Creating a complex product for the market? Is there a certainty of it becoming successful in the market? If the answer is no, then you should not be holding back yourself from developing an MVP. MVP is short for Minimum Viable Product. Let us talk about the viability of the Minimum Viable Product web development.
In alignment with this very notion, Mobile App Prototype is basically a minimalistic product that possesses a feature set that is needed to attract the end-users or the buyers. MVP mobile application development all the features that are necessary. One needs to pack in these features in an application of a product before they finally release it.
More often than not, the startup owners fail in receiving the funding or gaining traction in the market. Till they can restructure the app in order to fit the expectation of the customers, either it is super late, or they have ended up spending a lot more than the budget they decided. So as to avoid a situation like this, the leading startup enthusiasts invest their money and time in things that are called MVP.
The fundamental purpose to design an MVP is for launching the same and having the customers try as well as try the products, get feedback about it, modify it likewise and then start to work on the actual model once they are convinced. One of the main reasons why most entrepreneurs hesitate to build a minimum viable product application is the cost that is associated with it. It gets imperative to create a balance and then act wisely.
This is why it is imperative to know how you can be building a minimum viable product and the cost of developing the same. You do not have to scroll across the web to find an answer to this. In this article, you will be able to understand all the crucial factors that can influence the cost of MVP development. Let us get started with how much a mobile application MVP may cost.
The Process to build An MVP
1. Description Of The Product
At the start of the MVP stage, it is crucial to identify the requirement. This basically means that you should figure out why a product should be endured. In order to ensure clarity, you can conduct the surveys. This is because the more information, the greater the chances of your venture being successful. You also need to make sure that you evaluate and identify the offerings of the competitors.
2. Classification Of The Product
In the process of MVP development, it is important to learn to align your goals. It is vital to comprehend what exactly the company is looking for from its consumer. The journey of a user can be divided into three parts viz, the user, actions of the user, and the story end. It is important to define the prime features with the set of a blueprint. You then need to decide as to how long it should take for releasing the MVP. This needs to be linked with the ultimate goal.
3. Implementation Of The Product
Once your product is incredibly feature-rich, you need to start with thinking about all the other attributes that you wish to add at various points. Using the MVP web or the application development statements from the step before you can conclude on the features you wish to build. The potential creativity gets modeled with the help of central vision.
4. Launching The Product
The MVP can be launched in many ways. It is imperative to keep in mind that MVP should not be of inferior quality and should have the potential of fulfilling the needs of your customers. Thus it should be suitable, appealing, and accessible to the users.
5. Feedback About The Product
The feedback that comes from the consumers lets you review the past research that can be assessed. This way, you can figure out all the amendments that the product needs and then analyze the minimum viable product (MVP) cost for recreation and development. The consumer response will work as the decisive factor in your level of expertise and your will of selling the product.
The Cost to Build An MVP
For delivering an incredible product, the website and app owners should be careful while choosing the developers. The choice of developers brings about a significant impact on the process of development. Let us take a look at the options.
1. Local Web/App Development Company
If you have a wholly funded start-up with a budget constraint, this might not be a suitable model for you. Hiring a website/application development agency can be a costly choice.
Pros
The price is inclusive of the cost of the complete development team. You will get technical personnel, design, tester, project manager, and all the other technical personnel. The other main advantage is that you do not have to be intensively part of the project. Everything gets managed by the company themself.
Cons
As mentioned earlier, the cost is the main obstacle. Other than this, you can have expectancy and communication problems.
Cost
The cost totals down to about $400 for an hour. The project completion can take about a period of 6 months, and thus the cost may shoot up to around $64k a month, which is a total of $96000. Undoubtedly, this is indeed the best option to go for if you have the budget needed.
2. Outsource to a Development Company
For numerous start-ups that have very limited resources, outsourcing is the common alternative that they resort to. This is considered to be a go-to option as it is a lot cheaper to hire as compared to any other model.
Pros
This option is pretty cost-effective and can open a pool of skilled and talented MVP website and application developers. Outsourcing can accelerate the speed of growth as it can mitigate the risk and fulfill the needs.
Cons
The two main obstacles in this model are developing a team and trust. These issues can be quickly resolved. When you recruit a prospective firm, ensure that you have investigated it thoroughly.
Cost
The average cost is about $40 per hour. This basically means that hiring a dedicated team for the development purpose of about 4 people will cost you about $160 every hour. Thus, on average, you can expect an expenditure of about $25,000 every month for building an MVP application.
3. Hire A Freelancer
Hiring a freelancer is an easy, cheap and quick way of starting a project. There are a plethora of freelance platforms out there in the market that help you in finding the developers that can fit all your needs. Some of these best platforms are Fiverr, Upwork and Freelancer.
The main issue that lies in hiring freelance developers is their lacking an obligation towards your project. If anything goes wrong, they can opt to leave. This basically implies that you have to become a project manager, and then communicating and coordinating becomes your responsibility. It can get really tough to manage. When hiring freelance developers, it is best to involve the local ones.
You will need a full-time team if you are hiring for a typical project. Let us have a look at the rates that are generally charged by freelance software developers.
- 1. A full-stack developer will cost you around $6000 each month. These specialists are required for the development of the entire project.
- 2. A designer will charge you about $5000 per month. These specialists are required for beginning the project.
- 3. The project also needs a tester in the entire process of development. These specialists will charge you about $2500 every month.
Pros
Developers are swift and agile. You will get to know the work is getting done by the person you have hired, and all your results will be upfront. This is not the case with agency scenarios or outsourcing.
Cons
The freelance developers may have commitment issues. If anything goes wrong, they can leave the project, and nobody is accountable in that case. This risk at any MVP stage is not affordable. Another massive disadvantage of this is communication and coordination, as you will then have to manage the entire project all yourself.
