Why to deliver only the MVP?
When a business is profitable, it is much easier to make an attractive* workplace as well as to keep people happy and motivated**. That is the reason I got the inspiration to write about the importance of supplying the Minimum Viable Product I.e. MVP. MVP is usually used in the context of product development, but I think it can easily be adopted to any industry. I am aware of the fact that this might sound weird for some readers, but keep your mind open for the idea and read on.
Why to deliver only the MVP?
Smart businesses should always be based on delivering the minimum viable product (MVP). Even when dealing with premium brands and services.
Simply because:
- MVP saves time
- Time is money
- Saved money can be used to make people happy and to develop businesses.
But delivering the MVP is a lot harder than it sounds, as in some cases the beauty is in the details – and quite often it can be hard to know if something is good enough. To find out what is the MVP it usually requires surveys, tests launches, experiences and valuable failures.
Embrace failures – they are super valuable. Be grateful that You don’t need to do those mistakes again!
WHEN THE BUSINESS IS PASSION
When leading passionate people doing just the MVP can be tricky, as the passion tends not to respect the laws of smart businesses. I.e. In passion businesses the human resource and development aspect can often even make a product and service better than consumers would require. This extra amount of work should be taken in consideration when setting the price for a service or product. Luckily premium brands tend to sell better when the price rises – to a degree.
Selling the excellence too cheap can cut down the revenues fast.
This also applies when saying “our organization wants to exceed the customer expectations.” Exceeding expectations is smart only if it can be turned into revenues. Usually that can be do by keeping the customer happy (stability and capability to foresee future invoicing) and/or generating brand value which will allow bigger invoicing.
I will later get more into the detail why increasing brand value should be something that every individual and organization should want. The following image explains the basics of it in advance:
BUT WHAT IF THE PRODUCT IS just too BAD
Sometimes the problem can be the opposite: organizations fail to achieve MVP and fail. That usually means that the product is not on the level that market requires or the service is just bad. These kinds of problems are possible to fix, but usually require shitloads of more money, time and patience. And if the money runs up, then the time is out and there is not much to do. That is why it might be safe to put in some extra effort when in doubt or to try to launch with a price with more headroom. The price is always much easier to drop than rise.
TO SUMMARIZE
- It can be hard to find out the exact MVP, but if found, it is the best way to run business from revenue point of view.
- Exceeding expectations is not a bad idea, but it must be done beneficially. There are no free lunches.
- Sometimes it can be better to play safe and do a bit extra, than fail in the launch. If you run a start-up for example, you might have only one chance.
What do you think about this? Makes sense? Or not? Please comment here or in social media. I know this might not be the easiest post to agree with. 🙂