Minimum Viable Product for Startups

One can’t get to the top and become successful without climbing the ladder of learning and improving. Similarly to having a successful product, a company needs to improve it step by step. This is when a Minimum Viable Product or MVP plays an important role.

Background

In the present world, where every business is facing competition in every aspect, and standing out of the league is not an easy task. Some of this can be achieved by choosing the correct technology and improving your business plans.

But to stay ahead of your competition, you would need to think differently and build a customer-centric product.

Also Read: CRM – Backbone for Your Business

But to build such a product, needs time, money, and resources. There is a risk that if the product does not meet its expectations.

Maybe it is not accepted by your customer very well or it is too complex for your audience. In this case, it will be a loss of time and money for the company.

There is always a risk of the competition catching up quickly. This becomes a significant problem if yours is a startup with limited resources. So how to avoid such losses? The answer to address this problem is the MVP Approach.

What is a Minimum Viable Product?

MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product. It is a simple and initial stage of the product that should be developed or produced to achieve the minimum but most viable features.

An MVP is targeted to get customer feedback, understand the acceptability of the product, identify the gaps, and understand your audience. So that the subsequent product version can be improved and a clear roadmap can be created.

“The term MVP was first used by Frank Robbinson in 2001, and after that, it was popularized by Steve Blank and Eric Ries. The MVP technique falls in the category of the Lean Startup methodology.”

Creating an MVP should include 3 distinct features

1. It should have the minimum and enough features so that the customers can see something unique about it and purchase it, and it is easy for a company to market the product in its niche area.
2. A provision for the customer’s feedback should be provided so that customers can provide their feedback on the product.
3. It should provide unique benefits for your MVP users to encourage them to use it.

MVP development services aim to get real feedback from customers to improve the product and provide better service to customers.

The main cause of startups failing is that they are uncertain about the market and their products. It is quite possible that their product does not solve the problem of the customers and hence is not required in the market.

Building an MVP for startups becomes an essential part of their business as startup consulting firms don’t want to waste their time, money, and resources on developing a product that may not be successful or acceptable to customers or may have un-identified gaps in customers’ expectations vs product capabilities.

Creating your Minimum Viable Product should focus mainly on three concepts or should consider the main three problems which are What, Why, and How. What value does your product provide to its users? How can you benefit your customers? Why should they buy it?

So building MVP checks for the actual usage of the product.

Benefits of MVP Development

1. Focus on core functionality

The MVP product development focuses only on the core functionality of the product and the value it is going to provide to the consumer.

Sticking to the functionalities and features and having a checklist ready helps you to stay on track and also make better decisions in the long run.

2. Faster Release

Since the company focuses only on core functionality and builds a clean, simple, and functional product, the time spent on MVP product development is quite less and the company can launch its product in the market very soon.

3. Saves Resources

By developing an MVP a lot of resources can be saved. The result obtained through MVP helps in deciding whether to build the product or not.

It helps in minimizing the risk associated with developing the product at a later stage.

4. Space for Growing and Improving

As the initial MVP product launched is not overloaded with a lot of features in the early stage of development there is always room for new features and updates that the customer demands. It helps in testing the final product in the initial stage only.

5. Testing

It is the most important part of making an MVP product. MVP development helps in checking whether the idea would work in the market, and would it be acceptable to consumers, using the least possible expenditure. Testing helps in analyzing if the initial problem or goal can be solved successfully making it acceptable to move forward. 

6. Establish a Relationship with the Customer

Building an MVP always helps the company engage the customers and establish a relationship with them at a very initial stage.

Early customers will help by providing genuine feedback on the product developed and also spreading its popularity with their own experiences. It will eventually help the company in making a 100% customer-oriented product. What else can you ask for?

7.  Clear User Interface

The MVP approach helps in keeping unwanted features away so that the product is cluttered-free. As a result, the product can be easily adapted and can be used without complications.

So you can investigate and try to find out how different features of the product work.

Conclusion

When you are launching a new idea in the market, consider MVP. It will help to save your time, resources, and costs at the time of development. All you need is to develop a business plan, identify your MVP features, know your market and target audience, and have the right Application Development Company as your partner.

Scrum Digital is one of the most experienced companies in the USA and India, we have expertise in MVP development.

We provide free consultation for MVP development. If you want to build MVP and are confused about which company to hire.

We are here to help you with our services and clear your doubts regarding how to develop your Minimum Viable Product. Read more about digital transformation services and startup consulting here or Get in touch with our experts!!