From idea to MVP: how to decide what to build first
The most expensive mistake founders make is building too much, too early. A practical way to choose what goes into version one.
Every founder we meet has more ideas than budget. That's normal — and it's exactly why the first version of your product should be smaller than you think.
An MVP (minimum viable product) isn't a cheap version of your big idea. It's the smallest thing that proves the idea works with real people.
Start with one person and one problem
Before features, write down who your first user is and the one problem you solve for them. Be specific. "Restaurant owners" is too broad; "a lounge owner in Abuja who keeps reprinting menus every time prices change" is something you can design for.
If you can't describe that person in a sentence, you're not ready to build yet — and that's fine. That's what the first workshop is for.
Find the one job your product must do
For each feature on your list, ask: if this were missing, would my first user still get value? If the answer is yes, it moves to "later".
What's left is usually one core journey. For a booking app, that might be: find a provider, pick a time, confirm. Reviews, loyalty points and referral codes can wait until people are actually booking.
Decide what you'll do by hand
Not everything needs code on day one. Early on, you can approve listings manually, send confirmations on WhatsApp or handle payouts in a spreadsheet. Doing things by hand lets you learn what users really need before you automate it.
Build the boring parts properly
Some things shouldn't be cut, even in a first version:
- Mobile first. Most of your users will arrive on a phone.
- Fast pages. Slow sites lose people before they've seen your idea.
- Reliable payments and sign-in. Trust is hard to win back.
- Basic analytics. You can't improve what you can't see.
Set a launch date and a learning goal
Give the MVP a date and one question to answer, such as: will venue owners pay to keep their menu updated? When you launch, measure that — and let the answer decide what you build next.
Where we come in
We help founders through each of these steps: shaping the idea, designing the product, building the MVP and running it after launch. If you'd like a second pair of eyes on your feature list, send it our way.
