What is an MVP?

In this article, we’re going to learn about how and why it’s important to create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). The principle behind an MVP is to test and validate your idea before you make a significant investment in, or commitment to, developing it further.

The principle of an MVP

Whilst the term is often used in technology and app development, the principle of an MVP can really be applied to any business. It’s all about testing your idea and discovering what will realistically work (or not work) when you more formally take it to market.

Examples of MVPs

Here are some examples of MVPs:

• A healthy food product made in a home kitchen and sold at a local market.
• A fitness proposition is tested with groups of people in a park or at a rented venue.
• A tech platform for booking a beauty service that functions mostly manually to prove the concept.
• An innovative piece of fitness equipment made as an initial prototype using basic materials.
• A sports clothing line made locally in small batch quantities to test on different body shapes.

The idea is that you are able to build a version of your product or service, test it and measure its success or efficacy, learn from this process, and then iterate on the product or service repeatedly until it’s suitable.

During this process, you might test different assumptions, get feedback from focus groups, or come up with a completely new idea altogether.

The benefits of building an MVP

Other benefits of building an MVP first, include:

• Testing price points and quality levels.
• Testing different features like size, flavour, speed and time in order to prioritise.
• Cost savings, as money is not wasted on creating the wrong solution.
• Setting the stage for future ideas and developments.

Action and pain-points for your customers

It’s important to identify whether there is a need for your product, and with an MVP this becomes even easier. Next, you’ll want to gather a list of pain points and map out the potential actions you could take to address them, alongside the benefits or ‘gains’ for your customer.

Having this list will enable you to prioritise which features to build first. Often, you’ll have more ideas than resources so prioritising becomes key. You might want to think about these features in terms of which are most urgently required by your target audience and which will have the highest impact. You will want to prioritise where features perform highly in both areas.

If you’d like to learn more about launching and growing a business in wellness, check out the Welltodo online course, below.