Achieving a balance between time to market and MVP scope: Strategies for startups

Every startup aims for a short Time to Market. On the other hand, a good MVP should be a fully-fledged application that is technically and design-wise refined. How can you achieve both?

When creating an MVP scope it’s important to define its scope correctly. Meeting the most important user needs is the foundation of a good MVP, so it should include only the most crucial features. Otherwise, achieving a balance between a short Time to Market and an MVP that will succeed will be very difficult.

What is Time to Market?

Time to Market (TTM) is another term for the time that passes from the beginning of a project to its release on the market. According to another definition, it is the time from when developers started their work to the first sold copy.

Why is Time to Market so important?

The main reasons why Time to Market is so important are:

• Rapid market changes
• Competition
• Technological progress (which accelerates market changes)

Because application users expect constant innovation, new possibilities, and increasingly complex features. It is crucial for your application to be the first of its kind on the market, surpassing the competition. To achieve this, many companies want to create an MVP.

Consequences of a long Time to Market.

According to a McKinsey study, companies typically lose 33% of their income if the market launch of the product is 6 months late. In comparison, exceeding the budget by 50% during product development results in losses of only 3.5%. For large companies, such losses may not be fatal, but someone will certainly face the consequences. The situation is even worse for small businesses and startups. Releasing a product too late often leads to the downfall of the company, which is a common occurrence. Approximately 90% of startup strategies fail in their first 2 years of operation, and improperly defining Time to Market (TTM) is certainly one of the reasons for this phenomenon.

Why is a correctly defined MVP scope so important?

A properly defined MVP scope means, above all, a short development time. At iMakeable, creating an MVP that meets user needs typically takes 3 to 6 months. As indicated by a McKinsey study, this is a short enough period to avoid income losses. A correctly defined MVP prioritization scope allows for the reduction of many costs, preventing the project budget from being exceeded. When defining the MVP scope, it’s important to ask yourself whether a particular feature is truly necessary and whether the time required to create it is worth it. In many companies, the MVP scope is incorrectly defined, leading to the inclusion of many unnecessary features that could be included in later versions.

There are several methods for feature prioritization in the MVP, including the impact-effort matrix and MoSCoW method, which you can learn more about in the article “How to properly define MVP Scope.” Calculating the ROI of the MVP definitely facilitates decision-making regarding which features must be included in the MVP and which can be added in later versions.

By using these methods, you reduce the risk of exceeding the Time to Market by several months. This, in turn, helps with minimizing development costs and increases potential revenue, avoiding the situations presented in the McKinsey study. The main advantage of “trimming” unnecessary features is speeding up Time to Market. This allows for quicker achievement of product market fit and also reduces the costs of creating the application.

The main advantage of entering the market quickly

Faster entry of the application into the market provides a significant advantage over the competition. This is because the application is made available to the first users, who provide crucial feedback.

After collecting a sufficient amount of user feedback, it’s time to reconsider the MVP’s functionality, as it may turn out that users are using the application in a completely different way than we thought. They have different needs, which can make a feature with a low priority become the most important one to implement.

Choosing technology for rapid development - Why Next.js?

In the context of rapid development, technological choices for MVP are crucial as you need something that allows flexible and efficient application development. Next.js, a framework based on React, stands out in this area, offering exceptional performance and versatility. Its main advantages include speed, ease of creating SEO-friendly pages, and support for server-side rendering (SSR) and static site generation (SSG), significantly speeding up page loading times. Next.js framework also enables the creation of dynamic web applications with fast content refresh, which is crucial for applications requiring continuous data updates. Therefore, it is an ideal choice for startups looking to quickly introduce their products to the market without compromising on quality and functionality. If you want to learn more about Next.js, its advantages, and disadvantages, I invite you to read our article: “Next.js - What Kind of Framework Is It? Pros and Cons of This Technological Solution”

Tools and Techniques for MVP Development

Using the right tools and techniques can streamline this process, ensuring your MVP meets user needs while being developed efficiently. So, here are some of the tools and techniques that you need for successful MVP development.

Customer Interview Tools

While many tools are available for customer interviews, TypeForm stands out for its user-friendly and smooth interface. It allows users to create engaging, conversational surveys and enables the fast-paced development of questionnaires. This tool makes the experience more like a conversation than a traditional survey, increasing response rates and data quality.

Google Forms is another popular choice, especially for those looking for simplicity and something that offers integration with other Google Workspace tools. Its straightforward design and accessibility make it ideal for quick surveys when you need to reach a broad audience without extra costs. The best part? It’s cost-efficient!

LinkedIn is not something unheard of when it comes to simplicity and a better experience. For reaching potential customers and industry professionals, LinkedIn is a vital tool. The platform’s targeting options allow you to connect with specific prospects, making it easier to gather relevant feedback from your intended user base.

Another popular tool is SurveyMonkey, which offers advanced features. It’s a robust tool for startups that require in-depth analysis and sophisticated reporting. Doing so allows for the rapid development of MVP.

Tools for Building MVP Landing Page

As a no-code platform, InstaPage is a powerful tool for rapid landing page development, focusing on conversion optimization. The key advantage of this tool is its simplicity, which attracts users easily.

Similarly, if you have no prior coding skills, Strikingly is another tool that excels in both simplicity and speed. It’s perfect for startups that need to get a landing page up and running in just a few hours. With pre-designed templates and a user-friendly interface, it works best for anyone who is developing a one-page website.

For startups that need to validate their ideas before fully committing to development, QuickMVP is an excellent choice. As its name suggests, this tool helps you create a landing page quickly while also testing business hypotheses.

Tools for Building MVP Prototypes

Among the popular tools for building MVP prototypes, Balsamiq offers a streamlined approach to teamwork. It is suitable for both mobile and desktop devices and has user-friendly features. It may look a little old-fashioned or not-so-smart to you. However, this tool can help you execute your ideas faster.

Next, Webflow goes a step further by allowing you to design and build fully functional websites without writing code. Its hassle-free nature, powerful visual editor, and CMS capabilities make it ideal for startups looking to create polished MVPs.

Mockplus RP is another recommended prototyping tool for creating interactive websites. It stands out because of its ease of use and collaboration features. It allows teams to create interactive prototypes quickly, facilitating feedback and iterations.

And just like the cinematic or comic world, Marvel, a prototype tool, offers an all-in-one platform. It is suitable for designing, prototyping, and collaborating under one platform. Its smooth interface and seamless integration with other tools make it a favorite among users.

Summary

Time to Market is a KPI that we want to minimize as much as possible. This translates into:

Cost reduction

Increased revenue

Outpacing the competition

To achieve this, it is important to define the MVP scope correctly so that the application development time does not exceed 12 months, thereby unnecessarily prolonging the Time to Market. There are several ways to define the MVP scope, such as MoSCoW and the impact-effort matrix.

The most important thing to remember is that the main goal of a good MVP is to meet user needs without unnecessary distracting features. These features generate unnecessary costs, extend Time to Market, and increase the risk of the entire investment.

When defining the MVP scope at iMakeable, you will certainly ask yourself whether the application should be developed using native or cross-platform technology. You can learn more about this in the article “Cross-Platform and Native Applications - How Do They Differ and Which Solution to Choose?”. If you are not sure how to correctly define the scope of your MVP or would prefer to delegate this task to someone else, contact us. We know how to define the MVP scope correctly and can create it for you."