STEP 15 : Viable Product / Service Part 3.

Learn How to Craft and Launch Your Minimum Viable Product . In Step 14, we looked at how to unleash the power of Lean Startup Canvas for your business, side hustle or if you are just testing the waters of entrepreneurship. In this step we’ll continue to focus on the Viable Product / Service phase of steps with the third of the three.

For those just joining us at this point, you can continue and learn about the how to assess opportunities before starting a business or side hustle, but it’s worth starting at Step 1, My Current State, to give you better context. And its the starting point of this adventure into entrepreneurship.

Let’s get started. In our Happy Path Flight Plan illustration, we are touching on Minimum Viable Product (MVP), which is the third of 3 topics under Viable Product / Service now in orange and bold below.

Introduction

“The Most Valuable Lessons Aren’t Taught. They are Experienced.”

‍Embarking on the adventure of a startup is akin to setting sail on uncharted waters. In this age of digital entrepreneurship, a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) serves as the compass, guiding visionaries to their destination: success. Welcome to the roadmap of startup triumph, where the power of crafting an impactful MVP ignites the entrepreneurial spirit.

Embracing the MVP approach is more than a trend; it’s a strategic necessity for startups aiming to carve their niche in a competitive landscape. As we navigate this comprehensive guide, we’ll delve into the art of sculpting a potent MVP, exploring how it acts as the fulcrum for attracting investors, captivating early adopters, and steering the product toward market fit.

To this point we have been discussing a lot about value, so think of an MVP as also the Minimum Valuable Product. The viable product must have enough value to your potential customer to warrant needing your product. The value offered must be meaningful.

Looking at our Opportunity Awareness Flow the boxes have been ticked now up to the Value Proposition Canvas. Now we will cover the Minimum Viable Product and further define The Product that you are developing by developing a prototype to launch into the market.

Join us as we unlock the potential of your MVP, transforming it from a fledgling concept into a powerhouse of innovation. Through actionable insights and real-world examples, this roadmap will illuminate the path toward startup success, empowering you to harness the might of your MVP and propel your entrepreneurial aspirations to new heights.

Product Development Pyramid

We are at the top of the product development pyramid when we reach feature sets and customer experience (CX). Building the blocks from Target Customer to Value Proposition has ensured that we have identified the market and have now identified the value proposition to fit the market. What’s important next is to build the features and create an experience that fits the minimum requirements to buy your product. These requirements must solve the need or problem, it’s this value that the early adopters are purchasing.

Understanding the Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

The concept of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) revolves around creating a version of a new product with the bare minimum features required to satisfy early customers. It’s not about delivering a half-baked product but rather about releasing a product that provides value to users while minimizing development efforts. By adopting an MVP approach, startups can gather feedback and validate their assumptions before investing significant resources in full-scale development.

MVPs are not just for startups; established companies also leverage this strategy to test new product ideas or enter new markets. Understanding the core principles of MVP development is crucial for any business looking to innovate and adapt in a rapidly evolving business landscape. By focusing on delivering the essential features and functionality, companies can mitigate risks and maximize their chances of success in the market.

Crafting a compelling MVP requires a deep understanding of customer pain points, market demands, and the competitive landscape. Startups and entrepreneurs must adopt a customer-centric approach, identifying the most critical problems to solve and designing a solution that resonates with the target audience. By prioritizing features based on value and feasibility, the MVP becomes a powerful tool for driving market validation and early adoption.

Value Selling

Value selling is a sales approach where the focus is on demonstrating the unique value proposition a product or service can offer to a potential customer, rather than just emphasizing its features or price. The goal of value selling is to help customers understand the benefits and advantages of a product or service and to show how it can meet their specific needs. This effective value proposition can solve their unique problems, offering a compelling and clear value proposition.

Value selling involves a deep understanding of the customer’s wants, needs, fears and their specific challenges, as well as a thorough knowledge how your product or service could help them. The MVP enables you to tailor your approach to the customer’s needs and to present your unique value proposition in a way that resonates with the customer, solving their unique problem.

Value selling is typically a consultative style engagement process that involves building a relationship with the potential customer, understanding their pain points and goals, and then demonstrating how your unique selling proposition can help them achieve those goals or solve their problem. By focusing on the strong value proposition rather than just price, value selling can often result in more successful sales, stronger customer relationships, and higher customer satisfaction.

The Importance of MVP in Startups

For startups, the MVP serves as a strategic tool to test hypotheses, gather user feedback, and iterate on the product concept. It allows entrepreneurs to validate their ideas, refine their product-market fit, and make informed decisions based on real-world insights. By focusing on the essential features, startups can accelerate their time to market, reduce development costs, and adapt to changing market dynamics more effectively.

