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Why We Love The Lean Startup Method (And You Should Too!)

The Lean Startup method lets you answer the important question: “Should it be built?” instead of “Can it be built?”

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  1. Quick feedback

    You receive immediate feedback from the market. Rather than asking target customers if they would be willing to buy your product, you can actually test demand. As you actively engage customers, you are more likely to receive quick feedback you can use to learn and improve. Moreover, the valuable group of early-adopters you create can help you spreading the word among the early majority.

  2. Less risk

    You’re putting yourself in a risky position by spending lots of time and money in product development; especially when you are not sure whether it will get picked up by the market. By getting your audience familiar with your product in an earlier stage, you face less risk if there’s less demand for your product than you originally thought.

  3. Flexibility

    The Lean Startup method allows you to stay flexible. After introducing just your MVP, you can easily adjust your product according to your customers’ preferences and feedback.

 

Should It Be Built?

The Lean Startup method lets you answer the important question: “Should it be built?” instead of “Can it be built?”

A valuable insight is whether your product should be built instead of whether it can be built. The two questions look very similar at first sight, but there is a crucial difference between the two. In the first, your customers think it should be built while in the latter, you think it should be built. Ask yourself this question before you start, and be honest with yourself.

Of course, there also have been some critics to the Lean Startup approach. One could say there are too little success stories of startups adapting this methodology. Moreover, this approach would encourage focusing on features instead of whole products, which makes these products harder to love.

Yet, we still think the Lean Startup is a valuable way to get your product in the market. Start with this perspective: Don’t get stuck in the MVP phase. The transition from attracting early-adopters to early-majority is often a difficult and time-consuming process. As many businesses don’t make it to the early majority.

 

This article has been edited and condensed.

Equidam helps small businesses attaching a value to their startup, regardless in what stage of development they’re in. So, even if you are developing your MVP, we can help you! Unlike other valuation services, we don’t only consider your financial information, but we also look at the experience you have as a founder, the industry your company is in and your team. By using both qualitative and financial methods, we are perfectly suited for small businesses.

Daisy de Vries is the Marketing & Communication manager at Equidam, an online value management tool for small businesses. Her passions are startups, writing and technologies. Keep investors up-to-date in a consistent and efficient way with the Equidam valuation report. The report gives a clear overview of the performance of your company and enables you and your capital providers to understand and manage the value of your business. Connect with @equidamtweets on Twitter.

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