# How to plan an MVP that is actually viable

*By Mohammed Hesham, Founder · Planning & cost · published 21 October 2026*

## The short answer

An MVP is the smallest version of your product that real users can rely on for one important job. Plan it by naming that job, listing the steps a user takes to get it done, building only those steps well, and leaving everything else for later. “Minimum” is about scope, not quality: the parts you build should be fast, reliable and secure, because early users judge the whole product by them.

## Key takeaways

- Pick one job the product must do for one type of user.
- Minimum means fewer features, not lower quality.
- Do things by hand at first where software isn’t needed yet.
- Decide before launch what you will measure and what would change your plan.

## What an MVP is — and isn’t

An MVP is not a prototype, a demo or a cheaper version of the full plan. It is a real product that a real person can use to solve a real problem, with everything that doesn’t serve that problem taken out.

The point is to learn what users actually do with it as early as possible, while changes are still cheap.

## Find the one job

Write down who the first users are and the single most important thing they will use the product for. “Freelancers send an invoice and get paid” is a job. “A finance platform for freelancers” is a vision.

Then list the steps a user takes to get that job done, from signing up to the moment they get value. Those steps are your MVP. Everything else goes on a “later” list.

## What to leave out

- Features for user types you aren’t targeting yet.
- Settings and customisation — pick sensible defaults.
- Admin tools you can replace with a spreadsheet or a database query for now.
- Automation of rare tasks you can do by hand for the first few customers.
- A second platform: launch on web or one mobile platform first.

## What you can’t leave out

- Security: proper authentication, protected data and backups from day one.
- Reliability on the core job — if the main thing fails, nothing else matters.
- A way for users to reach you, and for you to see errors as they happen.
- Analytics on the steps of the core job, so you can see where people get stuck.
- Legal basics: terms, a privacy policy and payment handling done properly.

## Plan the learning, not just the launch

Before launch, decide what you need to learn and how you will measure it: how many people complete the core job, how many come back, what they ask for. Decide too what result would make you change direction.

Then plan the first few weeks after launch as part of the project — time to fix, adjust and add the one or two things users clearly need.

## How SoftFix LLC plans an MVP

We run a short discovery to agree on the users, the one job and the steps, then write it into a scope with a fixed quote and weekly demos. After launch we stay on to measure, fix and build the next most valuable thing — the part where an MVP turns into a product.

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