MVP development for startups – how to do it and why

If you are a startup founder and you haven’t considered MVP development yet, you are missing out on huge potential.

MVP development offers a unique and profitable opportunity for tech startups. It can help you get your feet off the ground for the first time, without wasting all of your effort and money in the meantime.

Working with and launching a minimum viable product can prevent you from losing your startup idea altogether. As we will talk about later on in this blog, many startups go under within their first year. Due to financial concerns, market overcrowding, and so on. MVP development is a very valuable tool to have in your toolbelt as you approach your market debut as a startup. It can be the thing that stops you from sinking.

As such, we wanted to write more about such a key opportunity for startups.

In this blog, we are going to tell you about MVP development and MVP development services in more detail. We will talk you through what an MVP is, how to develop one, and why you should do so.

Let’s begin with a definition.

What is MVP development?

First things first – What is an MVP?

An MVP is a “minimum viable product”. A fully functional product with a minimal set of features and capabilities that is rolled out in order to gain user feedback with the aim of future improvement and growth. An MVP is the earliest version of something that intends to become a more finalised product later down the line.

The reason that minimum viable products are used is to help get a project started in the real world so that something bigger and better can eventually grow from them. It is a way of hitting the ground running to guarantee more success at a later stage.

An MVP can take the form of an entire website or app, or simply one component or feature of a website or app. Depending on the goal of the project. They are used by businesses big and small in order to gain early entry to a market and enable early testing.

For startups, using a minimum viable product can be extremely valuable for the company. Even more so than for an established company.

Let’s talk about why in more detail.

Why is MVP development for startups so important?

Let’s be honest about the statistics for a second. Many startups fail. About 20% of all startups fail within the first year, with a higher likelihood of failure each further year of business.

Why?

Quite simply, it is a tough market out there. There is lots of competition and the market is very dense for most sectors and interests. Whatever you are trying to do, there is typically already someone out there doing it first.

This is certainly the case for tech startups. Startups for mobile apps, websites, software, and web development have a tough time due to the saturation of the market and the high levels of competitors.

Such a problem can turn into a very costly situation when the startup founder or founders spends a long time perfecting their final product or service before they launch it. Spending a lot of time without making a profit is also a factor for startup ideas failing and the people behind them returning to their normal job.

This is where MVP development for startups comes in.

The benefits of MVP development

MVP development helps a company launch a product or service far more quickly than they would if they waited to perfect their final product. This product can be sent out to a target audience, used by early adopters, and then valuable feedback can be received on the back of this progress.

Why is this so good for startups? Let’s make a list of the benefits.

MVP development can help startups…

Build a customer base and establish a target market
Engage in relevant and recent market research
Gather customer feedback and data
Gain knowledge of the process of launching a product, reviewing and updating it
Test particular features and components
Gain technical insight
Start to build profit while continuing product development

Long story short – MVP development has a tremendous lot to offer startup companies. It is a great opportunity to build long-lasting success with minimal risk and minimal effort. You can build a very solid foundation as a domino effect from that very first minimum viable product.

What makes a successful MVP?

It isn’t enough to simply build and launch a minimum viable product. You will need to build and launch a successful MVP.

But what is a successful MVP?

First of all, it is more about the process and the outcomes than it is the particular product. MVP development services help you to gain insight into your target audience, learn more about your craft, and fine-tune the kind of product you want to have out in the market. It is less about building one final product that makes lots of money. Instead, it is about a system of growth and validated learning that aids you and your business for a long time.

If it makes lots of money, that’s great too.

But not the main point.

MVP development is all about the journey. Here are steps you should include within that journey to reach the maximum amount of success with your MVP.

Be clear with your marketing strategy: Before you begin to design and build a minimum viable product, you need to do solid market research and come up with a robust marketing strategy. If there is no market demand for your product, or you don’t meet that demand, then you will suffer in terms of finding early adopters to use your MVP in the first place. Once you know who your potential customers are and why you need to get to work on building a customer-centric product and marketing it really well.

Be careful with your budget: A big reason that startup MVP development goes sideways is that the lean startup development team run out of money. Many startups run out of money very early in the product development process and the product never launches. This then feels like a great disappointment and failure to the team. In your minimum viable product development, you need to carefully watch your budget from the beginning. Software development isn’t cheap, so budget carefully and focus on getting a basic version with solid core features out into the market.

Focus on value proposition and solution-orientated development: Whether you are thinking of your final product or your earliest version of an MVP, the focus needs to be on creating value and solutions for your target market. If your MVP app, website, server, or whatever it is, doesn’t serve a tangible purpose for potential clients, then it will never be successful. Customer development should be at the forefront of your mind while you work on your project.

Immediately start gathering feedback and analysing data on user flow, user satisfaction and the retail market: Once your MVP launches, that isn’t the end of your development process. In fact, a lot of your real work begins once the product is live and has active users. As we have discussed, gathering feedback and insight is one of the main goals of MVP development. It has long-lasting potential for your startup and its success. The more you know, the more you can perfect your craft going forward.

Manage your MVP development right and the potential for success is tenfold.

So, how can you get started?

How can I get involved with MVP development for my startup?

One of the best ways to ensure success as a startup company is to engage with an MVP development company. Having an expert team of software developers handle your MVP development process can be a golden ticket to early-stage success as a startup.

At 6B Digital, we have a team of MVP development experts ready to help you with your business model, goals, hopes, and dreams.

We can build products to unlock long-lasting positive change and MVP product development is just one of the ways in which our team can do so. Our MVP development services can help you finally launch the product you want to and so allow you to reap all the benefits and potential associated with that journey.

If you want to get started on your road to success, check out what we can do.

Get in touch with 6B for a chat. Your startup success starts right here.