How can starting with an MVP save your business money? What’s the difference between an MVP and a full product development? Why do most startups prefer starting with a minimum viable product, and how much do they spend on developing one?
Anyone involved in startup funding will find these questions interesting. Read our guide to find answers to all these questions!

Definition: What is a Minimum Viable Product?

A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is a version of a product developed with a minimal feature set and just basic tools. MVPs are used to gather customer feedback and other key insights before investing more resources into developing a full-scale product. 

To help you better understand the MVP definition, let’s examine the main points that explain what the minimum viable product is and why it is important for Startups.

• MVP helps save costs and limits risk by testing market viability before investing in a full-scale product.
• MVP includes core features to deploy a working product, but no more.
• MVPs are typically launched to early adopters, who are more forgiving, likely to provide feedback, and able to understand a product’s vision from an early stage.
• The primary goal is to avoid developing unwanted products by gathering customer insights with minimal investment.
• MVP aligns with the Lean Startup methodology. This method emphasizes testing business hypotheses through validated learning.
• The MVP approach focuses on validating assumptions about the product with real customer feedback to reduce wasted effort.
• MVPs are crucial because the main reason startups fail is a lack of market need, and MVPs help identify whether a product can generate sufficient demand.

Why Should Startups Start from MVP?

According to recent statistics, companies that start with a minimum viable product are more likely to succeed.
Сost savings is one of the main reasons companies choose to start from MVP, but it is not the only reason startups should prioritize MVPs. Look how many other benefits MVP offers:

MVP = Cost Efficiency

When you develop an MVP, you focus only on basic features. The more features your product has, the more expensive the development will be. With MVP, you don’t need to invest in unwanted features.

MVP = Reducing the Risk of Your Product Idea

You reduce the risk of wasting resources with a minimum viable product MVP.
When you launch an MVP, you can test your product ideas without committing extensive resources.
Startups can test their business hypotheses with a basic minimal viable product. If the product idea doesn’t meet market needs, companies can pivot early without significant financial loss.

MVP = Real Users Feedback

Receive real feedback with minimum viable products!
One of the main benefits of MVP is the opportunity to gather feedback from early customers and see if it works as planned. In case something goes wrong, you can improve your product without wasting too many resources.

MVP = Fast Time-to-Market

MVP development is typically much faster than full-scale product development. Many companies start with an MVP, gather feedback, and continuously launch ongoing improvements.
It significantly saves money as you make ongoing improvements that are really needed by a real audience.

MVP = Determining Market Demand

With an MVP, it is much easier to determine whether there’s sufficient demand for your product. Once you confirm your product is in high demand, you can invest more in development and ongoing processes.

MVP = Interest from Investors

Twenty years ago, you could simply explain your idea to investors, but today, a concept alone is not enough. You must have an MVP that demonstrates proof of concept and indicates a strategic approach to development.

How Startups Can Save Money with MVP?

Cheaper Development Costs

MVP development significantly reduces costs because it focuses only on the must-have features needed to test your product.
You can start with a lean MVP version, demonstrate your product, and validate market demand, but don’t overspend costs on the full-scaled product.

No Overspend on Unnecessary Features

Did you know that each additional feature increases development costs and complexity? That’s why, in MVP development, you focus only on essential functionality to avoid overspending money at the beginning.
After you validate that features are necessary, you can add extra features later, but without additional risk.

Fewer Errors and Bugs

MVP development is simpler, as it has fewer elements that could go wrong. Fewer elements mean reducing the number of potential bugs and mistakes during development.

Lower Risk of Financial Loss

Launching an MVP allows companies to test business hypotheses and product idea early. If the product doesn’t meet market demand, customer expectations, etc., the company can make improvements that save money.

Efficient Use of Feedback

Another benefit of an MVP is that it enables startups to gather the product’s initial users’ feedback early. Feedback helps reduce costs, as it’s easier to make fixes in the early stages rather than reworking a fully developed product.

These are just a few cases that prove an MVP is a highly cost-efficient way for startups to build and launch their product while minimizing risk.

Key Features to Include in an Minimum Viable Product

The MVP should include the primary minimum feature set that solve the main problem your product is addressing. In the initial stages of business analysis, companies typically identify these core features that will define the main business value.

Depending on your product, the key features can vary. However, most products could consist of the following features:

User Registration

User registration and login (if needed) are basic authentication features that allow users to create and manage their accounts.

User-Friendly Interface

A good UX-adapted site means users can easily navigate and use the core features.
The user interface (UI) should be clean and easy to understand, as this will impact user experience and feedback.
Our team has many talented designers who know how great design should work.

User Feedback Tools

Any MVP must provide users with feedback on the product. Add simple tools such as surveys, forms, or built-in feedback options. Collecting feedback is essential in determining whether the MVP meets user needs and what can be improved.

Analytics and Tracking

Basic analytics tools are used to track user behavior, engagement, and usage of the core features. When your minimum viable procust includes analytics tools, you can gain insights into how users interact with your product and what should be improved.

