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When NOT to use a Micro-MVP
When instead you ask for money
Read time: 3 minutes
Hey there - it's Brian š
Sometimes a Micro-MVP doesnāt make sense to test your business idea.
Instead, ask for money.
Today, youāll find out when you should test your business with a Micro-MVP (and when you test by asking customers for money instead).
Letās make your business an outlier: š
š Get a free call with Brian
Struggling to figure out if your business idea will work?
To make sure the upcoming Micro-MVP course covers the topics you need to test your business ideas, Iām offering free consulting to give your business direction.
This session is for you if:
ā¢ Youāre launching a new business
ā¢ Your business isnāt getting traction and youāre looking to adjust
ā¢ Youāre expanding your business and want to quickly test a few ideas
Get time with me here (for $0): š
Imagine: you want to quickly figure out how your business will succeed
Imagine youāre trying to figure out what to sell.
Maybe youāre thinking about building an app and not sure who to sell it to.
Maybe you want to sell a creative service.
Or maybe you want to sell physical tools.
In all those cases (and for any business) you need to know:
Sell what? To who? With which words?
You may have a guess at the answer, but youāll likely be wrong the first time and need to adjust your business.
You may need to adjust 3, 4, 5 times.
If it takes you too long to adjust, you run out of money, and itās game over. So you want to test each part quickly. Adjust quickly. And get a lot of feedback.
Cue: the Micro-MVP.
A new system to quickly test your business ideas on socials (even with no followers) and let potential customers tell you which business they want.
So you can adjust fast and find the business that works.
Use Micro-MVP to guide your business
So hereās when you use it - first, you build a list of ideas:
ā¢ Different people you could sell to
ā¢ Different products/services you could sell them
ā¢ What words you use to persuade
Post your ideas on socials to narrow down your options. Then test your focus in customer interviews and full MVPs.
The Micro-MVP is a tool to help you guide the direction by narrowing down your options.
And by ābuild list of ideasā I really mean steal ideas (like customer complaints) from Facebook or ask ChatGPT to think for you.
āļø Reply to this email if you want the prompts.
When not to Micro-MVP
Once youāve narrowed down what youāre selling to who, thereās no better way to confirm your idea than getting customers to throw you money.
At that point: run tests that ask customers to pay.
If they donāt buy?
Back to the Micro-MVP to re-adjust your focus.
The faster you go through this cycle and adjust your business, the faster youāll find what works. Each cycle builds bigger until you have a full business.
Micro-MVP is a new tool to get FAST feedback. It does not replace talking to customers or asking them for money.
Donāt waste months building something customers donāt want.
Comparing Micro-MVP to other tests
Common Mistake: ideas too vague
But Brian, this doesnāt work for me because Iām only thinking about one product (or service).
So this sounds great! Solve 1 problem for 1 customer is the best way to go.
BUTā¦ one big problem.
Most founders I speak with are far too general, so they donāt have options to Micro-MVP.
Iāll use a diet and a piano example, but this applies to any business (tech, teaching, CPG etc)
Mistake #1: Problem is too vague
Most founders:
Iām helping people lose weight.
Better:
Iām helping people lose weight, who canāt keep the same diet long enough.
Best:
Iām helping people lose weight, who canāt keep the same diet long enough, because they canāt break their bad habits.
Mistake #2: Customer is too vague
Most founders:
Iām looking for piano students.
Better:
Iām looking for high school piano students.
Best:
Iām looking for high school piano students who want to play music professionally.
When you get 3 levels deeper than your peers, youāll have far more options to choose from.
The Micro-MVP is perfect to help you narrow down those options. Once youāve narrowed them down, run tests that get customers to give you money.
Boom! Thatās it.
If you found this helpful, please forward this email to 1 friend or colleague. They'll appreciate you and you'll help grow the community.
See you next Thursday š
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š ļø Outlier Links
š§Ŗ Micro-MVP
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Uncover your customerās biggest pain (by stealing from Facebook posts)
š§š»āš» Clickworthy Content
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š§š»āāļø Get to know Brian
Iām sending you this email from a flight to Lisbon! Iāve just spent this week building alongside 4 amazing entrepreneurs in Singapore. It's always energizing to hear how theyāve built their business.
Any tips for Lisbon?
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