Why You Should Start Your Business With MVP?

These days customers are extremely picky. Once your solution is installed and launched for the first time — it has only a minute or two to capture the user’s attention. Customers are looking for robust solutions that are marked by clarity and simplicity. Therefore today’s market sets new requirements that companies would like to meet. MVP has become the next best solution for many. Businesses today including startups and well-established enterprises have a chance to withstand the strong competition.

Ever wondered what does Dropbox, Uber and Airbnb have in common? Easy — At one point in their existence they’ve each been associated with the term ‘MVP’.

Now Let’s Dive Into What Is MVP?

Whilst any sports fan in the world will associate the term MVP with the ‘Most Valuable Player’, we see this a little differently — our version of MVP refers to the ‘Minimum Viable Product’.

An MVP is the absolute bare-bones version of your app, built with the single purpose of testing your assumptions and validating your idea

A Minimum Viable Product is “a version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.”

According to me, I feel it is a concept that encourages brands to provide JUST ENOUGH features to fulfill the needs of the customers, then learn and develop the product according to customers feedback.

The MVP Mindset

Developing an MVP is an excellent way to create an initial customer database and get feedback from them. This results in clearer definitions of the value you can provide to your potential customers.

It is easier to test and adjust a project for a target audience when it is not packed with various features. MVP lets you test a “bare” project and then gradually add new useful features.

Customers may not want your product at all, hence the logical approach is to build just enough to validate your idea.

Is It Cost Effective?

Developing a full featured app is a long-term costly task and depending on various apps complexity, it can take years just to build one. An MVP is way cheaper in terms of generating profit which can later be invested in further development.

Some of the biggest companies began their journeys by launching an MVP which was gradually refined and improved upon through real-world feedback. This approach kept them financially healthy and allowed them to grow into the juggernauts that they are today. Lets take a look below-

How did Dropbox implement the concept?

Dropbox, the well-known provider of services like file hosting, cloud storage, file synchronization, etc., founded in 2007, utilized MVP. The famous cloud-storage solution didn’t even release a physical product as their MVP.

Drew Houston, the CEO and founder of Dropbox, created a simple video that demonstrated how file synchronization worked.

Once this video was released, their beta sign-up list blew up — they went from 5,000 to 75,000 overnight. Drew got the information he needed.

The best part? That until this time there was no product whatsoever.

Simply put, the “user experience” that Houston was demonstrating didn’t exist at that time at all. It is one of the brightest MVPs ever launched till date.

How Uber used MVP?

The world-famous ride sharing app was once unrecognizable from what we use today. Back in 2010, Uber’s beta version (then referred to as ‘UberCab’) started as a simplified mobile interface only used by the founders and their friends. To gain access you had to email one of the founders. The MVP they created allowed people to text their address to the service and in turn, Ubercab would find the nearest driver and send the driver to the address provided.

By initially focusing on a smaller market, the founders were able to gather feedback and improve on the MVP, eventually building the ride-hailing app with more advanced features like live tracking, fare splitting, and ride estimates. Fast forward today and Uber is valued at an estimated $68 billion and are active in 77 countries and counting.

Ever Wondered How Airbnb Identified Its User Problems with MVP?

Today, travelers seeking cheaper accommodation worldwide have a one stop solution- Airbnb. But it hasn’t been the same app that you see today since the very beginning. The core problem was identified when the founders realized that hotels in San Francisco had been overbooked during the Industrial Design Society of America Conference in 2007.

The founders set up mattresses in their living rooms and created a hacked together website to advertise their house available for the weekend. They got a whopping three paying guests to their house.

This is far cry away from what Airbnb looks like today.

Their approach has been to focus on reinforcing the core experience following constant user feedback rather than adding unnecessary features and steering away from the core problem. Airbnb is now worth $30 Billion and is used in more than 200 countries around the world.

Key Takeaways-

Today there are several startups that have gotten successful with having the right MVP.

Launching an MVP isn’t an excuse for crappy user experiences — you still have to get it right. Building a testable product with highly limited resources takes an incredible amount of creativity and strategy. After all, your early adopters will “judge” you based on that first user experience.

Main thing to keep in mind is to put least effort into your product idea — but, to the point where it’s satisfying enough for the first users.

If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late- Reid Hoffman, Founder of LinkedIn

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

See you next week :)