How to Build An MVP Application Like a Pro: The One-Stop Guide

Today, competition is growing every leaps and bounds. You can’t attain success with similar strategies every time. With changing market dynamics and technology trends, it’s crucial to upgrade and update yourself and your business. The most sought-after and competent digital transformation for business is developing mobile apps. But fear of failure is quite annoying, so crucial starting with minimum viable product (MVP) development first is essential to overcome the significant challenges. 

The online marketplace is already witnessing great hype. Nowadays, you can find apps for several types and purposes. The number of online shoppers is increasing drastically and so do their shopping activities. Brick-and-mortar stores won’t let your business sustain for a longer duration, you have to shift to a digital platform. 

Nowadays, for business owners building mobile apps demands an in-depth research and development team. MVP is the supreme and leading edge for your app development process and determining the efficiency of your product. However, people have myths about MVP development services as a matter of making money, but that’s not the case. 

An MVP development company understands its integral role in the whole mobile app development. Additionally, MVP is the decisive component that impacts considerably on the success of the full-scale product.  

In this article, you will get all-inclusive information about what MVP is, how to build an MVP, its benefits, drawbacks, success metrics, etc. So, stay tuned!  

Minimum Viable Product (MVP): Introduction & Objective 

The Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is an effective launchable version of the product that helps nominal but optimized features. Basically, MVP originated for startups as the solution to collect massive and authentic information about customers with minimal effort. You can develop initial versions of your app that go live and proficiently seek the attention of the investors and generate revenue.   

MVP development implies an app version with only relevant and required features set of the final products. It is built to verify the sustainability of the system and perform response testing of the audience. Consequently, you can gather feedback from the early users and examine the loopholes or other assumptions to make the app better for the future. 

Later on, you can integrate all other features and build the app without any hassle. Its main objective is to evaluate that your app qualifies at the minimum essentials level to satisfy customers. You can fulfill the following goals with effective MVP app development.

• Understanding the buyer’s persona
• Gives analysis of the pros and cons of the product
• Cost-effective development process
• Testing the viability of the app
• Takes less delivery time 

Therefore, to develop a minimum viable product (MVP) is crucial to know the customer behavior priorly and make your app stay ahead of the competitors.

Why should you always Consider MVP App Development?

Now, with defining the main aim of MVP, let’s move to the reasons why building an MVP is important. It is indeed evident that MVP is a good approach to knowing the app’s performance and taking the necessary steps to make it successful in the future. And the below reasons will prove its importance and clear your inch of doubt. 

• To create a buzz in the market
• To grab the attention of the customers 
• Works as a marketing tool
• To explore the marketplace
• To revise your app’s business model
• To simplify the development process
• To get an overview of the app’s success rate

These are some potential reasons that make an impact on your business growth after the launch of the app. Just keep in mind that there is no full-proof app, but developing an MVP gives insight into the required component for enhancing the app.

What are the Benefits of the MVP Development Process? 

• Less time-consuming

The MVP development takes way less time and quickly deploys based on your timeframe. As the MVP app consists only of basic features it can be a quick option to launch and calculate the response. Moreover, you can save time on all the major app development processes. Ultimately, you can focus on the big-picture concept of your business.  

• Cost-saving approach

It is evident that every business looks for cost-saving measures. By initiating the MVP development process, you can simply minimize your cost invested and get enhanced ROI. As MVP works as incremental development you don’t need to invest in the vast features list. Apart from that, you will get points of improvement to make the final launch better. 

• Pre-launch Testing

Creating a minimum viable product is a sort of texting tool that examines the customer’s response and gives glimpses of market trends. For making your final product successful, Startup MVP web development services work as the forefront picture of your app to customers and allow you to collect accurate feedback on it. 

• Brand Establishment Strategy

Brand building is equivalent to building an MVP. For your business success, branding is the ultimate solution to reach your target audience. MVP performs proficiently to begin brand establishment for your upcoming app. It grabs a vast audience and sets up a customer base.  

• Minimizes risk on the final launch 

The MVP app development process is inclusive of minimum features and functionality that can assist in gathering information for the main app. So, it pertains to lowering the risk of product failure. You can check on the shortcomings of the app and additional requirements well in advance. 

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How to Build an MVP Product? 6 Stages for MVP App Development

Delivering robust market presence and encouraging the success rate of your business, MVP is the essential part. Moreover, a top MVP app development company has the edge to build MVP app in a time-saving manner. So, here is the effective step-by-step guide that our developers follow for a successful MVP development process. 

1) Extensive Market Research

Before launching an idea and embarking on an MVP development process, your company should ensure that it meets the needs of its target users and is built depending on the current market trends. Detailed surveys are beneficial to any business. Having more information allows the company to strategize efficiently. It keeps you aware of what your competitors are offering and how your product idea can stand out.

2) Analyze your value proposition

Right after you have done your research, proceed to plan your product on the value proposition component. You need to ask and answer a few questions yourself;

• Does the product have the potential to solve the customer’s problem?
• Will it attract investors?
• Does the product stay ahead of the competition?
• How will the product benefit the end users? 

