Common Mistakes to Avoid when Building MVP

Mar 14, 2023 0 min read 1392

Vasyl Kuchma Managing Partner

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Building Your MVP 1. Not Enough Market Data Analysis 2. Mixing Up Prototypes and MVPs 3. No Monetization Plan in Place 4. Focus on Both Speed and Quality 5. Adding or Removing Features 6. Hiring Inexperienced Professionals

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Building Your MVP

Did you know 75% of startups fail due to lack of market demand? This shows how important it is to ensure your idea has demand before fully developing it. For startups, entrepreneurs, and product managers, the first step to success is creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). An MVP lets you test your product with little investment. This helps you understand if there is demand before investing a lot of resources.

When creating an MVP , it's important to have a plan. Here are some common mistakes to avoid. This will help make your MVP more successful.

1. Not Enough Market Data Analysis

A common mistake is rushing into development without enough research. Many entrepreneurs start building their apps without checking if there is market demand or understanding their target customers. Doing market research first can help spot problems early on. This helps create a product that meets customer needs. It's important to take the time to understand your audience before building anything.

Solution: Do careful market research using different ways:

User Interviews: Talk to people one-on-one to learn about their needs and problems. This helps you understand why they do things and how they behave.
Surveys: Surveys can help you understand your users. Tools like Google Forms, SurveyMonkey, or Typeform let you create and share surveys. Ask specific questions to find out what users want and get feedback on features or ideas.
Competitor Analysis: Look at your competitors to see what they do well and where they struggle. Tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush can show you data on competitor website traffic, audience, and market position. Analyzing competitors lets you understand how you compare. This highlights areas for improvement and helps you set realistic goals to grow your business.
User Persona Templates: These templates help you create detailed user personas. Based on your research, you can use tools like Xtensio or HubSpot's Make My Persona. These tools guide you in defining user characteristics, goals, and challenges.

Consider Dropbox. They used a simple landing page and video to see if people were interested in their file-sharing service. The big response helped them improve their product and make sure there was a market before fully developing it.

2. Mixing Up Prototypes and MVPs

A prototype is an early model of a product. It shows the basic idea but lacks many features. An MVP, or minimum viable product, is a more complete version. It has just enough features for customers to use and provide feedback. It's easy to mix up prototypes and MVPs. Both are steps in creating a final product. But they serve different purposes. A prototype tests an idea. An MVP allows you to gather feedback from real users. Confusing these two can lead to problems. If you treat a prototype like an MVP, you'll miss out on valuable user feedback. And if you rush an MVP, you may end up with a product that doesn't meet customer needs. To avoid this, clearly define your goals. Are you looking to test an idea or get user input? Knowing the difference will help you choose the right approach.

Many people who start businesses think a prototype is the same as a minimum viable product (MVP). But prototypes and MVPs have different goals.

Prototype: An early model used to test ideas internally. It lacks full features. Prototypes are crucial for validating concepts before development. They help ensure the right ideas are pursued.
MVP: A product that has basic functions, but not all features. The goal is to get feedback from users on this early version.

Tools for Prototyping: Prototyping is an important part of the design process. Prototypes allow you to test ideas before building the final product. There are many tools available for prototyping. Some common tools include:

Paper
Digital wireframing
Interactive mockups

Choosing the right prototyping tool depends on your project's needs. The best tool helps you effectively test and refine your design.

3. No Monetization Plan in Place

While you shouldn't charge users for your MVP at first, it's important to think about how your product will make money in the future. You need a plan to earn revenue over time. This will help your business grow and succeed. Think about pricing models, subscription fees, or other ways to generate income from your product. Planning ahead for revenue is crucial for the long-term success of your MVP.

Different Monetization Models: There are many ways websites can make money:

Advertising: Websites can show ads and earn money each time someone clicks on them.
Subscriptions: Users pay a fee to access exclusive content or features.
Digital product sales: Some sites sell e-books, courses, or other digital products.
Affiliate marketing: Promoting other companies' products and earning commissions on sales.
Premium versions: Offering a free version with the option to upgrade for more features.

Testing different money-making ideas early on is important. This allows you to see which ones work best and focus your efforts on the successful models.

4. Focus on Both Speed and Quality

Going too fast can hurt the quality of your work. But you also don't want to take forever completing a task. The key is finding a good balance between speed and quality. Rushing through a project may get it done quickly, but the final result may be sloppy or have mistakes. Spending too much time on every detail can make you fall behind. Try to work efficiently without sacrificing important aspects. Set reasonable deadlines and stick to them. But also take the time needed to ensure high-quality work. Prioritizing both speed and quality will lead to better overall results.

In the hurry to get a product out, some teams choose speed over quality. This leads to a product with many errors and security problems.

Advice: Make sure to spend time on quality testing. Focus on smart security measures and careful testing. This helps create a good user experience.

5. Adding or Removing Features

Having too many features on your website can confuse users. But having too few features may not meet their needs. The right balance is important. You want to provide the features customers want without overwhelming them. Focus on the most important features first. Then, add or remove features based on user feedback and data. This will help create a smooth and effective website experience.

6. Hiring Inexperienced Professionals

You should be careful when hiring inexperienced workers. They may not have the right skills yet. This could lead to problems with the work they do. You'll need to provide more training and supervision for inexperienced hires. Make sure you give them the support they need to succeed. This way, you can avoid issues that come with hiring people without much experience.