MVP: What is an MVP and why is it critical to have one?

What is an MVP? (Minimum Viable Product)

An MVP is sometimes confused with what a prototype is. The difference is that a prototype is just a model while the MVP is a released product. 

Businesses use MVPs to gain first-hand insight into whatever their product is. They will release the product with minimal aspects and features to determine feedback and success rates among other factors. It helps understand whether a product is ready to be launched into the market or not and whether changes need to be made or modified.

Why is it critical to have an MVP? 

A few reasons why an MVP is critical to have are: 

An MVP helps determine the modifications required for the product.

When an MVP is launched, feedback of all types is gathered by the company to determine what drawbacks and benefits come from it. It is like a sample product that is launched beforehand to determine various factors like success rate, product market growth, drawbacks, benefits and so on. It helps the company learn what is good and bad about their product and allows them to further modify the final product based on the feedback from the MVP.

Helps with showing results to an investor.

When you have a sample product launched in the market, it helps show the results, feedback and scope of growth and success to an investor. When a product is not launched, an investor would base their decision to invest purely on your prediction of success and market growth but if you demonstrate your MVP and then show the feedback and growth from it, then it is more convincing and would provide a higher chance of an investor investing.

The MVP helps understand the market size, success rate & demand for the product.

Once the MVP is launched into the market, the feedback that is collected helps show statistics of the market size, how many people purchase it and if people like the product to come back for more or not. Knowing if your product will succeed or not helps determine future success and growth in sales. If you find that your product is not selling and not doing well, you would not choose to continue with it, you would find out the drawbacks and why it is not selling and modify it to make it better. 

Saves time & future losses.

All these aspects together will help determine many things you should know about your product before launching the final one and having mass production. Having an MVP helps save a lot of time and money when it comes to finally launch your product. If you can know the pros and cons of your product before mass production, you can make it better and change anything that’s wrong with the product before sending out thousands of them. A mass recall is one of the worst and most expensive things a company can endure, it sets back the company years at a time and can result in extreme loss where you cannot further proceed. That’s why it is always critical to have an MVP before launching your final end product.