So, if your product simply answers all these questions, then it is good enough to plan the app launch and move further with the other steps. But if any of the above aspects is lacking, you should revamp your app strategy and fill the gaps. Merely employing MVP development services won’t attain the desired results, prior planning is also critical.

3) Develop a prototype

Every profitable app should be created with a rapid prototype. Because all of the features and user flows you intend to implement must be translated into tangible app screens. An efficient prototype is a quick attempt to figure out workable design solutions for MVP app development. It assists to define the user flow and emphasizes the essential steps. Additionally, it is necessary to ensure the UI/UX design needs of an app. 

Building an effective prototype demonstrates the pros and cons of actual MVP. However, many people misinterpret prototypes and MVPs. But they are whole different concepts, the prototype is an early sample while MVP is the foremost app version. So, prioritize building prototypes before MVP. 

4) Determine essential features

You should focus on deciding the core and important features that are supported in the MVP should be considered. To create an MVP app, you should include primary features that are decided based on; 

• Users requirements
• Benefits of better performance 
• Impact on app analysis
• Overall success metrics

After shortlisting features, you should move ahead to work on the MVP app development process. Adding features, visuals, layout, backend, etc, should be done as per the planned intention. 

5) Launch the MVP app

Finally, after the development process, your MVP is ready to be publicly available. Launching MVP necessitates extra efforts to study the environment and servers. Many business owners consider launching as the last step, but actually, it is the first step toward real-world app performance testing. 

When the MVP development process is accurately undertaken then everything will automatically be put on its palace. However, integrating analytics tools such as Google Analytics measure the user’s response.

6) Monitor the analytics 

The MVP development has reached its last step which is monitoring and reviewing the app through analytics. Although it is the concluding stage, you will get a summary of the efficiency and appeal of your app. You can derive the impact of MVP through user engagement and rankings. Therefore, it is also a vital step in a successful development process. 

Challenges to Overcome during the MVP Development Process

For making your MVP app development process successful, you have to find loopholes and prepare measures to overcome them. For example, to develop an MVP for creating a banking app, it is necessary to know the limitations priorly. So, let’s dive into the fundamental challenges of the MVP app.   

• Targeting the wrong audience

When you are delivering MVP applications, consider having good knowledge of your target audience. It is a critical factor that affects app testing to a greater extent. If your app is used by the wrong audience then you can’t get authentic feedback which eventually makes your app lack efficiency. 

• Avoiding Analytics  

Tracking user data and gaining useful insights, analytics should be included in the MVP. This can assist businesses in determining which features are effective and which need to be improved. It provides an overall outlook on app development and increases the success rate.

• Improper Development Cycle

Flexible methodologies are excellent for developing an MVP. If you choose a fixed-price approach, with rigid time and budget constraints, it ultimately risks releasing an application. It also lacks the product-market fit and cannot effectively address all user needs. MVP helps in making assumptions about final app users and their behavior during development. 

Choosing the correct cycle that undertakes the test and predictions permits to make changes for the final launch of the product. However, ensure that your app adheres to agile principles and keeps you updated throughout the project.

• Set of Features

Sometimes, building a minimum viable product (MVP) becomes overwhelming and exaggerated with too many features set included. It is essential to make your features list precise and minimal. Developing feature-packed MVPs makes the process lengthy and costly. However, it also takes a longer time to complete MVP development and you will be setback from the competitive market. 

A lot of business owners consider adding many features for better results, but it ends up ruining the main aim of MVP and time wasting. So, you better strategize the core features and incorporate only them in your MVP app. 

• Inadequate market analysis  

Without thorough market research and analysis, launching your MVP has a higher risk of failure. Market dynamics keep changing frequently, and what is trending today may not work tomorrow, hence, you have to carefully undertake steps. 

Market research is the primary step to creating an MVP app. But it is not limited to just performing initially, you have to examine market scenarios on a daily basis till the MVP launch time. Just consider that targeting the right audience and giving value to them requires you to evaluate every market shift. 

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How to Evaluate the Success of MVP Development Services?

After completing the stages of MVP development and tackling the drawbacks, you should move further with analyzing success metrics. It’s important to track and record the performance or acceptance of the create MVP app among the audience. Here are some of the best KPIs to measure your app success;

1) Percentage of active users

The daily active users (DAU) and monthly active users (MAU) are effective metrics to monitor user engagement on your app. It evaluates the proportion of actual daily active users over your monthly active users. So, you will get the percentage of active users. If the percentage of active users is above 20% then it’s good enough but less than that needs major improvement. 

2) User ratings & reviews

Collecting ratings and reviews of genuine customers are of great help to understand their opinion and behavior. People’s feedback on their experience and thoughts about your app is essential. You will get insights on weak areas and lacking elements of your MVP application to make them better for the final product launch. 

3) Total number of downloads

The other proficient approach to tracking the performance and popularity of your MVP is data from app downloads. It is the best KPI and analytics to measure the number of downloads in each mobile device. If it exceeds the targeted number then well is good but if it doesn’t then needs some changes. 

4) Churn rate

Lastly, the churn rate is also an efficient measure to closely observe the MVP’s overall performance. It shows the time users spend on your app and derives the abandonment rate. Moreover, it helps in understanding if the app is profit-making or loss. Customers either uninstall the app or abandon their subscription. 

