Developing an MVP for SaaS Startups: Technical Insights
Introduction
What to do to create an MVP of your product and not to fall into technical traps? How come that there are ideas that are monetized and ideas that do not work? The article will answer these questions, giving startup performance suggestions and all potential technical problems.
What does MVP mean?
MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is a prototype version of a product or service that comprises of a bunch of bare functions that can bring value to your final consumer. The concept of the MVP consists of the 3 stages of the cycle:
- Build
- Measure
- Learn
It will enable you to get a valuable preview of what users want in a product and know whether they are willing to purchase. MVP development can help you to minimize the time spent on launching the project and simply develop the minimum of functions and begin to obtain the actual feedback. In such a way, the minimum viable product will enable:
- to test a hypothesis with real data and demonstrate the viability of an idea
- to push the possibility of financial losses at the release of an unsuccessful product
- to reduce the costs associated with removing unnecessary functions
- to determine the needs of unaccounted customers
- to optimise the product testing and boost the search process of the error
- to develop an initial customer base before moving to the full scale launch
Approximately 45 percent of start-ups failure is because of absence of the market demand and release timing.
An MVP makes sure that the product is demanding or has to be abandoned in a haste due to non-business viability. The majority of the popular startups in the US and Europe began as a basic MVP version. Businesses experiment on the market, they develop a customer base, they demonstrate their idea to investors and receive investment funds required. Once the market justifies the necessity of the product, then one can begin to add new features to the product and keep on developing its tools.
What are MVPs SaaS startups
SaaS startups are reported to be cloud technologies allowing to use the software as a service without its installation. The service is accessed either via a browser or API by the user. The SaaS model represents a pre-prepared model - pay and have access in a jiffy. Google Docs is the best-recognized SaaS. No identifiable drivers or installations - create an account, use the link and manipulate texts, spreadsheets and presentations through a browser. In case of SaaS, the user is able to reach the company administrator at any time. All customers of the service are provided with regular updates. In the case of a large company then this is a saving on software. The program does not have to be bought and installed on individual computers since multiple users can work in the program. It requires only username and password to gain access. MVPs are useful to start your SaaS product, the longer consumers have to wait before a product is created, the more money is devoted to its creation, and so the greater risks and failures. The value of money today is greater than that of tomorrow. MVP published at the opportune moment, when it has already received sufficient funds invested in its creation, will minimize the threat of low ROI and contribute to the establishment of stable cash flow in the future scaling of SaaS products.
What benefits can an MVP have to a SaaS startup?
The best product to make a minimum investment is SaaS MVP startups because you are dealing with a trustworthy technical partner who has been deep into the details of your business and has the experience in the area.
Revenue generation time
You receive all the feedback data to upgrade more in the future, you win more users and more investments without spending too much.
Quick pace of product launching speed
The time required to create an MVP is significantly shorter than the traditional one and the entire process is approximately 3-6 months.
User feedback
MVPs tend to be under constant change due to the feedback. The most suitable approach at this point is the cupcake approach. The first one is to invite your customers to taste a small cake, in order to enjoy the dough, filling, cream and provide feedback. When visitors enjoy the flavor of the cake, you begin preparing a huge wedding or birthday cake of the real size.
Collaborating with your future investors
At a young age of a project, the project has only penetrated into the market. The commercial proposals of investors will put you ahead of the competition and have an opportunity of making ideas a reality. These are some advantages:
- in many cases, the investor is a guarantor of the further development of the product
- one more practice in the effective management of the given product
- the opportunity to make the first sale and begin to compensate the project budget
Ready to Build Your SaaS MVP?
Get expert guidance on technical implementation and avoid common startup pitfalls.
Get StartedDesign is a method of contact with the target audience. The important aspects of brand retention are the user experience and brand identity. And lastly, design assists to narrate a story which may have an emotional effect on the user. It makes you stand out of the crowds, makes you more brilliant, cooler, easy-to-use and understandable.
What are the technical lessons to be learned in developing a
All that has been mentioned above is quite essential in the interpretation of the process of the project implementation. To go deeper and deeper on this question, we have chosen to present a more detailed description of the construction of a SaaS MVP and similar technical problems. There are certain technical traps that are frequently made some of my team members have been working with startups a long time we understand the uniqueness of this business. Typically, in a short time span, a startup has to develop a working version of the product. The market is expanding and evolving - it is a matter of days. There is an immediate necessity to rush to the market and test the product with the real users.
