Things I learned from building an MVP
Hello everybody, I am a first time entrepreneur at ripe age of 19. Though my experience isn't the most flattering because I have just started, I wanted to share my journey so far. I am a founder of verais.io - a cash management tool for entrepreneurs. Doing it for the first time - coming up with an idea, aesthetics and features was a tough ride but as I suppose there are people who are starting off and wanting to read something as such, here are few bullet points that I hope would make it easier for some :
- Start small in order to build big
- Yes, we all want to contribute to society in a big and meaningful way but before that, taking baby steps is the only way. Don't spend months and months researching only and picking out the exact perfect shade of your brand - just get into it and do it. It sounds messy - and it is, but learning practically for 1 month and trying out different things makes you find your path better, so creating your schedule and the intensity of work is easier and feels more natural.
- Keep your ideal simple at first
- When we come up with an idea and enter a flow state of all the amazing things our SaaS can do, we often forget that we need to sort out that plan. Start with one or two simple features ( for verais.io - I chose to have piggy banks & finance calendar first ). The goal is to improve gradually and as you start small is easier to redirect or improve.
- Know your target and their goals
- Directly connected to the second bullet point, this was the hardest thing for me personally. Sometimes anxiety hits you or the importance complex so you don't want to share your idea in order for someone to steal it from you. Honestly from friend to a friend - if you don't speak up your idea will remain same from your customers too. The market is huge, even if you take 1% of it you can sleep peacefully. Direct talking with potential clients is the best but for me personally reading what other people complain about/search for worked too, if you're shy or not very talkative.
- Be kind to your mind
- I'm 19, somebody reading this is 26 and then the other person reading this is 35 - different stages of life require a good balance of mind first. Entrepreneurship is taking the hard road to something uncertain but promising in theory. Take breaks and don't compare to other people. As someone young seeing 18/19/20 year old's living their best life while I am at phase 1 can be a thief of joy - if I choose it to be. So, as I do, choose to be happy with the process maybe even tomorrow someone from here can blow up and change their life for the better.
This is a long one and if other people have anything to add to this post it'd be great. Let's support and uplift each other! Have a great day yall.