Moreover, the MVP approach enables startups to attract early adopters and build a loyal customer base from the initial stages of product development. This early traction not only validates the market demand but also provides a foundation for future growth and expansion. By engaging with early adopters, startups can cultivate a community of advocates who contribute valuable feedback, spread awareness, and fuel organic growth.

In the context of startup fundraising, a well-crafted MVP can be a compelling asset for attracting investors and securing funding. It demonstrates a clear vision, a deep understanding of the target market, and a systematic approach to product development. By showcasing a viable product with a strong value proposition, startups can instil confidence in potential investors and pave the way for future investment rounds.

Design for Emotion

In the pursuit of crafting a potent MVP, it’s essential to recognize the role of emotional design in shaping user experiences. Beyond functionality, the emotional impact of a product can profoundly influence user engagement, satisfaction, and loyalty. Startups should strive to create MVPs that not only fulfill the functional needs of users but also evoke positive emotional responses, fostering a deeper connection with the target audience.

Emotional design encompasses elements such as aesthetics, usability, storytelling, and brand personality. By infusing these elements into the MVP, startups can create meaningful and memorable experiences that resonate with users on a visceral level. This emotional resonance can be a powerful differentiator in a crowded market, setting the MVP apart and instilling a sense of loyalty and affinity among early adopters.

By designing for emotion, startups can elevate their MVP from a functional prototype to a compelling product that captivates and delights users. This approach goes beyond mere problem-solving and focuses on creating an emotional bond between the product and its users. By understanding the psychological drivers of user behavior and designing experiences that cater to their emotional needs, startups can position their MVPs for long-term success and sustainability. An example of this bond would be Apple and its users.

Roadmap to Building a Successful MVP

Step 1: Proof of Value (PoV) – Validating Your MVP Idea

The first step in crafting a successful MVP is to validate the underlying idea and value proposition. This involves conducting thorough market research, identifying customer pain points, and assessing the competitive landscape. By gaining a deep understanding of the target market, startups can refine their MVP concept and ensure that it addresses genuine needs and offers a compelling solution.

Once the value proposition is defined, startups can leverage various validation techniques such as surveys, interviews, sign-up from landing page/website, and prototype testing to gather feedback and validate their assumptions. This iterative process of validation helps in shaping the MVP into a product that resonates with the target audience and has the potential to gain traction in the market. By focusing on value validation, startups can lay a solid foundation for the subsequent stages of MVP development.

During this phase the questions that need answering are:

Do people really have the problem you are convinced is there?
Would they pay to solve it?
What minimum features would the product require?
Will they pay now to become an early adopter?
How much are they prepared to pay?

In the above and following diagrams each orange arrow represents a reiteration of the product based on the MVP feedback cycle.

Key pointers about the Proof of Value:

Create your “Proof of Value” (MVP1) by turning your Opportunity Awareness Flow into something you can SHOW people to get their feedback. Like an elevator pitch but make it visual too.
We are not building a product yet.
Proof of Value (PoV) validates marketability on a shoestring budget.
Before you invest time, effort, and money on building your great idea, you need to validate the assumption that people actually want your product.
Discovering a problem that your idea will solve is easy, finding a solution people want is what you must validate in this step.
The feedback loop of build-measure-learn starts and continues for the lifecycle of your product. But the MVP phase is the most important. Build for Proof of Value is defined as building the idea in the minds of the audience. Refer to the diagram below.

Pivots = Outcomes from the MVP Feedback Cycle will require decisions to be made that strategically alters the direction you are taking your product. Timing these pivots is critical and usually include client segment, client need, technology, channel & price strategies.

Use a Prioritization Matrix to prioritize features. This helps you identify which features have the most impact. Only put 20% of the Features that 80% of the clients will USE in the top right section. Aids making the final decision on what’s absolutely needed to be a minimum viable product. Other features can then be included in later releases.

Step 2: Proof of Prototype (PoP) – Proving Your MVP Idea

If you prove your Assumptions through Opinions during the “Proof of Value” then you can move onto Proof of Prototype. If not, you may need to revisit the Opportunity Awareness Flow or find and start a new idea.

With the Proof of Value validated, the next step is to translate the MVP concept into a tangible prototype. Startups should focus on creating a functional but minimal version of the product that showcases the core features identified in your MVP prioritization matrix and delivers the promised value to users. Rapid prototyping and iterative design are essential in this phase, allowing startups to gather early feedback and make necessary refinements before moving to the next stage.

The audience you have gathered in the PoV phase are used to test the prototype and gather more of their feedback to answer the following questions:

Do people really want their problem solved?
Are the minimum features right?
Is the product reliable & usage?
Is the price right (value for money)?

