It has become the industry norm for entrepreneurs to launch their business idea as a product. The product is backed up by marketing promotions and improvements based on potential customer feedback.
But is it all as easy as they make it look?
We live in a world of ideas where almost everyone has a unique idea. As a result, the competition is skyrocketing in every industry you can find.
You can create an initial product that depends on the latest marketing trends and competitive marketing analysis. But no one can predict the future.
How can you create something that will stand the test of time? That’s where EVP comes in.
Today we will compare MVP vs. EVP and let you decide the path you want to take for product development. Let’s get started by knowing our contenders of the day.
What Is An MVP?
If we were to simplify the description of an MVP: it is a barebone, bare minimum version of a product with basic functionalities to serve the audience. “Minimal Viable Product (MVP)” is a term coined by Eric Ries.
This minimal version reaches the target audience with key features that are enough to solve their core issues. By considering user feedback, you continue improving your product with every iteration. This process continues till the final product is ready for launch.
If the customer feedback is not up to expectations, you can always go back to the drawing board and create something that will resonate with the customers.
What Is An EVP?
EVP stands for Exceptional Viable Product, and Rand Fishkin coined the term. It is the finest version of a product that has already been through multiple iterations based on customer feedback.
To achieve the perfect EVP, you develop a product using the agile development methodology before gathering feedback from active users and loyal customers.
Once the EVP has gone through enough improvements, it’s released into the market for a proper first impression within the target market.
The Ups And Downs Of MVP
Advantages of MVP
1. It Helps You Validate Your Idea: When you launch an MVP, you can find out from customer feedback if your idea is viable for development. You can also decide on the list of minimal features you want to implement in the planned release of the software product version.
2. It Reduces Your Time To Market: When launching an initial product version, you enter the market faster than others. Simply, it reduces your time to market and helps you gather feedback faster.
3. It Helps You Save Resources: Time and money are the two most important resources during product development. When you’re building a minimal version of your product idea, you’re saving both development time and resources since it takes a lot less effort.
4. It Lowers Your Risk: When you develop a complete product, you risk losing money if it isn’t successful. With MVP development, you can find out if you should invest further in the product idea, and it lowers the risk factor.
5. It Can Help You Attract Investors: A well-designed MVP can help you catch the eyes of investors. They can provide you with the necessary funding for further product development.
Disadvantages of MVP
1. Might Not Be Perfect: Though MVP reduces the time to market, sometimes you don’t have enough time to test the core features for any possible bugs and other issues. The product has a high chance of not working as intended.
2. Risks Revealing Your Idea To The Competitors: You create a primary product iteration to introduce your idea to the masses. But your competitors can note it and create a better product version. It will drive your competition up even further.
If you learn more on this topic, we also have a detailed list of advantages and disadvantages of MVP
Ups And Downs of EVP
Advantages of EVP
1. Your Market Entry Is Noticeable: An EVP is not an idea stumbling out of the gate. It’s an idea that has already been established. When you make an impressive entry with an EVP, people know you have a workable product that can help people.
2. The Feedback Is Clearer: An EVP is closer to the final product since it’s already been through multiple iterations. When real users interact with a product near its development cycle, you can get more specific and better feedback.
3. Post-Launch Efforts Are Reduced: Your EVP is already as good as possible. When you launch an EVP, your development team doesn’t need to work overtime to ensure the product serves the right purpose.
4. You Can Surpass Your Competitors Easily: An EVP can be your trump card in a highly competitive market. An EVP is already near perfection as a product and can easily best other products already in the market.
5. Your Brand Reputation Is Increased: You increase your brand reputation by releasing a real product that has already been tried and tested to improve it as much as possible. You are seen as a business that values the user experience and overall customer satisfaction over rushing to grab the market for profit.
Disadvantages of EVP
1. The Process Can Be Very Expensive: EVP requires much more development time and resources for better functionality. Unless you have a very high budget and a big team of professionals.
2. The Risk Factor Is Very High: With a big-bang approach, like creating an EVP, the risk factor is too high. Since it requires more investment and a lot more ROI than an MVP, it can break your bank easily if you fail with an EVP.
Differences Between MVP And EVP
As you can see, Both these approaches to developing your product have their highs and lows. They also have their differences. Let’s take a look at them as well.
| Factors | MVP | EVP |
| Why Build it? | MVP is created to gather customer feedback to improve the product | EVP is already an improved version of the product that’s being introduced to a wider audience |
| How does it work? | MVP is the initial version of your product that has limited functionality | EVP can be considered a version of your product that is near-perfect |
| Testing methods | Real users within the target market test MVP | In-house developer teams and a handful of loyal customers test EVP |
| Product iteration | MVP is created to achieve a decent product with minimal effort and a shoestring budget | EVP is created as a close-to-done version of a product that’s viable |
When To Choose MVP App Development
If you are in one of the following scenarios, then you should choose MVP app development as your method of approach:
- You’re looking to validate your idea without spending too many resources
- You are trying to enter the market early
- Your niche market has very low competition
- Your goal is short-term
- Your startup has lower market visibility since you are new
- You want to play it safe by keeping the investment risks at a lower rate
- You are trying to ensure that your product has market demand
- You are looking for the right monetization method that you can implement in future iterations
- You want to engage your target users to build communication and keep them interested in your idea.
MVP or EVP: When To Choose EVP
Like the other one, EVP has its moments when it shines. Here are the moments when you should opt for the EVP method:
- You want to make a perfect impression as soon as you reach your targeted audience
- The market has high competition, and you want to stand out from the crowd
- You have the necessary budget and time to develop a high-end product
- You have a long-term goal
- Your business already has good market visibility
- You have a loyal customer base, and you’re sure that they are not moving to another product anytime soon
- You want to uphold and maintain your brand reputation by delivering a polished version of your product that fulfills all your promises.
- You want to maintain audience loyalty by offering high-fidelity performance.
Questions To Ask Before You Make Your Choice
Now that we’ve broken it all down for your convenience, it also creates a dilemma: which route should you take, and which method is better for a startup?
Instead of asking yourself that one question, why not ask five? The answers will help you decide.
- Are you sure that your idea will make an impact on the market?
- Does your market have competition? If so, how high is it?
- Do you have limited resources for the product development process and launch?
- Are your goals long-term or short-term at this moment?
- What is the current level of brand awareness that your business has?
To Wrap It All Up
It depends on your current standing based on your business model and objectives. Analyze your business model, create your plan, and then choose whether you want to build an MVP or go with an EVP.
No matter which one you are trying to create, Impala InTech is always here if you need a reliable, professional team to lend you a hand.
FAQs
It depends on your business model, plans, and goals regarding your startup idea and the number of resources you have that can give it a tangible form.
Yes, both of them can be achieved through an agile development strategy.
Since an MVP is the most basic product version, it should always be scalable for the future.
EVP is a perfect version of the MVP after it has gone through multiple iterations based on feedback from a real audience.
MVP can help you raise funds when you are in the infancy of the product development stage. On the other hand, EVP is already at the near-final stage of the application development process, already backed up by funding. So MVP is the best option for a startup to raise funding.
