MVP Development for Startups

There are various businesses and startups that fail, and the main reason is that they don’t meet the customer expectations, though the ideas for the products are not imperfect. It is not wise to spend thousands of dollars and a lot of time developing your startup just to find out that the customer is not interested in your idea.

This is where MVP development plays its part, as it can help startups and the already established businesses. There are various features that the MVP software develops so that it can satisfy the early adaptor. Once the feedback from the product’s initial customers is considered, then the complete feature set is designed and developed.

What is an MVP?

The word MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product, and it is all about experimenting with the startup ideas that you have in the real world. MVP is basically a fully functional product with a minimal set of features required to learn from the early adopters. MVP is known as the fastest way to get through the Build-Measure-Learn feedback loop and doing it with minimum effort.

MVP consists of the basic set of features that the users are willing to buy or use them initially. It helps to assume that the early adopters of the product are able to see the vision or promise of the final product. It also offers you valuable feedback to guide future development.

Are MVPs only for the startups?

Among the people, there is a common misconception that the MVP programming works with the startups and fledgeling companies. This is not at all true, as MVP is a superb option for all, whether it is a startup or a large corporation.

When you develop some innovative features for your existing product, then it is necessary to have a viable MVP program already in place. You can start it by releasing a basic version of your new product that is developed for selected users to test. 

Why you need an MVP?

Minimum Viable Product (MVP) allows you to find out about the idea you have and the customers with a minimum effort and maximize your budget. You need to have an MVP because it offers you the opportunity to test your product with the people who actually use this product in the real market. This way, you can obtain early feedback that is necessary to make the difference between success and failure.

The success of any new product, whether complex or small, is fully based on a unique and efficient idea and how impactfully this particular idea is implemented. It must be kept in mind that feedback from potential customers is one of the most important factors that can make your product a successful one. You will have all the ideas about the requirements of the market and where your product is lacking. Therefore, the founders of different products are getting acute regarding the Minimum Viable Product’s signature approach.

Types of MVPs

There are various types of MVPs that are available for several purposes. You might have a cost-effective MVP android product, or you might be able to design one for iOS. A few of the most popular types are as follows:

• Piecemeal

With the Piecemeal MVP model, you are able to use the existing services and tools to develop a product to your customers. You use various existing technologies with Piecemeal MVP, and this means that more human resources are required to manage the process. When you use existing services, this saves you money and time by building your own infrastructure and technology.

• Wizard of Oz

This MVP is the one you put up a front to offer your potential customers the impression that you have a real working product, and your customers are experiencing a real thing. There is no doubt that this MVP is a very effective way of checking your desirable service or product, but it requires a lot more effort and time.

• Concierge MVP

There are people who confused Concierge MVP with Wizard of Oz MVP. Concierge MVP is proposed to test your product solution and generate more improvement ideas. Wizard of Oz hides the work that takes place behind the scenes, but Concierge MVP doesn’t. It should be used when you are not sure about the solution, as compared to the Wizard of Oz, where you have a clear understanding of the solution.

Advantages and limitations of MVP development

Advantages

There are different major reasons for a business failure that you can resolve with building MVP before you release your fully functional product. As an entrepreneur, you can expect several benefits when you build a startup MVP to test your product. 

• Test the product in real market conditions

The greatest opportunity that the MVP method offers you is to field-test your research data and enter the real market. This way, you can easily observe how potential customers react to your product’s concept in practice. This will also help you learn whether the product features can solve the existing problem that the target customer has.

• Early feedback

An important part of the MVP is to listen to the complaints and suggestions of the customers. When you get early feedback, it helps you to make necessary product improvements that the potential customers might find objectionable in your product. This way, you get a jump start to evolve your product according to the customers’ expectations.

• Building trust and reputation for your business

Trust and reputation building plays a very important part of your business. A highly-functional MVP helps you attract new investors that otherwise could have taken a very long time to hear about you and your company. With an MVP, it will be relatively easy for you to sell your new products’ potential and capabilities, as you would already have experienced successes.

Limitations

When a concept starts to become so prevailed as MVP, then it is not easy to step back and think whether it applies to every product, industry, or business. Learning that will come from MVP can obviously help your business, but this strategy may fall short in some cases.

• It could be detrimental for your business team’s spirit

If you have a business of sustaining innovation, you are fighting with your competitors based on your product’s features. Therefore, it is very risky to put an MVP in the hands of your users. If your product is not better than the existing ones, then there is no reason for people to switch. Therefore, going in the market with MVP could provide a false negative and be quite dangerous for your business team’s spirit.

• It is not useful for all industries and products

It depends on your product’s nature, but the MVP practices might become less relevant if your MVP development becomes long and expensive enough that you could say that it is beyond the scope of the MVP practices.

• It is limiting for the business network effects

The MVP development idea and testing the demand could be quite limiting if a business has significant network effects. Building even a small network, even for testing purposes, can be time-consuming and challenging. Until your company offers a product that is compelling enough, it won’t be feasible to attract a large number of users.

Conclusion

Your startup idea could be anything, and the best way is to keep testing different ideas until you find the one that sticks. MVP is one of the most widely accepted available options when it is about quickly testing a product idea. Once the MVP is created, you drive traffic to it and ask for feedback. Once you prove your product to the early adopters, they will help you acquire and evangelize more users.

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