What is a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)?

When first developing a product, it can take a lot of time, effort, research, testing, and funding before a product is finalized and ready for the market. After such a large investment, the last thing you want is to discover that consumers don’t want to buy your product or have found major flaws. To avoid finding yourself in this situation, we recommend developing a minimum viable product (MVP) — a basic model of your product that will attract early-adopter customers and give you the opportunity to finesse the final version based on their feedback.

Why is a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) so important?

MVPs were introduced by Eric Ries as part of his Lean Startup Methodology — a process that builds businesses and products based on consumer needs rather than developing a product and then hoping it sells.

Having an MVP allows you to learn the maximum amount of information about your customers by using minimum resources and effort, and observing how they respond to the earliest version of your product.

Collecting valuable data about your customers and their feedback gives you the opportunity to make adjustments before launching your final version, eliminating the risk of pouring thousands of hours and dollars into a product that is not desired by consumers.

What are the key characteristics of a Minimum Viable Product?

1. Fast and Cheap

If your MVP takes two years to create and piles of cash to produce, it is not an MVP. 

2. Enough features to attract early customers

Your MVP only needs basic features, but at the same time, it needs to have enough features to attract early adopters.

3. The positives of releasing the MVP outweigh the negatives

Releasing an MVP means leads to first customer impressions and it also gives your competitors the chance to see what you’ve developed. The benefits you gain from your MVP such as retrieving valuable customer feedback should outweigh any risks.

4. Your method for submitting customer feedback must be easy and work 

The primary purpose of a minimum viable product is to know what customers think about it. You need to create a convenient and easy way for people to send in feedback.

An example is a software company offering a free upgrade of their next released software version to all customers in exchange for submitting their thoughts about your MVP.

To learn when it is good to release an MVP, and the next steps you can take after developing one, read our full blog!

About the Innovation Cluster

The Innovation Cluster is a not-for-profit organization that drives innovative, determined entrepreneurs in the formation and growth of their technology-based companies. Supporting four key sectors, agtech, digital, healthcare, and with a strong focus on cleantech, the Innovation Cluster’s dynamic programming and mentoring ensures startups find their best path to market.

Core Funding is provided by The City of Peterborough, Trent University, Fleming College, Peterborough Region Angel Network, The City of Kawartha Lakes, OMAFRA, Feddev Ontario, Ontario Trillium Foundation, and Peterborough Utilities Group. Visit www.innovationcluster.ca