The prototype serves as a visual and interactive representation of the MVP, enabling startups to communicate their vision effectively and gather more nuanced feedback from users. By involving early adopters in the prototyping process, startups can gain valuable insights into user preferences, pain points, and usability issues. This collaborative approach ensures that the MVP aligns with user expectations and provides a seamless experience.

Key pointers about the Proof of Prototype (MVP2):

Create your “Proof of Prototype” (MVP2) by turning your ‘Proof of Value’ into something you can SELL so people can USE it in order to get their feedback.
Proof of Prototype (PoP) is the most minimal form of your complete solution that adds value by solving a problem using 20% of the features.
This allows you to learn how your target clients react to your product by getting their feedback allowing you to modify the prototype until your client can’t do without it.
Launching an MVP is a way to validate that the solution you’re building is the solution people want to buy before you waste a ton of money building something they don’t want.

Step 3: Viable Product (MVP3) – Launching Your MVP Idea

The launch phase marks the culmination of the MVP development process, where startups release the product to a select group of early adopters or a broader audience. The focus during this phase is on gathering real-world usage data, analyzing user behavior, and collecting feedback on the MVP’s performance and value delivery. By monitoring key metrics and user interactions, startups can gain valuable insights into how the MVP is being received and identify areas for improvement.

The launch also presents an opportunity to generate buzz, attract media attention, and engage with potential customers. Startups should leverage targeted marketing and outreach efforts to create awareness and drive interest in the MVP. By effectively communicating the value proposition and unique selling points, startups can maximize the impact of the MVP launch and lay the groundwork for subsequent growth and expansion.

Key pointers about the Proof of Prototype (MVP2):

Launch your “Viable Product” (MVP3) by turning your ‘Proof of Prototype’ into a fully-fledged product to SELL and continue to get client feedback.
The Viable Product has proven itself to be of value to the early adopters and is therefore viable to launch to a wider client base.
This phase allows you to learn how your wider target audience embraces your product.
The feedback is focused on adding features, user experience/interface and finding out how to delight the customer.

Step 4: Delightful Product – Iterating and Improving Your MVP to become a Delightful Product

The journey of MVP development doesn’t end with the initial launch; it’s an ongoing process of iteration and improvement. Startups must continuously gather feedback, analyze performance data, and iterate on the MVP to address user needs and market dynamics. By embracing an agile and iterative approach to product development, startups can enhance the MVP’s features, refine the user experience, and adapt to evolving customer expectations.

Iterative improvement is central to the MVP philosophy, allowing startups to pivot, refine, and optimize the product based on real-world insights. This agile mindset enables startups to stay responsive to market feedback, pivot when necessary, and capitalize on emerging opportunities. By continuously iterating and improving the MVP, startups can position themselves for sustained growth, market leadership, and long-term success.

What Next

In conclusion, the power of crafting a minimum viable product (MVP) is undeniable in the realm of startup success. By understanding the core principles of MVP development, embracing emotional design, and following a strategic roadmap, startups can harness the potential of their MVP to attract investors, captivate early adopters, and steer the product toward market fit. The journey of MVP development is a transformative process that empowers startups to validate their ideas starting with situational awareness and Journaling. Then from Opportunity Canvas through to refining your Value Proposition and build a loyal customer base from the ground up. With your well-crafted MVP as your compass, your startup can chart a course towards your Desired Future State and navigate the turbulent waters of the business landscape with confidence and conviction. From the Opportunity Awareness Flow, you now need to start building the Minimum Valuable Product (or Service) and mold it into the Delightful Product you are envisioning it to be.

The steps leading up to this step are a combination of the Happy Path Flight Plan to illuminate your path towards startup success, empowering you and propel your aspirations to new heights. As the digital entrepreneurship landscape continues to evolve, the strategic significance of MVP development will only grow, making it an indispensable tool for your business that’s looking to innovate, adapt, and thrive in a competitive market. These are key ingredients for building your Forever Business.

With the Happy Path Flight Plan to building a successful MVP as your guide, entrepreneurs like you are well-equipped to embark on the adventure of startup triumph, crafting impactful products that delight and resonate with users and drive sustainable growth. The power of the MVP is not just in its minimalism but in its ability to catalyze innovation, foster customer engagement, and pave the way for lasting success in the dynamic world of entrepreneurship. The essential key to making this work is starting with Step 1 by understanding Your Current State, all the steps are a culmination leading up to this point, launching your product.

If you are new here then I’d suggest starting with identifying your Current State covered in Step 1. For those who have been following their adventure along the happy path let’s move onto Step 16 – Website Design.

Step 14: Value Proposition Canvas

Step 16: Website Design