You’ve got a great idea for a new business. So what comes next? How do you turn that idea into a reality? Building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is the best way to get started. But it can be tough to know where to start. That’s where this blog post comes in. We’ll walk you through everything you need to know to create your Minimum Viable Product (MVP), from coming up with an idea to launching your product. Let’s get started.

Product Value Proposition

At the core of any Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is a strong value proposition. If you can’t articulate what your product does, why someone should buy it or use it, and how it will make their life better in some way, all you have is an idea. 

And ideas are a dime a dozen. Before you get started building anything, do some homework and make sure you’re creating something that has the potential to generate value for your target audience. The proposition should be the core of your product.

A strong value proposition also means you should have a good understanding of what products or services already exist to solve the problem you’re trying to address. Sometimes it makes sense to create a better version of an existing product, especially if you can do it faster and cheaper than anyone else. But it would be best if you were sure there’s a market for your product before you invest too much time and energy into it.

Also, a strong value proposition doesn’t have to be revolutionary. It can simply be an improvement or addition to something that already exists. The key is to find a problem that enough people are experiencing and solve it in a better way than anyone else. Once you have a good understanding of your target market and what they want, you can start focusing on creating value for them.

What are Your Assumptions for Minimum Viable Product

Before you start building anything, write down a list of what you assume about your Minimum Viable Product (MVP). These assumptions will help you determine the specific features and functionality you need to develop. For example, you may think that you need to build a website or mobile app or that you need to create a complex product with a lot of features. 

Your assumptions will also help you determine the scope of your Minimum Viable Product. If you’re building a SaaS product, for example, you might assume you need to develop all the features of your product to generate value for your users. But if you’re building a product for a specific niche market, you may only need to build a few key features. 

The key is to be realistic about what you can accomplish in the available time frame. Don’t try to build the world’s first self-driving car as your Minimum Viable Product (MVP). You’ll only end up frustrated and disappointed. As you make the assumptions for your Minimum Viable Product, remember that you can always change them later if necessary.

Creating the Most Essential and Fancy Lists

Now that you know what you’re working with, it’s time to start building your Minimum Viable Product (MVP). But before you do, you need to create two lists: the essential features and the fanciest features. The essential features are the bare minimum you need to build to generate value for your customers. 

These are the features that solve the problem you’re trying to fix. Your listed assumptions will help you determine what belongs on this list. The fanciest features are those extra bells and whistles and oh-so-cool capabilities people expect to see in a product, like personalization and automation. These aren’t necessary for your Viable Product, but they’re nice to have. Remember to create a roadmap for your Viable Product. 

This will help you keep track of which features go in the essential and fanciest lists, and it will also help you stay on track as you build your product. A roadmap will also help you prioritize the features that need to be developed for your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to solve the problem you’re trying to address.

Involving Product Experts Early

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you have friends or colleagues in your network who are experienced with building products, reach out to them and get their input on what belongs on your most essential list (and what doesn’t). You’ll save yourself time and effort while increasing the quality of your Viable Product. Experts know what’s possible with today’s technology and what you can be successful with. 

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Remember, building the perfect product before it’s released is a huge mistake many entrepreneurs make. They want their product to look pretty and function ideally when they launch, so they end up spending months or even years building a product that nobody wants. 

It would be best to remember that a Viable Product is not a finished product. Today's most successful products started as a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and evolved into something more significant over time. Before you start wasting your energy—and money—building features no one will use, make sure you have a solid plan for how you’re going to market your product. 

The best way to determine if people will use your product is to get it in their hands as soon as possible. Start collecting feedback and iterating on your product while you build new features. This way, you can ensure that the features you’re adding are valuable to your customers.

Your Product MVP with CTO

The CTO will be your technical expert. They can help you decide what’s possible with your time and budget while giving you the best advice on how to get it done right. For example, suppose you need an app developed but don’t have the necessary coding skills yourself. In that case, a CTO will work directly with an app development company to make sure the app is built according to your specifications. 

The CTO will also be responsible for making sure your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is scalable. This means that as you start to acquire more customers and your product takes off, the CTO will make sure your infrastructure can handle the added load. They’ll help you add more servers or databases to your current infrastructure or even upgrade your architecture altogether.

Your Product MVP With Software Development Company

Now that you have your Minimum Viable Product (MVP), it’s time to find a software development company to help you build it. If you don’t have the necessary coding skills yourself, this is the best option. 

A software development company will take your specifications and turn them into a working product. However, not all software development companies are created equal. You need to find one who has experience in building Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and understands your specific needs. 

When looking for a lean software development company, please pay attention to how they describe their process. Ideally, you want one that represents an iterative process with constant refinement and improvement based on user feedback. You also want a transparent company about the process, so you always know what to expect next. 

Good custom software development companies will have cost-effective solutions for Minimum Viable Product (MVP) design. They’ll be able to make the best use of your budget by understanding how much your Viable Product will cost and what is possible with that amount of money.

Launching Your Product MVP

Launching your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is only the first step in a long journey. It’s important to remember that your Viable Product is a work in progress, and it will continue to evolve. As you get feedback from your customers, you’ll make changes and additions to your Viable Product. As you launch, make sure you have a process to collect this feedback. Depending on your target audience, there are different ways to do this. 

If you’re targeting new users, you’ll need to incorporate an email marketing strategy into your product launch plan that gradually introduces them to the types of products they might be interested in. If your target audience is more experienced, they’ll probably be able to let you know if your product is missing something. Make sure to build alerts into your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that notify you of any bugs or potential problems. 

Once you’ve launched your Viable Product, monitor how your customers use it and what problems they encounter. Use this information to decide what needs to be changed or added in future iterations of your Viable Product. The last thing you want to do is stagnate. Keep improving your product and make sure it’s always meeting your customers' needs. 

It may take some time for the market to catch on, but your Viable Product will transform into a fully-featured product once it does. With the proper process, you can make it happen. Kapsys is a leading software development company focusing on Minimum Viable Product (MVP) design and software design. Since we started operating remotely in 2016, we’ve completed various projects for clients all over the world. We have the experience and skills necessary to take your product from MVP to market-ready.