Common Technical Pitfalls
The desire of the hired team to produce the best of the best product to the clients is one of the most frequent pitfalls. Technical teams have a tendency of making a good quality product in the first instance which can be easily upgraded in future by adding various features and reuse them. The team wraps up all that with testing and develops a product that has scalable functionality at the beginning. According to developers, it will become easier to scale, grow and add functionality. The software will be in a position to process a large number of simultaneous launch requests.
Based on our working experience, we would recommend that the client does not require a perfect product at the start. The most important is to introduce a simpler product and ensure that it is a necessity to the market.
It is most likely that once in the market there will be a scenario where the audience requests new features that simply do not fit the original core architecture. As it happens, the main plan does not match the actual market requirements, and in consequence, the client will not be able to utilize functionality developed first. At times, the audience demands other functionality other than what the client was relying on. In this way, the understanding of what the product requires and what necessities should be resorted to is aware. Thus, the client participates in the creation of the MVP beginning with nothing. To prevent this scenario, you should collaborate with a reliable technical partner that can find the compromise between the current essential needs and the potential future ones. This will enable you to enter the market fast and with high performance, receive user feedback and will further add more meaningful functionality to the product, based on surveys, numbers, feedback and data.
Best Technical Practices
Do not aim at the desired scalability and the ideal quality of MVP because you are most likely to have to add new features or adjust the design or even rewrite the entire development. It is necessary to take the market with a minimum functionality and begin to test it on the real users. It would be advisable not to act on everything and rush. One has to know that the product is required by more than just a crowd of people. This relies on the utility of the characteristics and target market of the products. Unless your product is incredibly specific, however, and targeted at a mass population, then examine all the responses and seek trends in the demands.
Enablers that facilitate a quick and quality development
Team cohesion and motivation influence the end outcome. The team should have the spirit of producing a good product. Meanwhile, the right balance has to be sought between the speed, quality and consider that the product can be modified later. Provided you develop MVP in Front and Back, then seek Full Stack devs, they will definitely be hard to find, particularly when it comes to free flight, though this will certainly assist you to move more swiftly. In case you do not have Full Stack engineers in your team, then it would be good to recruit at least a Tech Lead or Team Lead Full Stack so as to be able to provide proper technical support of the project. DevOps knowledge developers are a goldmine to an MVP startup, and incredibly useful in the development process.
The features that SaaS products must have
Assuming that we are dealing with SaaS startup then the following features are some of the requirements:
- Admin Dashboard - a typical control panel, where in the case of a given startup owner or startup managers can manage every new subscriber, but can set functionality and make some sort of analytics on the B2B users
- B2B Dashboard/App - a console, on which B2B customers will have access to the functionality the SaaS product will offer
- B2C Client App - a possibility to have B2B customers sell this solution with their own brand to final users
Some forms of payment integrations and subscription management systems will be featured in the admin dashboard. Stripe is highly appropriate when it comes to payments. It can be configured easily, used and connected to your project. Sending messages to the mail will be necessary when a subscription is made or when an account is opened. This suits the SendGrid service. It is also user friendly and can be merged with any technology. When attempting to begin with the basics of the application features that will be utilized by the end-users, it is important to begin with that. It is not an exception that open-source tools are in line to be considered nowadays solutions in launching an MVP in a hurry. As an example, to develop Landing pages we have Tilda, Wix, and other different cloud databases solutions with full package.
Watch out to No-Code and Low-Code solutions. This is an issue that is becoming popular in finding solutions to MVP development.
Our experience
AskPorter is an example of a successful MVP implementation by us. The service assists in the data sharing and optimization of properties management is performed with the assistance of AI. The primary objective of the platform is to grow the degree of customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Tasks
It was required to have an effective real-time service that immediately receives orders and locates the appropriate specialists online, making the process of fixing the home of users with accidental water or gas leakage easier and faster. To optimise the sendings of qualified specialists to ensure that the homeowners do not have to make use of building management and wait until repairmen come to rectify the problem. The delay in fixing such problems results into expenses and repairs.
Problem statement
The client was interested in optimization of all costs of management and a transparent tool that would help the user solve their problems in real-time. In case there is an issue, end customers will have an opportunity to contact the repair expert online and follow the work status at the platform.
Result
We managed to undertake the project within time limits and did not exceed the allocated budget. This made AskPorter the winner of the funding program. The primary objective of the MVP software development is to save the time and efforts to test an idea prior to operating an actual full-fledged product. We are experienced in both competency and solving technical problems associated with startups. Adjustments can be brought about by funding risks and restrictions, force majeure and adaptation to external changes. However we are cutting around all the pain points. This is why our solutions have turned into win-win strategies of development and successful products.
