How to outsource your MVP successfully?

The main goal of any business is to satisfy their customers. To do this, the business needs to understand its customers’ needs and problems. Then only you can build the product focusing on core features that customers will accept.

You don’t need to build the product including every listed feature. You should focus only on important features to include in the initial version of the product. More is not always the better option. In this case, less is a better option to go out with.

You should go for a minimum viable product (MVP) focusing on only enough features that will satisfy your customers before developing the final product.

What is an MVP?

The minimum viable product also known as MVP is an initial version of the product with sufficient features to satisfy the early customers before developing the final product. The final product is then developed based on customer’s feedback.

MVP allows you to provide insight on how to improve the product and what more features to add to draw in more customers’ attention. It helps to analyze customer’s behaviors and preferences and helps to expand your customer base.

MVP prevents you from developing products that the customers don’t want saving your time, effort, money, and other resources.

Benefits of MVP

The concept of building an MVP is growing at a tremendous rate. The top companies like Facebook, Uber, Airbnb, Twitter, Spotify, etc., first started with MVP. Since there are many benefits of MVP, more and more businesses are adopting this concept. So, what are the benefits of MVP?

• Reduce Rework

  

  You develop a product and launch the product in the market. What will happen if customers don’t like your product? You have to focus on redesigning the product again. Total waste of time and resources.

  Developing an MVP will solve this problem. It focuses only on core features enough to satisfy early customers in its initial version. This will help you identify whether your product is successful in the market or not.

  Even if customers don’t accept some of the features, your workload will be halved since you don’t need to focus on designing the whole product. Even if the features need to be changed or removed, it will reduce your workload and time.

• Minimize Risks

MVP is the prototype of the final product. It means less use of resources and time. Even if the initial version fails, the company doesn’t have to worry about the loss.

If the prototype turns out to be a success, you can move towards developing the final product. There is not much to lose even if the prototype turns out to be useless to customers.

What would have happened if the final product would have failed instead of the prototype? The result would have been critical and costly to the company. So, MVP helps to minimize such risks.

• Establish a Customer Base

By releasing the MVP in the market, you will be able to know what the customers’ preferences are. You can develop the perfect product for customers. Attracting potential customers is the first step towards building a brand in the market.

You will be able to know what customers actually want and you can develop the product based on these needs and solve the customers’ problems. You can also plan on the next features to be added to the product and prioritize the next features accordingly.

You can also find your loyal customers if they love your product and solve their problems.

• Minimize Development Costs

You are developing a prototype, not the final product. You are spending less time and resources on building the MVP since you are focusing on minimum features. Thus minimizing the development cost and time.

You are not sure whether the initial product will be successful in the market or not. Even if the product fails, you have only spent fewer resources and time on developing the initial version of the product.

• Gather User Feedback

By releasing the MVP in the market, the customers will provide feedback on the product. You will be able to know what features they want and what they don’t. You are provided with the perfect opportunity to develop a product that will fulfill the customer’s needs and preferences.

Customer feedback is important for your business and product to be successful in the market. Customers will not accept products that don’t consider their needs and problems. The MVP will help to gather feedback related to the customer’s needs and problems.

You just need to provide the final product fulfilling their needs and solving their problems.

• Attract Investors

Releasing the product in the market and attracting the customers will help to attract investors. Since more and more customers are attracted to your product, the news about the product will spread quickly attracting investors to invest in your business and product.

If the product is performing well in the market, it will automatically attract more customers as well as investors. Investors are attracted by the profit they see in the business and product. What could be better than well-performing businesses and products in the market for investors?

• Easy to Add New Features

It will be easier for developers to add new features. After the MVP has been launched in the market, it will be easier for developers to know what features to add to the product. Researching on customer’s needs and preferences takes a longer time than customers providing themselves after the release of the product’s initial version.

If you have to work on fewer features, then it will take less time to add or remove features. Also, there are fewer risks of appearing bugs and errors when features are added to the MVP.

• Quick Launch of the Product

Since you are developing a product with fewer features, you have the advantage of launching the product in the market a lot quicker. It will take less time for the developers to develop the product with fewer features.

Developing and launching the product quickly in the market will give you a competitive edge. Also, you will be provided with valuable feedback from the customers that will help you add new features and improve the product.

This way you will be able to focus on valuable features that the market is demanding rather than wasting your time and resources on unnecessary features.

How to Outsource MVP?

You have a great idea for your startup, now what? You don’t know what to do next. Many startups are building MVP or outsourcing MVP to get started. Such startups want to leave a mark in the market. So what can you do?

One thing you can do is outsource your MVP to a development company. So, here is what you have to do to outsource your MVP.

• Target User

Before building any product, you need to identify the users who are going to use the product. You need to know for whom you are building the product. So, you need to identify the early users to test the product and they will give their valuable feedback to you.

The user’s feedback helps to know what features they love and what you are missing. Based on users’ feedback, you can add or remove features and improve the product.

• Choose the Right Platform

You need to research where your users are geographically located. You need to find ways to attract such users. Now, you know where your users are located, you should choose the right platform.

You should research on which platform your product is focused on, either Android or iOS. If your users are located in the U.S., Europe, and Australia, then iOS is preferred more, otherwise, Android is preferred.

You need to choose which platform to release your product. You can also release your product on both platforms.

• Create a List of Product’s Feature

You need to create a list of features to be added to the initial version of the product. The list of features doesn’t have to be long. You should only list sufficient features to satisfy the early users.

You will know the features to be added and removed once you get feedback from early users. You will know what features they want in your product. It helps to avoid adding unnecessary features in the product.

• Find an Outsourcing Company

You need to find a company that is ready to develop your MVP. You need to explain your idea to such companies and convince them to develop your product. When outsourcing you should go for a trusted company.

You can find many outsourcing companies on the Internet or on different social media platforms. Look for a trusted company and have a history of great work. You also need to consider the cost that they charge for developing a product.

• Find a Freelancer

If you decide not to outsource your MVP to a company, then you can hire a freelancer to develop your product. Going for an outsourcing company could be costly, so you can look for freelancers to develop your product.

You don’t have to worry about finding freelancers. You can find such freelancers on websites like Upwork, Fiverr, Toptal, Freelancer, etc. Do your research and hire the best freelancers to develop your MVP.

When outsourcing your MVP, you need to communicate regularly either be it freelancers or outsourcing companies. You need to track the progress of product development weekly or monthly.

• Communicate Product Requirements

You need to communicate your product requirements to an outsourcing company or freelancer. Without knowing the product requirements, they will develop a product that is best for them rather than developing that is best for your company.

You should be able to make them understand the product requirements to avoid the failure of the product in the future. The outsourcing company and freelancer can also help you go through the requirements and give valuable suggestions regarding your product.

The MVP to be developed should be aligned with your company’s vision and goals.

If you have a great idea, then Truemark can help you make it a reality. We will provide you the best team who will develop your product using the latest technology. We focus on quality and happy customers make us happy. Please feel free to contact us, if you would like to work with us.

References: Kalmia