In the fast-paced world of startups, time is everything! Business owners are actively seeking ways to introduce their innovative ideas in a way that minimises the time-to-market for them. One of the most effective approaches for achieving this is by building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) using custom software development. MVP software development has become an integral part of the agile methodology that is based on iterative development, thus improving the product at every step. It lets startups test their ideas, gather valuable feedback, and carry out iterative development based on user responses. Tetra Technology provides groundbreaking custom software development services. Book an appointment with us today to discuss your MVP idea and establish a foothold in the industry now!
What is an MVP?
Before diving into the details of a roadmap to building an MVP, it's important to understand what exactly it is and why it holds such significance for startups. To be precise, an MVP is the most elementary version of a product that mainly includes the basic features required to solve a particular problem for its target audience. This approach cuts down the initial costs involved in the software development process and allows room for gathering feedback from real users. It is different from prototype development as the latter provides the design and UI elements only whereas MVP is a fully functional and marketable version of a product.
How Does Building an MVP Help?
The main objective of an MVP is to validate the startup's assumptions and hypotheses with real users and real data. An MVP helps you with the following:
Reduce risks of over-investment by improving the product based on user-feedback
Identify the pain points of target audience before investing more resources (time, features, cost, etc.)
Understand if there’s demand for the product you’re building – whether the people will pay for it
Launching the product in the market as quickly as possible
Attract potential investors by sharing the glimpse of your idea by marketing the most vital features
In this blog, we'll discuss the roadmap for building an MVP using custom software development and how it can help startups get a competitive edge over others.
The Roadmap
Define Value Preposition and Target Audience
As a first step, define the value preposition of your product – identify and document the problem you will be solving and who will be the target audience. Focus on identifying the core features that will help you resolve a specific user problem. It is critical here that the entire team is aligned on the goal as well as features of the MVP.
Conduct Market Research
Once you have defined the goal of the MVP, conduct thorough market research to validate your concepts, understand market needs, and determine user behaviors and trends. This gives you a clear picture of the market’s landscape, helping you make data-driven decisions during development.
Identify the Feature Set
Once you have built a sound understanding of the product’s goal as well as the people using it, it’s time to define a feature set for your MVP. Note that it is important to avoid any complex features at this stage that will increase the developmental costs. You can also make use of the MoSCoW approach to identify the Must Have, Should Have, Could Have, and Will not Have. Defining features will also keep you from scope-creep, ensuring an on-track delivery of the release and an end-product that delivers value.
Choose the Right Development Approach
While low code platforms or off-the-shelf solutions can be very easy to use, it is preferred to go with custom software development approach when building an MVP. This is because it allows you to develop tailor made solutions that meet your business needs, cutting down on unnecessary costs, integration, and maintenance related dependencies. The team at Tetra Technology has a hands-on experience on a breadth of tools and embraces software development best practices that ensure the success of your MVP in no time! Explore details here now!
Build and Iterate
MVP lets you start small and scale faster! This is because when an MVP is released, you can collect real data based on real-world users – what went well, which features need improvement or deprecation, what parts of the technology doesn’t resonate with your business needs financially or technically, etc. For the defined feature set, build user stories and start developing the product. Release often and iterate based on user feedback.
Test and Validate
Once the MVP is out in the market for early birds, it is essential to test whether the product's objectives are met or not. Leverage data analysis tools to analyse user behaviors and embrace user feedback so that you can improve your product. Tetra technology also provides data analysis services that will help you ace your business by taking data-driven decisions. Another way is to conduct user surveys and interviews to monitor key metrics closely. This helps you understand what needs to be improved for your audience.
Improve and Scale
Once the product is up and running, it’s time to improve the existing version in an iterative fashion. This will also lay a stronger foundation for a scalable version of the product. Continue to gather feedback from users, focus on feature enhancements that align with the market demands, and expand your product offerings to meet the ever-growing needs of your audience. With each iteration, strive to deliver greater value to your customers and set a foothold in the market.
Conclusion
Entrepreneurs these days prefer adopting the proven approach of building MVPs instead of full-fledge mature products, as the former help them introduce their product to the market faster and more efficiently. By following the roadmap as above, the startups can validate their assumptions, collect valuable feedback from early adopters, and leverage iteration-based development to enhance the product for the target audience.
If you’re looking to hire skilled developers to build your MVP, you can get in touch with our team at Tetra Technology. Our pool of professionals will address your project requirements, figure out the right tech stack, and help you pave your way into the market faster than your competitors!
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