#MVPguide Archives

Guide To Build The Successful Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Posted on 04/12/202113/11/2021 by Tushar

You developed an app using a minimum viable product integrated all the features necessary to solve the user’s need. You knew that your app will be a great problem solver. Everything started and ended great but there came a point where users didn’t install your app. All time and money that you invested in developing an app got wasted. You have no idea what went wrong, where did your app lack etc. In such scenario, it becomes difficult to gain user’s attention and ultimately your app fails to reach the mark.

This happens with most of the startups; actually, the chances of succeeding in the startup game are less unless the product is built in a right way.

Bloomberg reports that 80% of startups will fail within their first 18 months.
An infographic featured in Mashable states that 90% of tech startups fail.
The Guardian states that around 50% of small businesses fail within the first couple of years.

Although, hitting the mark as a startup is difficult, there are number of things that can be done to avoid failure especially at an initial stage.

One of the solutions for this is by creating a minimum viable product which is the most efficient and time-savvy way of developing, getting feedback from the user and validating your idea. Before investing in a software solution, you can consider MVP to anticipate the success of the product in the market by reaching out target audience.

But, what is MVP all about?

A minimum viable product is development technique where the product is developed with the necessary features that satisfy the user’s need and this is very much useful for the startups. Full and final set of features are designed and developed only after considering the feedback of the product from the user. The sole purpose of MVP is to launch the product quickly based on the idea with the least budget. With the help of MVP, one can have the clear insight of target audience and can save much of the time.

Developing MVP means balancing between what your brand is offering to the users and what users actually need. MVP is developed to minimize errors and collecting the quality feedback by targeting a specific group or some type of users.

Check out the steps needed to develop successful MVP…

Market Research

Before thinking about MVP, you must check the potential of your idea. Your idea may be great but it may not just fit to the market needs. So, before starting make sure that people will be interested in your product. For knowing this, you can search for the competitors or similar products or talk to another user. Your idea may be already implemented and you may have no idea about that. Survey always works; it leads to more information and results into high chances of success.

Define your idea

You have an idea about your new app; but what value does it offer to your users? How can it benefit them? What USP you are offering? What would boost them to buy your product? These are some of the important points to keep in mind to represent your idea. You should have clear and concise idea about the estimations of your product. Outline your idea and introduce its value to the people and based on that develop MVP.

List all the features that make your app unique

Make your dreamed feature list that you always wanted in your app. List down everything that you wish to include in your product. Once you are done with developing the features, cross-check the features that you feel are not really very important. When you have the list of features for each phase, you then prioritize them. To prioritize each feature, ask yourself why my user would need these features? Would it be beneficial to them? When you have organized all the features, you can define the scope of phase 1, and start building MVC prototype.

Describe what is unique in your app

Why users would download your app.

If your app is implementing new algorithms by adding advanced technologies like AI, VR, AR or image processing algorithms which can enhance task performance; better than what the current app market is offering
It may happen that, you are bound to implement some common features; if this happens, it is important to adapt the whole experience for that specific market with some tweaks in the exiting features.

At the end of the day, your app will be unique, if it is focusing on efforts and time from the beginning.

Proceed towards building MVP

Once you have determined the key features and have an understanding of market needs, you can start developing MVP. You must develop MVP with the sole goal of validating your hypothesis and should have basic features to get the feedback from the users and that should satisfy the need of users. Moreover, ask yourself these questions…

Does this feature support MVP hypothesis and meeting the sole goal to satisfy the users
Is this feature solving the problem of the user?
Is this must have feature for the customer?
How much time will it take to develop this feature?

Always focus on the needs of the customers and take their feedback if they are satisfied or not.

Test, learn and repeat

After defining MVP, and after development let your product get tested from quality assurance team to improve the quality of the product and conduct the testing stages to know if there are any bugs to be solved. Launch your MVP and check out the user’s feedback; if they are really satisfied with the product or not. Ask them if they wish to have more features. If you wish to add more features, repeat the process and work towards the enhancement of your product. Do not make your product complex and do not forget to ask your users what more things they are looking for.

