Minimum Viable Product or MVP is a business concept that is great for getting clear on what is most important for a product. What is core to the product?

Many great entrepreneurial stories start with someone talking about their MVP that they launched then had traction on and kept moving and developing and improving on. It is a great concept that can be applied beyond new product launches - new service, internal operational change, marketing activity or anything. Focusing on the core, helps us to see what’s most important than evaluate whether we are addressing it.

A coaching client has launched 3 (maybe more) mini-businesses and it’s awesome! She is very analytical and has high standards yet she has found the ability to just throw it together and go for it. They have all been mini-businesses which have given her freedom to try it with little investment. I launched a business years ago that I put together in 2-3 months and went on to run it for 3 years before passing it on to new ownership. It was a phenomenal experience and I still have new insights on it today. It started by thinking what was core to being able to launch that business then acting on making that happen. That became my MVP which once launched was actually confirmed as a good offering that people wanted. Improvements came over the years but the MVP got it off the ground by focusing me on what was most important.

Thinking of the minimum needed for an idea to launch is a great way to cut through the complexity and get at it.