MVP

Also called Minimum viable product, Pilot

The smallest version of something that lets you find out whether it works. Often mistaken for a cheap version.

What it means

A minimum viable product is the least you can build that produces a genuine test of your assumption — usually the assumption that somebody will pay for this.

The emphasis belongs on "viable". It has to be good enough that a customer's reaction to it means something.

Why it matters

It reduces the cost of being wrong, which for a new product or service is the dominant risk. Building for a year before showing anyone is how businesses discover expensively that they were solving a problem nobody had.

What it looks like in practice

Write down the assumption you are testing and what result would change your mind, before you build. Without that, the MVP produces feedback rather than an answer.

Charging for it is usually the strongest test available. Enthusiasm is free; payment is not.

Manual is fine. A service delivered by hand behind a simple front end tests demand exactly as well as an automated one and costs a fraction.

What to watch out for

Shipping something poor to people whose good opinion you need. Test with a segment you can afford to disappoint.

The MVP that becomes the product by default, carrying its shortcuts for years.

Regulated sectors, where "minimum" still has to meet the regulator's floor.

Where to get proper advice

Your prospective customers, early and directly. Innovate UK and local Growth Hubs sometimes fund pilot work.