Measure success after building MVP

There are several ways to get real picture about your product. Some of the effective and proven ways are listed below.

Word of mouth

Check your product success by talking with the potential customers. Pre-assume it that customers are facing the problem and be ready to hear the problems and ask them what they think.

Engagement

See how customers are engaging with your product. Based on the feedback your goal must be to improve user engagement. It will help you to measure the present scenario of the product as well as future aspects.

Sign-up

Ask your users to sign-up with your product as it is the good way to increase the interest of the users. It helps to convert into revenue. Based on the result, you can measure the interest of the user in your product.

Check out the downloads of your app

The number of downloads and launch rate shows that your users are really interested in your app. The lighter the app, the more downloads it get.

See how many users are actively using your product

Checking downloads is one of the primary thing, you also need to check user behavior and ratings from your active users for the success of MVP.

Client acquisition cost (CAC)

CAC means money spent on the customer acquisition channel/ number of customers acquired through the channel. You should have proper insight on the cost to get a paying customer. With this you will know, whether your marketing efforts are effective or there are any changes to be made.

Check the users who are paying for your product

Know the products that are bringing revenue also keep check on average revenue per user. Make a report on how much income users are helping to generate in a day.

Client Lifetime value

CLV = (Profit generated from user * App usage duration) – Acquisition cost. It checks how much time user spends before uninstalling the app.

Churn

Churn = Number of users not using the app per week/ month/ Number of users at the beginning of the week or month. It demonstrates the level or percentage of people who have uninstalled or stopped using your app.

Wrapping it up

The purpose of MVP is to know thick and thins about your product and developing it with low investment. When your product is ready to go live, you will conclude something valuable from your product –whether it needs to be discarded or it can be continued.

It is always better to have a service provider who can help in developing a minimum viable product that can give you an edge to the business. Anteelo, one of the leading web and mobile app development company have experts who can help you to convert your idea into the product. Anteelo possesses the best mobile app developers who are well-versed with the technology and can help you to build a sustainable customized product that can help you to stay ahead of the curve.

Creating an MVP For Your Mobile App That Raises Funds

Posted on 23/09/202011/06/2021 by Tushar

Getting funded for an app idea that you strongly believe in is every entrepreneur’s dream. And, sadly the recurrent news of tech startups getting funds just on the basis of their app idea, doesn’t really help the case. In fact, it’s more scary than motivating.

To start with, forget about those tech startups and their ideas and concentrate on yours.

And now that your app idea has your undivided attention, let’s slide off another thing – the reason your startup haven’t set its feet off the ground it is because you are being unrealistic. Either you have not started working on your idea or you are a headless chicken running in all directions with no one point destination.

Either way, there’s a long way to go from here.

Let’s begin.

We will take you through the similar layout which we follow when entrepreneurs seek our Mobile App Consultancy service that revolves around ‘How to Get Funds’ issues.

We will begin with why you need funding and then we will move on to the element that investors look for when they put in their funds in an app idea, even though the world is now officially sitting on 5 million + apps (we will spend some time on this point) and lastly we will look into avenues where you can find investors for your mobile app.

Why Do you Need Funds in the First Place

So you have an app idea that would work perfectly in changing the economic scenario of a village in the African subcontinent – as conveyed to you by your family and neighbors.

What you do is make rough estimates of the involved costs and time and approach an investor to get their money. Will this work? No.

You need funds to validate your idea in a real market with real users and find if they even need the solution (or it was a problem that only existed in your short sighted head).

Now, suppose you made an app to solve the real African issues and the users there accepted and saw a life change because of it, what next? Would you be able to scale your app outside of the one village with the X amount of money on you?

I guess we both know the answer to that.

You need funds to first convert your app idea into a full fledged app and then to keep growing it to reach the masses. Now, don’t be naive and think that your app will generate the money for you, it never happens at least not enough to make an empire out of your app idea.

But, if you are one of those businesses who are only creating an app for a local community and that too for social causes and have no intention to make money at the back of it, this article is not for you. So long.

If, however, you belong to the category of budding entrepreneurs who wish to make a name in the industry and earn millions and millions worth of revenue and billions of eyeballs, it is time I let out the secret of what Investors actually look for.

