What are the essential steps that a SaaS business should take before releasing an MVP?
Rahul
25 replies
As someone new to the business aspect of the software, I'm curious to learn about your approach to the pre-launch process of an MVP for your SaaS startups.
Replies
Mehdi Rifai@mehdi_rifai
Getting customers and validating the market are top priorities before any release
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@mehdi_rifai Obtaining customers before the launch appears to be a daunting task! I guess achieving it would play a key role in validating the market. Am I getting it right, Mehdi?
@c99rahul for Saas B2B you can sometimes get customer to pay for your tool before you release it. If you don't have paying customer having a waitlist of interested customers can do the job. You can try asking customers for money before building your MVP you would be surprised at how many yes you would get :)
@mehdi_rifai These are the insights that you can learn only from experienced individuals in the market. Once I identify the value I can offer in exchange, I intend to give it a try.
Thanks so much for sharing the knowledge! :)
Think of MVP as minimum viable prototype. Where viable means either users want to keep using it long-term, or there is a validated willing to pay for the product short-term.
No company ever launches an MVP (as in minimum viable product). MVP's are created post-launch by feedback, optimization and confirmation of traction.
@cyclicshaw To my mind, MVP is something that just works and solves the primary problem w/o cosmetics, fine-tuning and rich features. Still trying to learn more in this direction. Thanks for your guidance, Gavriel. :)
@cyclicshaw Spot on, Gavriel! It won't make sense otherwise.
Scoutflo
Launching soon!
1. Identify the problem: Figure out what problem your MVP will solve and who your target audience is.
2. Create a value proposition: Describe the benefits of your product and why customers should use it.
3. Make a roadmap: Plan out the features and functionalities that you want to include in your MVP, and prioritize the most important ones based on customer needs and feedback.
4. Build and test the MVP: Start building and testing the MVP, focusing on the most critical features and functionalities first.
5. Get feedback: Collect feedback from users and stakeholders throughout the MVP development process and use it to make improvements.
6. Growth plan: Think about how your product will grow in the future and make sure you have the right technology and infrastructure to support that growth.
7. Prepare for launch: Plan a strategy for launching your product that includes marketing and promotional efforts, as well as clear documentation and support resources to help users get started.
Define the Problem -> define MVP Scope -> create a Prototype -> conduct User Testing -> define Metrics -> prepare Launch Plan -> develop Pricing Strategy -> develop Support and Service Strategy
@sfaoui_abdeljabbar Looks a lot to me right now, but can't deny that step-by-step stuff is much easier to register and digest. Thanks for sharing the knowledge, Abdel! :)
Cascadeur
We started Early access for our SaaS business to understand feedback and check all possible bugs.
@alina_dyabina Early feedback is important to establish a foundation for future plans. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Alina. All the very best for the launch!
Social Champ
Before releasing an MVP, a SaaS business should identify their target market, validate their idea, define their MVP's core features, design a user-friendly interface, and test their product.
@neha_khan78 Nice step-by-step overview, Neha. I'm trying to memorize these to do the right things first before implementing any idea of mine. Thanks for sharing the knowledge.
@neha_khan78 @c99rahul where 'validating the idea' means testing low fidelity prototypes in customer interviews to establish Problem Solution Fit.
@neha_khan78 @cyclicshaw Thanks, Gavriel. I read this term somewhere on Twitter. It seems to save a lot of time as you get to know if your idea is worth it.
HyperTest
[1] Build a cohort i.e. recruit 4-5 customers that you can show the product who evaluate it without judgement
[2] Go to / speak to about 15-20 or more potential prospects to get to these 4-5
[3] Give them an early access to your MVP
@shailendra_singh_ht without judgement?
HyperTest
@cyclicshaw They can ignore basic flaws in your product like UI, design or UX. They are sold on the problem hence ok with not a full functional MVP
@shailendra_singh_ht That's a nice walkthrough, Shailendra. Do we also know the first one as beta testing?
Read through all the forum threads you can find about your topic. It is long, but you can learn a lot. Extra tip: copy important parts that describe the problem in your customers' words, and use them word-by-word in your copy.