Quick Tips to Improve the Performance of MVP

All the above measures will indicate precisely the success rate and worthiness of your app. To eliminate the negative results, we have listed out some of the tips that make your MVP development process worthwhile.

• Prior in-depth backup plan
• Partner with an experienced MVP development company
• Focus on marketing activities before & after the launch
• Consider facts and figures of the past year’s MVP 

Thus, by implementing these tips you will see the difference and make your MVP app a big success. However, on the note of how to develop an MVP, you should also consider successful MVP products. It will assist to plan your MVP development proficiently.  

3 Leading Examples of MVP Products 

• Airbnb

Airbnb is one of the promising San Francisco-based US companies. Its main objective is to offer short and long-term homestays through an online marketplace. Being on a low budget as a startup in 2007, they have tried MVP for renting their apartment to visitors irrespective of hotel rooms. So, they started with a basic home page with some housing images.  

Consequently, they have got 3 clients and rented the apartment. Moving further, they have determined the target audience and accepted viability theory, kudos to MVP development services. Today, Airbnb stands among the Unicorn companies with enhanced revenue rates.  

• Uber

Back in history when Uber developed an MVP in 2010, iPhone users from San Francisco are permitted to book black cabs at discounted rates and have credit card payment options. Initially, the cashless idea didn’t work out, but later on, finding passengers became easier. At that time Uber didn’t offer any advanced features like location sharing, but it has grown gradually, and today it is making a good amount of profit. 

• Etsy

Etsy, when established in 2005 has aimed to build a vast marketplace for selling items. The owner Rob Kalin then made it with Amazon but it became costly and had limitations. Then he experienced developing an eCommerce website for business. 

The MVP website was launched with a basic design and functionality for users to sign up and list their products. In very little time, thousands of sellers registered with Etsy and started online selling their products. 

Accordingly, Etsy didn’t turn back then, the idea of a marketplace for sellers has proven bang on. And do you know? In 2022, Etsy generated revenue of $2.5 billion. 

Furthermore, if these businesses can get successful with the MVP development concept then you too. Still, wondering how much MVP development costs? Here is the answer! 

How Much Does it Cost to Develop an MVP?

MVP development cost is the mainstay focus for business owners, as it is a bifurcating section from the overall app development budget. On the other hand, features and industry types also affect the cost of build an MVP. For instance, if you are willing to do real estate app development or a healthcare app, then its MVP cost is slightly more than other fields. Because it demands a strong database and an exclusive feature set. 

On average the minimum cost that you can expect would range from $10,000 to $30,000. Creating a minimum viable product with premium features, advanced design, and tech stack takes time and resultantly increases the price. 

Usually, Android and iOS developers are required for building mobile apps, so depending on your selected hiring model, the price of development changes. The hiring model is categorized in the following ways;

• Freelance mobile app developers
• In-house developers
• Outsourcing mobile app development companies

All of the above consider charging hourly rates for development and also give estimated hours to build the MVP app. Hence, hire experienced mobile app developers according to your budget and business needs. 

Which Technology Stack is Right for MVP App Development?  

The technology stack for building an MVP app requires you to look into the best-in-class technologies. Select a technology stack that prevents errors and boosts performance. It helps in determining the technology for the final launch. Let’s have a look at the ideal technology stack. 

Moreover, this list is evaluated based on well-known Minimum Viable Product MVP apps like GoDaddy, Airbnb, Walmart, etc. So, hire the development team and get started with creating your MVP app. 

After MVP development, What’s next?

So, you might have got clarity on how to build a minimum viable product and essential elements about it. However, after finishing the MVP development process, you should move forward to make a fully scalable application. The best part is if you have thoroughly followed the above guide, then your mobile app development doesn’t take much time and effort.  

Adapting to agile approaches you can make your app development process smooth. Now, you just have to add and work on advanced features, analyze feedback from MVP, overcome the challenges, and implement an effective roadmap. 

Just consider that to plan your ideas and look after factors priorly. One of the immensely important roles in the success of MVP development is of developers. So, ensure to finalize and employ industry experts with proper knowledge of mobile app development. 

Why Choose Rlogical for Your Startup MVP App Development?

Being a top-notch MVP app development company, Rlogical Techsoft has always worked on delivering quality products. Our developers have delivered various startup projects. We have experts for building an MVP for your startup. It has always been proven the best practice for app development in the future. 

We understand that MVP is essential for the long run of business and investing in the process will surely give better ROI. Aside from that, if you have collaborated with us, you can get the privilege of the following;

• Flexible approach based on the project
• Fast deployment process
• Free consultation on your project
• Accurate testing solutions, and many more. 

Partner with Rlogical and experience top app development solutions for your business. 

Summing Up!

To take a great leap in the marketplace and make your business a significant success, the MVP development process shouldn’t be neglected. It is a full-proof method to understand ideas and risk factors well in advance. Outsourcing your project to an MVP development company will eliminate the loopholes and leverage experts’ insight. So, you can launch the final product without any drawbacks. Schedule a meeting and get started with MVP development for your project today!