Security Features

Security features are essential not just for an MVP, but for any full-scale product. For example, data encryption and user authentication are necessary to protect user information and comply with regulations.

Scalability Plan (Back-end Infrastructure)

The MVP should be built with a scalable architecture for future growth. Scalability plan ensures that the MVP can be expanded easily once the concept is validated and you’re ready to scale.

Specific Must-Have Features

The specific features you include will depend on the type of product you’re developing. For example:

• E-commerce MVP: Core features might include a product catalog, shopping cart, and checkout process.
• Social app MVP: Core features might include profile creation, posting, comments, etc.

In conclusion, the list of specific must-have features for your MVP can be determined based on your product’s unique needs. We can identify these features during a technical meeting with our development team to ensure your MVP addresses the core requirements of your project.

MVP vs Full Product Development

Cost & Timeline

• Minimum viable product development is more cost-effective, faster, and requires less effort than developing a full product from scratch. An MVP focuses only on core features, allowing you to launch with minimal resources and a much quicker development timeline.
• Full product development involves building out all must-have features. It takes significantly longer than an MVP and can take over a year. Due to the complexity and scale of the project, it also requires a much larger budget.

Market Entry

• An MVP allows you to launch quickly, enabling you to start in a short time and collect early users while gaining market presence.
• Full development can take months, delaying your entry into the market.

Initial Investment

• When developing an MVP, you primarily focus on essential features, significantly reducing development costs.
• Full product development, however, requires comprehensive features that are more expensive.

Risks

• Testing an MVP allows you to identify potential issues or improve your product much faster than testing a fully developed product based on real feedback.
• An MVP also reduces the risk of investing large amounts in a solution that may not meet market needs compared to a full product.

Functionality

• MVP development focuses only on the necessary features that solve user problems.
• A full product typically includes more features, some of which may be unnecessary.

How to Gather Customer Feedback for MVP Improvement

Surveys and Questionnaires

The easiest way to gather feedback is to send targeted surveys to users after they’ve used your minimum viable product.
You can ask about usability, design, complexity of use, overall satisfaction, etc., and try to gather direct feedback.

User Interviews

Conduct one-on-one interviews with your users.
You can get even more information during the user interview than you expected. While you can ask yes/no questions, open-ended questions usually provide more valuable information.

In-App Feedback Tools

You can also develop in-app tools for immediate feedback, such as ratings, forms, or comment sections. However, it’s important not to overdo it, as it can annoy users.

Beta Testing Groups

Engage beta testers representing your target audience to test your MVP and provide detailed feedback.

Analytics

You can also use analytics tools to track user behavior. These can include heatmaps or recordings that show how users navigate the MVP, which features they use most, and where they drop off.

Gather feedback using all these options, as it’s crucial to identify areas for improvement in the product development cycle.

The Importance of MVP Prototyping

Prototyping is an important step in the product development process. It allows develop concepts in the early stages before spending resources on a full-scale development process.

During prototyping, you can identify what your product needs, and which features are important. Prototyping also allows for the early identification of flaws, reducing costs and risks before full development.

Prototyping also improves the user experience by gathering direct feedback to improve usability and functionality, increasing customer satisfaction.

Let’s look at the advantages of minimum lovable product prototyping in detail:

Visual Representation

Prototyping at the early stage showcases the project’s viability, including the user interface (UI) layout, core functions and enough features.

Feature Prioritization

Through prototyping, you can identify which features are essential for your minimum marketable product and which can be added later. This significantly reduces development costs and the inclusion of unnecessary features.

Identifying Improvements

With prototyping, it’s much easier to identify which areas need improvement, such as functionality, UX, design, etc. The earlier you spot potential issues, the easier and faster it will be to fix them.

Prototyping provides a simulation of the final product. Developers and stakeholders can interact with it as if it were the actual product, gaining an understanding of how the product will perform once fully developed.

Problem Identification

Prototyping helps detect potential problems early in the MVP development process.

At RewiSoft, we use Figma to create realistic UX and UI prototypes, which allow you to see how the final MVP product will work and function in the early stages.

RewiSoft’s Expertise in MVP Development: How Can We Help You?

Partnering with RewiSoft means you receive professional MVP development from an established company.

Flexible and Easy-to-Scale Team

Depending on the complexity of your project, you can choose to work with middle or senior specialists, which will impact the overall development cost.

Business-Oriented Approach

We offer professional development services with a strong focus on your business needs! You will work with a team led by industry experts that will deliver a market-competitive product.

Low-Risk Development

Our development approach minimizes risk by incorporating thorough market research and early QA testing to catch issues before they escalate.

Multi-Domain Expertise

Since 2019, we have developed FinTech, EdTech, Real Estate, and Healthcare solutions. Using this experience, we bring specialized knowledge to help startups grow from idea to market.

Streamlined Management

When you partner with us, we assign a project manager to keep you informed throughout the MVP development process.