Common misconceptions regarding MVP’s

To get a better understanding of MVP’s we first need to get a better understanding of Agile, Lean, and Lean Startup.

Agile is a method for project development that prioritizes high-value functions in the IT industry then tests are conducted with actual users throughout, by such means, it becomes easier to identify and correct issues early on. The first pioneers of this methodology were the world-renowned automobile manufacturers “Toyota” under the supervision of W. Edwards Demming, Lean being one of the majorly used manufacturing methodologies that aim to minimize waste. 

The lean movement is taking over and many startups are using lean methodologies to create successful startups. It has helped startups to achieve success by reducing waste and dealing with things that matter for his or her customers by consistently incorporating feedback and learning about them.

Lean Startup is a combination of the Agile and Lean methodology. In Agile the product is tested against users on the flip side it’s tested against the market in Lean Startup. By using Agile we can develop a product that will work definitely and to avoid creating a product that people don’t need we imply Lean startup methodology.

Although the concept was conceived by Frank Robinson, MVP became more conventional after Eric Ries described it in his book The Lean Startup “The Lean Startup provides a scientific approach to making and managing startups and obtain the specified product to customers' hands faster.” the foremost focus of an MVP is to make an actual product for the customer then supported by the user data and user feedback collected over time keep improving on it.

Now that we have a better understanding of the MVP process let’s start clearing the air about the myths and misconceptions.

MVP is about having as many features as you can afford.

The MVP concept relies on the needed functionality, so one needs to figure out which features are real must-haves from potential users. User feedback is key as it will help in cutting down the wastage of time and money being spent in the early development stages of your MVP, which could be later on used to improve the product from time to time.

At the MVP stage, the design is not important.

We need to put sufficient effort and time into the design stage to create an app that looks appealing as it presents the core functionality of your product. Even though the ideology that if it serves a purpose it will be used even with a crappy interface is true to a certain extent but improving on the design while keeping the user data, statistics, and feedback in mind will help your MVP skyrocket its potential.

Hiring in-house developers are the only way to build an MVP. 

No, it isn’t! MVP owners can benefit a lot from outsourcing as it helps in cutting down major costs incurred at such an early stage and it also helps the owner in cutting all the stress of managing a team and getting their ideas implemented with less hassle and pushed to market first rather than hiring in-house developers.

Tiksom is SPECIALISED IN MVP DEVELOPMENT FOR STARTUPS. We have a team of experts in MVP development and know exactly the process to follow to save time & cost for Startups and their scale-up program.

MVP always needs to be a technical solution.

This statement cannot be as far away from the truth as imaginable as an MVP can be a prototype or a demo representing the core idea. The Perfect MVP is whatever helps you in validating your concept/idea.

Failure of an MVP means the death of a startup.

You’ve already validated the idea, you’ve gained some user feedback, go change the product based on what real users told you or try a different direction. There’s always something that you can achieve with your product idea. You just need to focus on the data and keep trying new approaches.

Once it’s running it is a final product

Digital products as you should have understood by now are not a one-and-done deal. No matter how much care you have put in and the amount of experience you might have, there will always be some issue/bug or feature you might have missed or gotten wrong in your first attempt.

You will keep getting constant feedback on your MVP, which means you’ll need to go back to the drawing board to improve the product. If you think your first try will be perfect and won’t need any changes, you are in for a big surprise. Much like a hotel, digital products require ongoing improvements and maintenance. So albeit your MVP is enjoyed by your users, you'll eventually get to “repair the appliances” and “add a guest bedroom” to still grow with their expectations and ensure they keep coming back.

An idea isn’t enough to prove the Business

For an investor to get funding. MVPs are a great way to convince the investors as they can show specific statistics and user feedback to prove that their idea has potential and with the right amount of funding it can be evolved into an enterprise-level product.

The last, and doubtless the most important misconception is that you simply can build MVP for as long as you would like. You cannot spend precious time to no use because it matters. Because people won’t be waiting for you to come. So, you need to get into the market and validate all assumptions as fast as possible as there will always be someone working on a related product or idea, and in the tech business first to market helps in growing your userbase a lot.

Conclusion

So to conclude there are no perfect MVPs as there are no perfect products (not at the moment) but every beta version of a product leads us one step closer to that utopian version of it. Instead of considering the MVP because of the end goal, we'd like to embrace it as a tool to find out and build better. Once these fundamentals are in situ, sales and profits will follow automatically.

If you've got a product idea and need to check it within the real market before developing the merchandise at full scale, a minimum viable product is your ally. It helps you prioritize what's required, determine what your target users are literally trying to find and if it’s well worth the effort in terms of your time and finances. MVP development helps solve actual problems faced by users and more importantly collects valuable insights on its way.

A few success stories of MVP’s are:

1. Amazon. (Had its humble beginnings as an online bookstore)
2. Dropbox. (From a demo video explaining the benefits of storing data in one place to becoming one of the leaders in cloud storage solutions.)
3. Facebook. (From being a social media website built in order to connect Harvard students with one another to having over 2 billion monthly active users.

A few success stories of Tiksom in MVP's:

• Zilker - An IoT system for Irrigation
• EasyMove - Logistics System
• Crema - An Ecommerce Platform (Spotify for Coffee Lovers)
• TaxTaker - Save BIG with R&D Tax Credits
• BranchBob - The e-commerce platform for building online stores