In 2024, it seems like every business needs its own digital product. Whether purely for internal use or monetization. But here’s a thing: the more complex your IT solution, the higher its cost.

For example, analysts at Business say that the final price of an average digital product varies from $60,000 to $150,000. Full-fledged complex systems can cost more than $200,000.

Not exactly what you call budget-friendly, is it? However, you don’t have to launch a full-fledged digital solution right away. The optimal option is to start with an application MVP, which will cost you between $10,000 and $30,000.

Today, we’ll explore why an MVP is a real thing for businesses. We will also overview the potential challenges of developing this software model.

Did you know how many apps fail? According to Zippia, it’s approximately 9 out of 10.

There are quite a few reasons for this, but the most common ones are:

• Faulty MVP approach.
• Insufficient market research.
• Weak project idea.
• Concept plagiarism.
• Lack of understanding of the “what,” “why,” and “who” behind the project.

This can also include a poor tech stack, an inexperienced development team, or an insufficient budget. These issues are more likely to appear when implementing a minimally viable product using an agile methodology.

Let’s focus on core challenges your business may face on the route to the project implementation.

Absence of the Discovery Phase

MVP means software pre-designed for rapid monetization and scaling. The discovery phase sets this vector. Skip this step, and you may go absolutely nowhere with your development process.

If your team, consisting of PO, PM, BA, and marketers, fails to work out the product concept and outline its algorithms, goals, etc., you risk ending up with an application that doesn’t align with your business needs. This once again highlights the importance of the initial stage of MVP meaning in project management.

For example, you’ve decided to launch a mobile banking app as an MVP. Without this phase, you might focus on fancy features (like a customizable background), while in fact, the users are looking for simple, secure ways to check their balance, transfer money, or pay bills. After the launch, they might complain that your application lacks basic features. 

So, just because the team skipped the discovery phase, they missed out on an understanding of users’ critical needs. And here you go, those early adapters are all gone.

Weak Segment Analysis

Research the market before starting your MVP project. There’s a chance your competitors are already running with your idea.

This can have many potential consequences:

• Accusations of plagiarism.
• Product redundancy.
• Lack of audience.
• Ineffective monetization.
• Additional expenses for restructuring.

You may also entirely miss crucial innovations. Without them, your product could lag behind competitors and barely generate revenue.

Insufficient Planning and Conceptualization

Even the greatest ideas fail because of the lack of long-term business planning.

Let’s say, you have that sure-thing idea with your MVP for a new food delivery application. You think, “Let’s just get it out there and see what happens!” So, you focus mainly on building a system for users to order food from restaurants.

However, you skip over building partnerships. As a result, you might not have secured enough variety in restaurants or negotiated favorable terms. Which leaves users with limited choices compared to other solutions.

The lack of planning means it’s harder for you to compete in the market, monetize your application, and capture the interest of its user base.

Ineffective Idea

A successful MVP is not just about the idea itself (though it’s also important).

Your product concept should align with a bunch of things:

• What do your customers really need?
• What’s going on in your industry?
• What’s likely to happen in the medium term?
• What’s already out there, and why do people like it?
• What’s your marketing strategy?

When implementing MVP in tech, the technical component takes a back seat. For effective product sales, you’ll need a powerful advertising campaign that sells your idea as trendy, necessary, and innovative.

Poor Testing

Of course, there is hardly a bug-free app. But it’s a bad idea to release an MVP with serious tech issues. For example, if your product experiences frequent interface or operational errors, don’t release it until you solve the issues.

How many users do you think will stick around using a buggy product? Exactly, pretty much no one. And that’s a one-way ticket to poor reputation.

Thoroughly test your MVP throughout the entire development cycle to ensure that its release version works properly.

Not Qualified Development Service Provider

You’re excited to fill the market gap with your MVP solution, and you decide to outsource the software development service. But you choose the vendor with the lowest rates without checking their experience, work arrangement, etc.

As work begins, you may figure out that:

• The vendor doesn’t grasp your unique needs and overlooks important elements.
• Users encounter bugs, slow performance, or a confusing user interface because the provider had to cut corners to keep the cost low.
• The IT company underestimated the complexity of your project, so there are delays in the development timeline.
• You may end up with a functional MVP but with a codebase not built for scalability. So, you can’t make necessary updates or even complete your MVP plan.
• Initially attracted by the low quote, you now find yourself facing unexpected costs due to the need for extensive revisions and bug fixes.

That’s why you should choose a team capable of covering your project needs.

Look for companies that apply advanced development methodologies and models to optimize product development without compromising its quality. It would be nice to work with people who will also continue to support your MVP after its launch.

Lack of Maintenance

Releasing an MVP is just the starting line. Sure, there are some exceptions, but they are pretty uncommon.

Once your product enters the market, the real work begins. You add features and improve them based on user feedback, provide tech support, fix bugs, and more. But what if you don’t?

Well, that’s a risky route because:

• Users may encounter bugs (e.g. the app may crash during transactions). Since there’s no ongoing maintenance, the issues will worsen the user experience.
• Without regular updates, your app becomes susceptible to security vulnerabilities.
• As competitors emerge and technology advances, your app begins to feel outdated. Thus, your app fails to meet users’ evolving expectations.
• Without optimization, the loading time may increase and the app may become less responsive. 

Unthoughtful Monetization Model

No one will pay for a dysfunctional or buggy product. When releasing an MVP, make your users feel like they’re getting their money’s worth.  Whether it’s through the price you’ve set or the subscription rates.

Also, provide a trial period to let users test the program’s functionality. Think about how you’ll adjust pricing, run promotional offers, etc.

Don’t overdo it with in-app ads, at least in the initial stages of MVP promotion. Sure, ads can make you money, but they also annoy a lot of users.

An MVP is a budget-friendly option for getting a fully functional digital product to the market. However, launching an MVP is just the first step. After that, get ready for some serious product support and scaling.

To ensure successful idea formation and MVP development, seek assistance from experts who can identify gaps in planning and help conceptualize the idea.

You can always turn to AdvantISS experts for consultation on MVP development.