This should only take about 4 mins to read.

Benefits of Building an MVP (fast)

Building an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is a cost-effective way to test your ideas. It’s the most efficient way to get to market faster and get it into your users hands. That’s how you truly validate a product.

Receive early feedback from users:

This feedback will help you understand what is useful to your users and identify any crucial features that are missing.

The goal is to provide value to the end-user and hold onto them as a long-term customers beyond the initial version of the product.

Important: keep your product lean.

Focus on the essential features, avoid getting bogged down with unnecessary bells and whistles or expenses.

A product solves a real problem for your users.

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How to Build an MVP

To build an MVP, follow these steps:

1. Identify the problem you want to solve for yourself and your users.
2. Define the core features of your MVP. Make sure it’s easy to use.
3. Use tools like Webflow or Carrd to create a landing page that is easy to use and provides insight into the problem your product solves.
4. Launch your MVP with early adopters.

Identify a group of early adopters who are interested in your product.

Ask them to use your product and provide feedback.

Use this feedback to improve your product over time and make it more valuable to your existing users and any new users.

Your users will help you shape your product over time.

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Here is the step by step process

1. Focus on the essential features.

Avoid adding unnecessary features or expenses. Focus on the features that solve the problem for your users.

2. Keep your costs low.

Use low-cost (no-code) tools and resources to build your initial product. Outsource to freelancers or do it yourself to keep costs low.

3. Be agile.

Respond quickly to your customer needs. Be willing to pivot and explore new ideas that may lead to even better solutions.

4. Request and listen to the feedback.

5. Iterate quickly.

By following these actionable steps, you can create an MVP that solves a real problem for your users. Remember to stay focused on the essential features, keep your costs low, and be willing to pivot and iterate as needed. It’s essential to listen to your users and use their feedback to improve your product.

3 of the tweets from the week.

Tweet 1: something I always keep in mind when things get tough.

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Tweet 2: Don't overcomplicate the process.

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Tweet 3: Here is a tweet about building a foundation as an entrepreneur.

Podcast stuff:

This week the WIMB podcast featured Yuxin Zhu, the co-founder of Replo. We had an awesome conversation about Shopify, eCommerce, and how Replo came to be and where is it going in the future.

• Replo is a platform for creating, distributing, and leveraging the UI building blocks to simplify website building. Replo enables to build customizable websites significantly faster than traditional development.
• Yuxin Zhu, together with Noah Gilmore, founded Replo in 2021. The idea started from running a dropshipping business on Shopify. They wanted to create a great design and develop branding for their company, but it would have required a dedicated developer and a lot of resources. So they came up with a user-friendly way to create designs online, but at the same time have them be completely customizable and not generic.

During the episode, Yuxin shared his thoughts on the differences between Squarespace and Shopify, the advantages of building a business on top of another platform, eCommerce trends, and more. Tune in for the full conversation.

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Listen to the latest episode here

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Checkout some of my products here.

If you are interested in 1:1 business coaching, go here and see how I can help you.

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Follow me on Twitter​

Follow me on LinkedIn.

Listen to my podcast.

Download Dropvoice for Shopify.

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That's a wrap for issue #36

Email me at z@zlatkobijelic.com if you are building something. I'd love to know what you're working on and if there is anything I can do to help you.