What Do Investors Look for in Companies/Ideas They Fund

The honest but soul crushing answer to this is that they invest in brands and entrepreneurs who have developed a relationship of that sort with them over the years. But, we know the percent is well under 5% and you along with the 95% of the new entrepreneurs are born to fight, so let’s roll up our sleeves and get that app dream of your some money.

Since you have been with us this long, it is time to let you on the secret to getting your desired amount of funds (if your idea is actually as amazing as you think it to be).

The Secret to Getting Funds on Your Mobile App Idea

*Cutting straight to the chase* What investors look for when deciding to credit their money into your – the amazing app idea innovator – bank account is validation.

Validation, both in terms of app usage ability and its acceptance level.

Will touch bases on both the validation points now.

To start with, the route to validating your app’s usage ability, you will have to launch it in the market of real users and that is where your weapon of mass funding comes in – Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

What is MVP?

To test an idea that you strongly believe in, which the world needs and would love, you develop a working, functioning model that you then pass along in the market to test the waters. This working, functioning model aka your guinea pig is the MVP.

You contact team of skilled mobile app developers and create an MVP with the basic features without putting too much of your time, money, and efforts into it and you gauge its engagement and feasibility that then defines if at all you should continue with the idea or tweak it around or the worst case scenario, drop it.

The secret is out: MVP is the tool that investors base their funding decisions on.

Now, the definition of MVP as – A product that is launched with minimal features that best describe the issues and the future of the application and your whole startup – comes with a string attached with many other questions such as – What features to use? How to know if the solution the app is offering even needed? All the features are unique, how can I remove even one?

Don’t worry, we will give you an answer to all your questions

Steps to Developing an MVP That Gets Funded

1. Know What You Are Validating

The first question when you start with your MVP development process doesn’t even start with its features. Sounds crazy, right? Bear with me here.

The first point of validation comes with knowing if at all there is a mass problem that would get solved with a mobile app. Suppose your app idea is to keep exam results and feedback on student’s performance on mobile.

The first question you will have to ask is if at all teachers have the time to first correct the papers and then upload them on the app and then add comments and if the students would be willing to see their results like this instead of in person.

Once you the answer to that, find out if the educational system would be open to a solution as this or if there will be any conflicts.

2. Talk to Your Real Users

Instead of restricting your talk to your aunt who teaches Math in a private school, expand your bases. Talk to teachers all over the city – of schools that are maintained by some private company and of those who are operating within the meagre means offered to them by the local government.

Find out the pain points in the process that starts with a teacher correcting the papers and ends at students getting feedback on their performance. Make a list of points that can be solved through mobility.

3. Know What Features to Add

Follow a Deconstructed Pareto Method to Decide on the Features that your MVP Should Consist of.

Once you have identified the exact needs your user group, and have a list of features – both primary and supportive – that would solve the need perfectly, ready on you, use the 80/20 Pareto Analysis rule to refine the list of features further. Keep the 80% features that would solve all the problems as your MVP features and keep the 20% features as a part of future updates.

This way you will be able to hit two birds with one stone. A. You will be giving your users exactly what they need and B. You will be adding the additional features, which they also needed, later; which would create your image as a brand that really listens to what its users asks of it.

Now that you know what goes into the blood and bone of a tool that would help generate funds, don’t wait. Get out of your chair and hit your app market and then don’t wait further when the app is launched.

As long as the buttons work, the app is functioning, and the user is able to move within as you want them to, launch the MVP.

With this, we have now come to a point where we answer the one question that is on every Entrepreneur or Start-up’s minds – Where to Find Investors to Fund My Mobile App?

Unless you are not waiting to hearing back from the Shark Tank producers to invite you on the show, here are the four more attainable and easy to reach platforms to attract investors and raise funds for your app

Kickstarter
Indiegogo
AppBackr
AppStori

Here we go. Now you have all the insights that you need to get started with to raise money for your app idea.

Go on now, go get big.

Tag: #MVPguide

Guide To Build The Successful Minimum Viable Product (MVP)