What is an MVP:

An MVP, or the Minimum Viable Product, is the most basic version of your product idea which allows you to introduce your product in the market in a cost effective and a quick way. Building an MVP is crucial for entrepreneurs as it gives them customer feedback about their idea on which they have to develop their final product.

The purpose of your MVP is to know whether the market needs your concept, at a low cost, so that if the concept is unacceptable you don’t end up losing everything of your finances. On the other hand, if your MVP is a success you can add to its features according to your customers’ feedback. Lessons learned from your MVP can help you make better decisions and expand your consumer base through IT outsourcing. The success of your end product can depend largely upon the success of your MVP.

1. Market Research:

Initial efforts are said to be very important before you start with your MVP. In this regard, before getting started with the development of the concept you need to research to understand fully  the market need. Research shows that 42% of the startups could not become successful because their idea had no value in the market.

Your research may consist of online surveys in which you want to know if your product is really needed or what solutions you provide them if a similar product already exists. Similarly, you can search websites providing information on what is acceptable in the market and what lacks people’s interests. This research will help you a lot in identifying your main persona as well. You can then focus on making them your first users in order to know more about your idea while building your final product.

2. Explain your idea:

As you are done with your market research, you know now how far your idea stands.To start with, you need to know how your MVP will look like. The idea of an MVP can be different for everyone. Whatever you decide for your product just be sure that everything will help you in your journey towards a successful MVP.

If you are satisfied with your idea you need to start working on how you explain it to your customers. On this stage you have to be very honest with yourself. Just be sure your idea is not only something that you love. It might be the most creative idea in the world but in order to make your MVP successful it has to be acceptable in the market. So make necessary changes if required or even change your idea entirely if you need to.

Make sure your MVP explains your idea thoroughly. If the MVP is targeting the product goal well enough it means you can know your ideal persona and what they need, and can work on the real scope of your idea. After all the main purpose of your minimal viable product is that you aim to achieve your goals without exploiting all your funds.

3. Define features:

Always remember your MVP is the most basic version of your product. So you have to select here what’s best for your MVP. Start listing everything that’s in your mind for your final product. In the second step you will organize your list. Start prioritizing features with most importance and then keep numbering them according to priority.

This way you will also know what you want your final product to be like and select from them the most basic ones for your MVP. The ones you think will be most valuable to your customers and describe your product better.

It is true that your MVP gives the main idea about your product so it should comprise minimum features that could solve your customers problems and lead you to building your product to its best. In this journey of yours always remember that having less features does not mean you deliver a bad product thinking you’ll fix everything in your main idea later. The main goal of MVP is to attract customers but a faulty product will never achieve that. So aim at building a small but a perfect MVP.

4. The Building Stage:

Now is the time you start building your MVP by following the map that you made in your previous step. Define user flow. Explain everything to your users, how they open it and how they will use it, step by step. You are building here the bare minimum with lots of space to grow. This is your best possible way of reaching the market quicker and safer. You have worked on your target customers and there you go now to see how well and far you met your challenge.

Always remember why you’re building your MVP. Don’t waver. Everything revolves around that. Even your marketing plan should be well thought. Avoid spending too much on marketing. If your MVP has a flaw you can fix it in your final product without many people knowing it.

5. Evaluate customer feedback:

The success of your product depends upon how well you analyse your customers’ feedback. The people who use your MVP are the ones who will use your product. So know their opinions best and try improvements in your final product.
It is not necessary that your MVP is always a great success. Same is the case with an MVP landing as an utter failure. You can also fall somewhere in the middle and you still have a chance to build a successful final product. When this is the case, nevertheless,  you have to decide whether you will go on with this idea or wind it off. You should be fully prepared for the latter too because you have to make a decision before it is too late. Worst of all could be miscalculations of your results. For that you have to be well aware of your customer’s feedback.  Customer evaluation will lead you to your deciding factor.  After all they are the ones who need to benefit from this.

However well you research, it is usual to face challenges. So be prepared from the start. Just avoid complications. Evaluate your customer well. MVP’s allows entrepreneurs to better learn the market needs. Once you know your market you know how to deliver in future endeavors too.