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Introduction
What to do to create an MVP of your product and not to fall into technical traps? How come that there are ideas that are monetized and ideas that do not work? The article will answer these questions, giving startup performance suggestions and all potential technical problems.
What does MVP mean?
MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is a prototype version of a product or service that comprises of a bunch of bare functions that can bring value to your final consumer. The concept of the MVP consists of the 3 stages of the cycle:
- Build
- Measure
- Learn
It will enable you to get a valuable preview of what users want in a product and know whether they are willing to purchase. MVP development can help you to minimize the time spent on launching the project and simply develop the minimum of functions and begin to obtain the actual feedback. In such a way, the minimum viable product will enable:
- to test a hypothesis with real data and demonstrate the viability of an idea
- to push the possibility of financial losses at the release of an unsuccessful product
- to reduce the costs associated with removing unnecessary functions
- to determine the needs of unaccounted customers
- to optimise the product testing and boost the search process of the error
- to develop an initial customer base before moving to the full scale launch
Approximately 45 percent of start-ups failure is because of absence of the market demand and release timing.
An MVP makes sure that the product is demanding or has to be abandoned in a haste due to non-business viability. The majority of the popular startups in the US and Europe began as a basic MVP version. Businesses experiment on the market, they develop a customer base, they demonstrate their idea to investors and receive investment funds required. Once the market justifies the necessity of the product, then one can begin to add new features to the product and keep on developing its tools.
What are MVPs SaaS startups
SaaS startups are reported to be cloud technologies allowing to use the software as a service without its installation. The service is accessed either via a browser or API by the user. The SaaS model represents a pre-prepared model - pay and have access in a jiffy. Google Docs is the best-recognized SaaS. No identifiable drivers or installations - create an account, use the link and manipulate texts, spreadsheets and presentations through a browser. In case of SaaS, the user is able to reach the company administrator at any time. All customers of the service are provided with regular updates. In the case of a large company then this is a saving on software. The program does not have to be bought and installed on individual computers since multiple users can work in the program. It requires only username and password to gain access. MVPs are useful to start your SaaS product, the longer consumers have to wait before a product is created, the more money is devoted to its creation, and so the greater risks and failures. The value of money today is greater than that of tomorrow. MVP published at the opportune moment, when it has already received sufficient funds invested in its creation, will minimize the threat of low ROI and contribute to the establishment of stable cash flow in the future scaling of SaaS products.
What benefits can an MVP have to a SaaS startup?
The best product to make a minimum investment is SaaS MVP startups because you are dealing with a trustworthy technical partner who has been deep into the details of your business and has the experience in the area.
Revenue generation time
You receive all the feedback data to upgrade more in the future, you win more users and more investments without spending too much.
Quick pace of product launching speed
The time required to create an MVP is significantly shorter than the traditional one and the entire process is approximately 3-6 months.
User feedback
MVPs tend to be under constant change due to the feedback. The most suitable approach at this point is the cupcake approach. The first one is to invite your customers to taste a small cake, in order to enjoy the dough, filling, cream and provide feedback. When visitors enjoy the flavor of the cake, you begin preparing a huge wedding or birthday cake of the real size.
Collaborating with your future investors
At a young age of a project, the project has only penetrated into the market. The commercial proposals of investors will put you ahead of the competition and have an opportunity of making ideas a reality. These are some advantages:
- in many cases, the investor is a guarantor of the further development of the product
- one more practice in the effective management of the given product
- the opportunity to make the first sale and begin to compensate the project budget
Ready to Build Your SaaS MVP?
Get expert guidance on technical implementation and avoid common startup pitfalls.
Get StartedDesign is a method of contact with the target audience. The important aspects of brand retention are the user experience and brand identity. And lastly, design assists to narrate a story which may have an emotional effect on the user. It makes you stand out of the crowds, makes you more brilliant, cooler, easy-to-use and understandable.
What are the technical lessons to be learned in developing a
All that has been mentioned above is quite essential in the interpretation of the process of the project implementation. To go deeper and deeper on this question, we have chosen to present a more detailed description of the construction of a SaaS MVP and similar technical problems. There are certain technical traps that are frequently made some of my team members have been working with startups a long time we understand the uniqueness of this business. Typically, in a short time span, a startup has to develop a working version of the product. The market is expanding and evolving - it is a matter of days. There is an immediate necessity to rush to the market and test the product with the real users.
