Tips to Build MVP in Less Than Three Hours for Your Online Startup | If you don’t feel embarrassed with the final version of your product, you have launched it too late- Words of Reid Hoffman- LinkedIn Founder
It could not be wrong to admit that today we are living in a startup era where everyone wants to be their boss. Moreover, technological innovations, online resources, etc., have made funding acquisition easy. But this is it? Will it give you major success? Probably. No. There is much more to perform before you convert your rough idea into a reality.
You might have heard the well-known lines of Drake’s Charbuter; he mentioned, “started from the bottom, now we are here” as an entrepreneur giving your dream idea life is not something easy. You should have a team of experts, resources, and much more. Now let’s imagine you are a startup and planning to present something new. For that,
- You have hired a team
- You have conducted a market research
- You have raised funds
- You got a green signal as well from the marketing team
- You have started the development process and released it.
In short, you have left no stone unturned to make your product polish and unique from others. But you are not getting “thumbs up” from customers and enough downloads. Yes, this is what happens with the majority of startups.
Forbes stated that more than 91% of startups fail without enjoying success. Now your goal is to stand in the list of the rest 10%; you need to put effort and work smart at the same time.
What is an MVP Stands for?
MVP is an abbreviation of Minimum Viable Product. An MVP is the most primary version of your product that can be delivered to potential customers to get valuable feedback.
For startups, opting for MVP could be proved great because they don’t need to spend huge money on development and other resources. Therefore, it has become a reasonable solution for startups. Even well-established business owners are also adopting this approach because it allows them to hit the market early.
A company might choose to develop MVP before the final product because they want to:
- Launch a product to the market early before anyone else does
- Test an idea with adequate features before committing to a huge budget
- Know what the target audience likes and what does not
Get to Know about MVP with Example
Now you know the meaning of MVP. MVP is all about integrating basic features that can satisfy a user’s single needs and allow feedback collection. Let’s elaborate it with an example.
We all have heard about the well-known online rental marketplace, Airbnb. It was established in 2008. There were only two budding friends who were roaming around the city because they did not have enough bucks to pay rent. Hence they decided to rent out their existing living room to earn some money. They started to earn money gradually; they built a simple website with limited features. And today, you can see where Airbnb stands. From full-fledged websites to apps to whatnot.
The story of Airbnb is quite interesting for startups. Instead of wasting time to develop a final product, opt for MVP and offer basic features to customers. Test with real users means potential customers, learn from them, fix issues in the existing product, and one fine day, this minimal product will become a fully-fledged product with advanced features.
Not only Airbnb but the well-known online ride-hailing app, Uber, did the same. And today, you can see how Uber has changed the way we commute. Even if you are new to the online transport business, instead of spending a huge amount on full-fledged app development, it would be great to invest in a white label app platform as it includes less risk and gives you other exclusive benefits such as
- Rapid testing
- Reduced cost
- Reduced efforts
- It gives you valuable insights into customer behavior
- Hit the market earliest
Now, let’s head to our central portion of this blog about building MVP for your online startup.
How to Build an MVP: Critical Steps to Consider
We have gone through the meaning of MVP and why it is necessary to have one. Now it’s time to build an MVP that entices potential users and pushes you to develop the full product. Before that, you need to consider several steps. Let’s go through each and make your MVP in less than three hours. Seems strange? Not it is. Let’s get started.
Market Research
Imagine as a gambler; you know the winning horse before the actual race starts.
Market research is all about that. No matter how modern features your products have, how unique your idea is but if users don’t find it exciting, all your efforts go to vain. Market research is the first important step you need to consider; it will give you a glimpse of the future in advance.
The market research also helps you give a future understanding of an entire project and help you make informed decisions about if there is any room for innovation. If you are clueless, you can search online; there are plenty of platforms available that organize paid surveys and help you gather customer feedback.
Remember, don’t overlook your close rivals as well; offer something unique and gather market data.
Define the User Flow
When we talk about user flow in MVP, entrepreneurs mix this term with Prototyping. But it’s quite different. You need to map the customer’s journeys in advance with the UI/UX concepts and build wireframes. You can not miss this step because it will give you a basic idea of how your application would look like. If you lack a skilled designer’s team, you can use online wireframing tools such as Wireframe cc.
Choose an attractive theme, fonts, colors, and all the CTAs that customers will use in your app. This is a very pivotal step because the design and user-friendliness of your app are the key aspects that users look for when they land on your app or website for the first time.
Use advanced tools such as Figma, Marvel, and Invision to design the end-user flow in a very beautiful and precise manner.
Choose the Features that Entice Users
Defining key features in your MVP is harder than ever. When you study the market and come to know about customer preferences, the next step is to have exciting features that make users’ lives easy. Instead of focusing on “nice-to-have” features, first, concentrate on “must-have” features.
Remember you are working on MVP, so cut down all those unnecessary features that leave a bad impression on the user’s mind and do not add any value to the user experience. Facebook is the best example of MVP; when it was launched, it had only a limited set of features, and now you can see from connection to messenger to advertising platform to online marketplace, Facebook has it all.
Also, make sure today you are going to target tech-savvy customers, so make proper choices and shortlist features that trigger their minds to use your app.
Develop the MVP
Now you have a list of essential features, and it is time to develop an MVP.
Hire a skilled team of developers and start developing MVP. Now your main goal is to release the MVP in the least possible time in order to hit the market before your rival does. While building an MVP, you need to consider three things:
- Minimal product means not incomplete
- Choose the right technology
- Test it twice before the final launch
Once the MVP is built, testing is essential before it hands over to final users. Usually, there are two kinds of testing performed by owners. The first one is Alpha testing, which means internal developers test the app to find any error or bug, and the second one is Beta testing- performed by real users before the release.
Learn and Improve
This is the final step. Once you launch the product to the market, you will start receiving feedback from customers. Focus on these reviews and learn from previous mistakes. Based on the feedback, now you have final data on what your users like and whatnot. Now it’s time to integrate features as per their wish and remove the unnecessary ones. You can also add something trendy or new to impress users.
Final Advice
Releasing an MVP before the final product is the ultimate strategy for startups to save their valuable time, money, and resources. It is also known as a shortcut to stepping into the market and building customers for your dream product.
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Author Bio
Brijesh Vadukiya
Brijesh Vadukiya is a tech activist and avid blogger. My major concern is to educate people who are interested in technology. I am passionate about helping people in all aspects of SaaS solutions, online delivery business, digital marketing and other related topics that make tomorrow’s world better. I am fond of writing useful and informative content that helps brands to grow business.
