Startup MVP Development in 2023: Why and How to Develop a Startup MVP
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Mature and successful apps like Instagram, Uber, and Airbnb for sure have one thing in common - they all used MVP to test functionality, build a loyal audience, and collect real user feedback for opening a room for further improvements.
Even if you do not intend to create the next Insta, the development of a startup MVP for your future project is essential. We are not going to beat around the bush. Let’s talk about what MVP is, why your startup needs one, how much the development cost and suggest the best guidelines to follow in startup Mvp creation.
Startup Mvp Development Definition
MVP is an abbreviation for a minimum viable product. This is a concept of developing a product with minimum but sufficient features to attract early-adopted customers and validate product ideas at the early development stages. The idea of the minimum viable product was introduced by Eric Ries.
Why MVP is Important for a Startuper
The necessity of startup MVP development is best described in its goal to test the product's ability to solve a user problem. Minimum viable product provides maximum benefit with minimum costs and provides sufficient data to use and add user value over time. However, apart from verifying the concept, startup MVP development is associated with other benefits. Let’s overview them in a detailed fashion.
Winning Investor Buy-in
MVP startup development will allow startupers to present their product to potential investors and validate the product’s ability to achieve the desired outcome. In addition, startup MVP is a must-be to receive a green light from investors as it not only demonstrates the merits of a project but showcases that it's almost ready to launch. Thus, investors will be able to see the return on investment very soon.
Cost - efficacy
The development of a mature heavy-featured product is a matter of years and a sufficient price tag. MVP prevents ambitious startupers from creating a sophisticated overly complicated product by allowing them to see what features are necessary for a successful start. Thus, this is how they can save a decent sum for further intelligent investment.
Testing UX
A successful project is more than thousands or millions of downloads, it’s about keeping users engaged and providing continued value which is actually the goal of UX. Startup MVP will test a product's ability to deliver a high-quality user experience, its potential for longevity and long-term value. With a minimum viable product, businesses will be able to track how users interact with the app and based on this data find new ways to enrich the product with new features and enhance user experience.
Developing Monetization Strategy
When it comes to the profitability of a product, a large role is attributed to the right monetization strategy. Startup MVP will allow testing the assumptions about what is the most sustainable stream of income for a product. Is it in-app purchase, paid subscriptions or text ads? Focusing your startup MVP on one of these and comparing the results to your expectations will give you a clear insight into whether you made the right bet.
Startup MVP Development Process
Conduct a Market Research
According to the CB’s insight research, around 35% of startups fail because of an insufficient market need. Thus, before proceeding to startup MVP development, make sure you are aware of your TA needs and know what solutions your competitors already offer.
Define the Clear Value Proposition
A value proposition is a promise that a company commits to deliver to the audience with its product or service. It is a part of a company’s marketing strategy intended to give customers a clear understanding of what problem a product solves and why they should choose it over dozens of similar. How to come up with a value proposition? Reply to these questions:
- What problem can my software solve?
- How can it be useful to my target audience?
- Why should they choose my offer over competitors’?
Now when the replies are found, you may have an idea of the principal functionality of an MVP to develop. Keeping in mind the needs and pain points of a customer, it’s time to proceed to the next stage.
Map out User Journey
Look at your app from the users’ perspective. As a customer, what do you need for a smooth experience? Is the process of browsing an app intuitive enough to help you complete basic steps? What steps would you make to reach the final goal?
Focus on basic points such as finding a product and checkout rather than on functionality.
Go on with Funcionality
So, when the customer journey is laid out, it’s time to think of essential features to accompany them. Write down all the functionality that you want to enrich your software with and then categorize them based on priority: high, low, and medium.
It’s a no-brainer, that only high priority features should be embedded into a startup MVP. Take one step at a time. A minimum viable product does not need all the complicated framework.
Build and Launch
As you arranged all the criteria, it’s time to proceed to development. Remember, it should be qualitative, engaging, easy, and suitable for users. Do not forget to test and fix the bugs before launch to avoid failure at the very start.
Analyze, and Learn
Referring to what was said at the beginning, startup MVP development is valuable as it helps to collect user feedback and validate market ideas at the lowest possible costs. Analyze the reviews that come from users, seek ways to correct bugs and enhance what already performed well.
Startup MVP Development Example & Cost
A successful example of a startup MVP development is WECARE4® – a comprehensive web application for caregivers developed by Rexsoft programmers. The startup helps elderly people and their relatives find a caregiver as well as get and share relevant information about the best practices in caregiving, related products and job opportunities. Development of the startup MVP version of WECARE4® included the following stages:
- development of a prototype and design – 124 hrs;
- development of a home page, about us page, contact us page, login and account pages – 182 hrs;
- development of a MARKETPLACE (a page with ads for caregivers) – 143 hrs and CAREER CENTER (page with vacancies and requests for care services) – 176 hrs;
- Registration and authorization page through which caregivers and people looking for a caregiver can create and view their own ads – 62 hrs;
The development of WECARE4® startup MVP took 687 hrs in total.
Following the example of WECARE4®, the approximate cost of startup MVP development is $24000. The calculation is made based on the rates of Ukrainian developers by Rexsoft. However, the overall cost can skyrocket up to 2 times if you decide to hire developers from the United States or Western Europe.
Startup Mvp Development Best Practices
Even though MVP implies the development of a product with basic functionality, building it is not easy. Thus, we suggest 4 best practices to help you build a better startup MVP by following an efficient developers path.
Identify Your End Users
Keep in mind your target audience throughout the entire development process. Create your buyer (user) personas - a few fictional representatives of your typical customers and what steps they need to take to reach their goal. It will make it easier for you to tailor product development to meet the specific needs of your potential users.
Create a Minimum Viable Plan
This will address the problem of revenue generation from the very beginning. To build long-term relatioships with customers, let them know that they will have to pay when a full set of services is released in your product.
Don’t Compromise Cost Over Quality
One of the smartest steps to take toward a smooth-functioning startup MVP is to choose the right development team. Adopt a practice of cooperation with Eastern European developers to receive a high-quality product at a lower cost.
Test, Test, and Test
User acceptance testing is a must since a final product should present a value proposition to its audience. Expose your startup MVP to the real world (beta testing). Listen to the audience’s feedback but remember that only crucial fixes should be made at this stage.
FAQ
What is Startup MVP in Software Development?
Startup Mvp in software development is a limited version of a digital product enriched with all essential functions to provide a valuable solution to a target audience.
How Long Would it Take to Build a Startup MVP?
It depends on the complexity of a project. You can rely on the development length of WECARE4® which took us around a month to develop.
What Technologies Do You Use to Build Startup MVP?
Again, it depends on the type of project to develop. To create WECARE4®, Rexsoft programmers used Node js and React.
Bogdan Misiurenko
Business Development ManagerSkilled, experienced specialists from RexSoft are ready to answer any questions regarding the design and development of IT products.
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