Cost
Most of the freelancers will charge you per hour, and this, of course, is beneficial for you. A developer who is technically advanced will charge you about $12,000 to $20,000. You should not be skipping the proposals you get from the developers as it is important for comparing the cost.
4. Go In-House
At times the creators opt for in-house software development. The major advantage that lies in this option is clear communication and transparent relations. With the in-house development team, you will have experts who are completely involved in your project. The quality will still remain your responsibility. The developers in your team will be super motivated by the success of the app and the company.
It gets super easy to coordinate with the internal team. The primary disadvantage of going in-house is the higher costs involved. This can cause a problem if you have a limited budget to start with.
When you employ full-time developers, you have to pay for the holiday as well as hiring costs as well as other expenses. Ensure that the project needs this spending level at the MVP stage.
Pros
The work done by your in-house team can be checked as well as required changes can be made almost immediately. Having an in-house team is basically a long-term solution. This association cuts down the costs of the projects you will do in the future.
Cons
The high prices are basically the biggest drawback of an in-house team. This can be pretty challenging when you have a small budget to get started with. It is best to use an MVP cost calculator in order to analyze if it is a viable option.
Cost
If you are hiring a full-stack developer along with a project manager, tester, and design, then the expected cost to build an MVP can be about $2500 every month.
The Crucial Factors To Determine The MVP Price
Let us move ahead and talk about the imperative aspects of determining the MVP Price.
The MVP basically should have all the vital features that you wish to get tested. The cost of MVP depends a lot on the project’s initial phase. The discovery phase is the one where the overall cost and feasibility of a project are estimated.
1. Commercial Aspects
The commercial aspect is the backbone of the complete application development process. It helps you in deciding where and how your money will get spent. It might not be pretty crucial for an experienced business owner, but if you are someone who has just begun, you should not be missing out on this part. Below- listed are some of the key aspects that impact the complete cost of the MVP development.
Idea validation is basically a concept that includes the techniques of finding out if your app is really needed in the market, and people will pay for it willingly. MVP building for a startup is the best way of validating the idea. Undertaking the process of idea validation can also reduce the cost it takes for the process of app development. If your app idea fails to show the potential in the market, you can be saved from losing your money. The excellent examples of idea validation are Airbnb and Mailchimp. Both these firms are extremely popular in today’s time when it comes to idea validation.
This is one of the most imperative phases that helps you in estimating the price of a particular MVP or an app. Here in this phase, you get a clear idea about the cost of the app, business goals, target audience, market, and your competitors. If you are successful in discovering all these aspects beforehand, you can very well plan your investment. Thus managing your project budget gets a whole lot simpler.
2. Technical Aspects
One of the key aspects that play a crucial role in the estimation of the cost of building an MVP is the technical angle of an app. The technical part includes designing as well as app development. It explores all the potential features of the app and its complexity. On the basis of the complexity, an app can be divided into three parts, viz.
The most basic application is the one with limited features like simple functions, messages, login screen, 3-4 screens, etc. These applications are not much complex and take less time for the process of development and thus cost less money. This application may cost you about $10k, and it takes about 4 to 5 months to develop such apps. Examples of such easy and simple apps are quiz game apps, an alarm clock, or a calculator.
- – Average Complexity Application
After the simple application comes to the apps with mediocre complexity. These apps need a bit more time as compared to simple apps. They need about 6 to 9 months, and the cost of these applications is much more. It costs about $10 to $50k. These applications have extra features like location tracking, geolocation, in-app purchases, payment portals, data storage, etc. They are generally some firm-related apps or photo-sharing applications.
- – Highly Complex Applications
The last category in these apps is the ones with high-level complexity. These applications are enterprise-level applications, OTT Platforms, Food delivery applications, Taxi service applications, etc. They are super complex that include time-extensive features like in-app purchases, location tracking, streaming, data synchronization, messaging, video calls, and others. The database of these apps humongous and can cost you more than $1,00,000 for development. The creation of such applications can take a time period of a year or more.
3. Creative Aspects
Another one of the key aspects that affect the total cost of building an MVP or minimum viable product is the design of the app. People don’t really think it matters much, but in reality, it matters a lot.
In general, an app can have multiple types of user interfaces. The cost of designing the app can rise depending upon the OS you are using and what you are including in your app. UX is one of the most critical factors when it comes to deciding the cost of an MVP.
An app is classified into two broad types-
- Hybrid Apps- These applications have practically similar design plans across all OS'(android and iOS) as there is one code for all. The critical part of hybrid applications is that they have all the local application features, and on top of all, they are financially beneficial. One disadvantage of these applications is that they could be somewhat slow in working. Therefore, in the event that you decide to construct a native application, you can decrease the MVP development cost.
- Native Apps- Contrary to native applications, local applications are quicker in execution and are not difficult to keep up over the long times. The design of a native application isn’t comparative across platforms. They are considerably more intuitive and usable when contrasted with hybrid applications. The vital thing about the native applications is that each application has its own unique code for various stages. This increases the MVP cost for you. Hence, on the off chance that you have a limited financial plan, you can go for native applications; it will diminish the MVP app cost.
The overall cost of an MVP can range from $1400 to as high as $7500, depending upon your preferences.
Conclusion
The path to developing an MVP that functions beautifully is never an easy one. To transform your ideas into a bigger reality and get it to the target audiences’ notice, you need to carefully formulate a business hypothesis, identify all the main functions, and then pick up an efficient software development company to go on with your project. You should also take note of the estimated MVP cost.
If you are looking for a company that can manage your MVP development processes, then you are right where you should be. Zestminds is a web and mobile app development company that boasts a seasoned team of experts. We help your businesses transition smoothly towards online options. In case of queries, you can email us at contact@zestminds.com, and we will get back to you at the earliest.
