This is how to build a Minimum Viable Product (MVP): Step by step

If you’re thinking of starting your own business, launching a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) might be the right way to go. This strategy is especially popular among entrepreneurs as it allows them to test their ideas while also keeping a budget.

While reaching out to a MVP product development consultant might be the easiest way to go about it, there are a few tips and tricks you can apply to start building a Minimum Viable Product from scratch.

Keep reading as we’ll go through the basics of the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) might help entrepreneurs test their idea while also keeping a budget. But, what exactly is MVP?

What is a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Essentially, a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is the simplest version of a product. The MVP has the bare minimum of features required to satisfy the needs of your targeted users. The idea here is to develop a streamlined version of the product that not only has all the essential features but also addresses the issue you’re aiming to solve with the product.

Launching an MVP basically allows the entrepreneur to test the idea in the market, validate it, and get feedback straight from the customers. All while keeping the financial risks low, as the investment is small.

With the received feedback, entrepreneurs can start making big decisions: additional development, enhancements, and iterations to the product.

The truth is launching a Minimum Viable Product before severely investing in full-scale production, is a smart choice. MVPs essentially enable firms to swiftly learn from their mistakes and improve their products as per the clients’ needs.

Long story short, an MVP is a crucial tactic for startups and companies trying to launch new products. It enables them to put their ideas to the test, validate their concepts, and improve their products after getting actual customer feedback.

Now, if you’re looking to create a Minimum Viable Product yourself, this is how you can do it.

Creating a Minimum Viable Product: Step-by-step

1. Describe the issue and your target customer

First things first, before getting started, it’s key to define what’s the problem your product is aiming to solve and who would be your ideal customer. One way to truly discover what are the needs and preferences of your target is running surveys, interviews, or even organizing focus groups to facilitate your research.

By understanding your target’s needs, you’ll be able to tailor your idea so that it becomes appealing to your potential customers, so don’t miss this step.

2. Come up with a fix

Now that you have figured out both your audience and your target’s needs, it’s time to develop a solution that makes everything easier for your potential customers.

To succeed in this stage you can try doing brainstorming sessions and even running some prototypes. At this point, the best thing to do is keep it simple. Since you have already identified an issue, you may now think solely on how to solve it. Try to focus on how your product is fixing the issue and avoid adding useless features.

3. Create a simple prototype

Now, it’s time to actually create the MVP. Remember the Minimum Viable Product should be a condensed version of the product that only has the most basic functions needed to address the issue you’re aiming to target.

In this phase, you should come up with a basic prototype that enables your potential customers to interact with your vision. Keep in mind prototypes can be minimally functional versions of the product, interactive mock-ups, or wireframes.

4. Time for testing

Once your prototype is out and you have tested its functionality, it’s time for your potential customers to run a test themselves. This is a key phase as you will start seeing how the potential user interacts with the product. Feedback will start to make its own way straight to you!

Take this opportunity to assess what are your users’ preferences and explore paths that you may have ignored previous to this testing phase. Getting this extensive information will allow you to start thinking of your next moves: how to tailor your product to make it more appealing, what changes does the item need, what’s next?

5. Defining what’s to come

Creating the Minimum Viable Product is quite challenging, yet rewarding. Once the research is done, entrepreneurs are left with truly worthy information that can take their ideas to the next level.

There are many ways to go about it. You can use data analytics, interviews, surveys, and you can even run some testing yourself to gather as much feedback as possible so you can start crafting your product. Once the basics are covered, and you’ve managed to improve the basic features of your product, you may start thinking of added value.

Get creative and play around with your ideas to create an innovative product.