is your friend.
   - Never pitch during the interview. You're learning, not selling.
   - Record if possible (with permission). Transcripts are gold.
   - The best insights come from follow-ups, not the scripted questions.
   - Ask about the PAST (what happened) not the FUTURE (what would you do). Past behaviour predicts future behaviour.

5. **Identify job outcomes**
   - How do they measure success?
   - What does "better" look like?
   - What struggles exist with current solutions?

6. **Uncover competing alternatives**
   - What else could they hire to do this job?
   - What's the "non-consumption" alternative (doing nothing)?

7. **Define your job statement**
   - "Help [customer] [job to be done] [context/constraint] so they can [desired outcome]"

8. **Synthesis**
   - Is your idea actually hired to do this job?
   - Are you solving for the right outcome?
   - What would make you the obvious choice?

## Example

**Idea**: "Online course teaching small business owners to use AI tools"

**Job to be done**: "When I'm overwhelmed by repetitive tasks and limited time, I want to work smarter without hiring more people, so I can grow my business while maintaining work-life balance"

**Job context**:
- **Functional**: Automate repetitive work, reduce manual tasks
- **Emotional**: Feel in control, reduce stress, feel innovative
- **Social**: Be seen as forward-thinking by peers

**Current solutions being "hired"**:
- Virtual assistants (expensive, management overhead)
- Doing it themselves (time-consuming, exhausting)
- Ignoring the work (guilt, falling behind)

**Success metrics**:
- Hours saved per week
- Reduced stress/better sleep
- Revenue maintained or growing
- Freed up for strategic work

**Competing alternatives**:
- YouTube tutorials (free but scattered)
- Hiring a consultant (expensive, custom)
- Doing nothing (familiar, low risk)

**Refined job statement**: "Help time-starved small business owners automate their highest-volume repetitive tasks in under 2 hours, so they can reclaim 10+ hours/week without hiring or complex tech setup"

**Insight**: The job isn't "learn AI"—it's "get time back fast." Make the course implementation-focused with immediate wins, not theory-heavy.
