If anyone can benefit from the MVP technique employment, it is startups.
MVP – Minimum Viable Product – is a version of a product containing only core features, just enough to satisfy early adopters and potential investors. The goal of building an MVP is to test market demand and collect feedback from real-life users to develop a final version that meets the needs and objectives of the target audience.
But why is this approach so beneficial for organisations like startups? How can MVP development impact the relationship between startups and the markets?
In this article, you can learn more about what makes MVP crucial for business models like startups and some of this technique’s development strategies.
Advantages of MVP for Startups
Developing a Minimum Viable Product is especially advantageous for small businesses such as startups because it allows them to develop low-cost products or services and launch them to analyse their performance without taking financial risks.
MVP development also helps these companies improve their product-market fit, as they gather feedback from early adopters and iterate the product based on that data.
In addition to that, as MVP reduces time to market, it also puts companies who launch them ahead of the competitive curve and more ready to respond to market speed.
MVP vs. Traditional Product Development
MVP development is innovative because it allows businesses to give life to their product cost-effectively and efficiently. Creating a Minimum Viable Product is a process focused on delivering a product with the minimum amount of features, enough to meet the needs of the target users. It is cost-effective, fast, and minimalist.
On the other hand, traditional product development is a long process that requires extensive market research, future planning, and thorough testing before product launch. It is more risky and expensive, which makes it a worse option for startups since many do not have the means to make large investments.
MVP Development Strategies
To initiate MVP development, the first step is planning and scoping an MVP. That means that MVP developers identify the issue or issues the product will solve, what features can be useful in solving the problem, and who is the target audience. It is also in this phase that the development team also sets goals, determines deadlines, and pinpoints success metrics to analyse the performance of the MVP.
After planning and scoping, developers should follow these additional strategies that help improve the MVP development process, making it more efficient:
- List the core features to include in your MVP employing techniques such as storyboarding, and creating user stories;
- Focus on the core features and avoid feature creep to provide maximum value to the users in the smallest product possible;
- Involve stakeholders in the development process;
- Plan for scalability;
- Measure success by establishing metrics to measure the MVP’s performance;
- Test assumptions and iterate based on feedback.
Conclusion
MVP development consists of developing a basic version of a product that contains only the core features necessary to meet the target audience’s needs. Employing this technique allows businesses to test the market demand and collect feedback without going through a long development process that involves large investments and financial risks.
Startups benefit significantly from this approach as it allows them to launch their product or service in the market and improve it based on real-world user feedback in a more cost-efficient and less time-consuming format. In addition, by reducing time to market, it helps startups get a competitive advantage thanks to the development and launching speed.
Despite being more significant to startups and entrepreneurs that cannot afford to take risks just yet, MVP is a beneficial approach for all types of businesses across many industries as it enables companies to see how their idea sits with the target audience and how they can improve according to their potential customers’ opinions.