Common Technical Pitfalls
The desire of the hired team to produce the best of the best product to the clients is one of the most frequent pitfalls. Technical teams have a tendency of making a good quality product in the first instance which can be easily upgraded in future by adding various features and reuse them. The team wraps up all that with testing and develops a product that has scalable functionality at the beginning. According to developers, it will become easier to scale, grow and add functionality. The software will be in a position to process a large number of simultaneous launch requests.
Based on our working experience, we would recommend that the client does not require a perfect product at the start. The most important is to introduce a simpler product and ensure that it is a necessity to the market.
It is most likely that once in the market there will be a scenario where the audience requests new features that simply do not fit the original core architecture. As it happens, the main plan does not match the actual market requirements, and in consequence, the client will not be able to utilize functionality developed first. At times, the audience demands other functionality other than what the client was relying on. In this way, the understanding of what the product requires and what necessities should be resorted to is aware. Thus, the client participates in the creation of the MVP beginning with nothing. To prevent this scenario, you should collaborate with a reliable technical partner that can find the compromise between the current essential needs and the potential future ones. This will enable you to enter the market fast and with high performance, receive user feedback and will further add more meaningful functionality to the product, based on surveys, numbers, feedback and data.
Best Technical Practices
Do not aim at the desired scalability and the ideal quality of MVP because you are most likely to have to add new features or adjust the design or even rewrite the entire development. It is necessary to take the market with a minimum functionality and begin to test it on the real users. It would be advisable not to act on everything and rush. One has to know that the product is required by more than just a crowd of people. This relies on the utility of the characteristics and target market of the products. Unless your product is incredibly specific, however, and targeted at a mass population, then examine all the responses and seek trends in the demands.
Enablers that facilitate a quick and quality development
Team cohesion and motivation influence the end outcome. The team should have the spirit of producing a good product. Meanwhile, the right balance has to be sought between the speed, quality and consider that the product can be modified later. Provided you develop MVP in Front and Back, then seek Full Stack devs, they will definitely be hard to find, particularly when it comes to free flight, though this will certainly assist you to move more swiftly. In case you do not have Full Stack engineers in your team, then it would be good to recruit at least a Tech Lead or Team Lead Full Stack so as to be able to provide proper technical support of the project. DevOps knowledge developers are a goldmine to an MVP startup, and incredibly useful in the development process.
The features that SaaS products must have
Assuming that we are dealing with SaaS startup then the following features are some of the requirements:
- Admin Dashboard - a typical control panel, where in the case of a given startup owner or startup managers can manage every new subscriber, but can set functionality and make some sort of analytics on the B2B users
- B2B Dashboard/App - a console, on which B2B customers will have access to the functionality the SaaS product will offer
- B2C Client App - a possibility to have B2B customers sell this solution with their own brand to final users
Some forms of payment integrations and subscription management systems will be featured in the admin dashboard. Stripe is highly appropriate when it comes to payments. It can be configured easily, used and connected to your project. Sending messages to the mail will be necessary when a subscription is made or when an account is opened. This suits the SendGrid service. It is also user friendly and can be merged with any technology. When attempting to begin with the basics of the application features that will be utilized by the end-users, it is important to begin with that. It is not an exception that open-source tools are in line to be considered nowadays solutions in launching an MVP in a hurry. As an example, to develop Landing pages we have Tilda, Wix, and other different cloud databases solutions with full package.
Watch out to No-Code and Low-Code solutions. This is an issue that is becoming popular in finding solutions to MVP development.
Our experience
AskPorter is an example of a successful MVP implementation by us. The service assists in the data sharing and optimization of properties management is performed with the assistance of AI. The primary objective of the platform is to grow the degree of customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Tasks
It was required to have an effective real-time service that immediately receives orders and locates the appropriate specialists online, making the process of fixing the home of users with accidental water or gas leakage easier and faster. To optimise the sendings of qualified specialists to ensure that the homeowners do not have to make use of building management and wait until repairmen come to rectify the problem. The delay in fixing such problems results into expenses and repairs.
Problem statement
The client was interested in optimization of all costs of management and a transparent tool that would help the user solve their problems in real-time. In case there is an issue, end customers will have an opportunity to contact the repair expert online and follow the work status at the platform.
Result
We managed to undertake the project within time limits and did not exceed the allocated budget. This made AskPorter the winner of the funding program. The primary objective of the MVP software development is to save the time and efforts to test an idea prior to operating an actual full-fledged product. We are experienced in both competency and solving technical problems associated with startups. Adjustments can be brought about by funding risks and restrictions, force majeure and adaptation to external changes. However we are cutting around all the pain points. This is why our solutions have turned into win-win strategies of development and successful products.
