STEP 13: Build Your MVP

Now that you've identified a need or a gap in the market, there's no better time than now to introduce your solution through a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

 

Here's why:

 

Consumer Agility: Modern consumers are more adaptable and open to trying out new products and services. They are constantly looking for solutions that can make their lives easier, more enjoyable, or more efficient.

 

Technological Tools: Never in history have entrepreneurs had so much access to tools and platforms to create, test, and market new ideas at minimal costs.

 

Rapid Feedback Loops: With the proliferation of social media and other online platforms, you can get instant feedback on your MVP. This enables swift iterations and improvements.

 

Flexibility of The Digital Economy: The digital world has allowed entrepreneurs to reach global markets, work with remote teams, and tap into diverse skills and resources effortlessly.

 

The First Steps to MVP Creation:

 

Identify Core Features: As tempting as it might be to incorporate numerous features, an MVP is all about simplicity. Identify the core functionalities that answer the primary problem you intend to solve. If your solution is a food or restaurant idea, pick the core dish that people need to taste that will give them just enough to want to try more. If your solution is a technology, think about the core functionalities people need to experience that make them want to learn more about your product. If your solution is a service, think of which service you can perform that will make customers want to hire you again for that service or ask which other services you offer. Don't try to offer everything up front.

 

Focus on One Target Audience: While your product might cater to various demographics, start with one. Understand their pain points and preferences intimately. Tailor your MVP to meet their specific needs.

 

User pain point examples:

A customer visits a restaurant expecting a relaxing and enjoyable dining experience. Instead, they wait an unusually long time to be seated, have their order taken, or receive their food. This could be due to understaffing, inefficient operations, or a busy night at the restaurant. Regardless of the reason, this extended wait time disrupts the customer's plans, causes frustration, and might make them reconsider returning to the restaurant in the future.

 

In this situation, the customer's pain point is the significant amount of time they have to wait, which diminishes their overall dining experience and could influence their perception of the restaurant's service quality.

 

A customer decides to try a new software solution offered by a technology startup, expecting it to streamline their work processes and increase efficiency. However, upon starting to use the product, they find the user interface to be confusing and not intuitive. The features are not clearly explained, the layout is cluttered, and the customer struggles to understand how to use the tool effectively. This results in wasted time trying to figure out how to navigate the software, leading to frustration and diminishing the value the customer was expecting to receive.

 

In this scenario, the customer's pain point is the complexity and unfriendliness of the software user interface, which hinders their ability to effectively and efficiently use the product to solve their initial problem or meet their needs.

 

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Build Quickly But Efficiently: Use tools like rapid prototyping to bring your MVP to life. Today's tech stack options—whether it's no-code platforms or frameworks like React or Flutter—allow for swift product development.

 

Launch and Gather Data: Put your MVP in the hands of real users. Use analytic tools to understand user behaviors, preferences, and areas of friction.

 

Iterate Based on Feedback: The primary purpose of an MVP is to learn. Once you gather feedback, be prepared to make changes. Flexibility is key.

 

Stay Connected with Your 'Why': Always remember the core problem you're aiming to solve. Ensure all iterations and features added also align with this central objective.

 

Remember, your MVP is the first step in a journey of discovery, learning, and growth. Don't wait for a "perfect" moment or a "finished" product. Dive in now, start learning, and let the journey refine and define your product. With passion, agility, and the right approach, the world can soon witness your vision come to life!

 

HELPFUL TOOLS TO COMPLETE STEP 13:

 

Here are two books with some of the most widely used methodologies to build an MVP. One can be found here, and the other is here

 

If you need videos to help guide your MVP-building process, two of the best can be found here 

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Getting an expert service to consult and hire a custom team to help build your MVP is highly recommended. It will save you time, money, headache and heartache by using a service like the one here

 

If you need a product manager to get all the right people and solutions together to build your product or help to deliver your service, and you don't mind researching each person for yourself, you can view a few options here

 

If you need A.I. or ML advice or specific models built for your startup, including decision systems, time series, prediction systems, recommendation systems, large language models, neural networks, and computer vision techniques, contact us here.