Why You Should Start Small Before Building the Full Product
You've got a great idea for an app or a product. You can see the whole thing in your head. Every feature, every screen, every little detail. And your first instinct is probably to build all of it.
Don't.
The smartest thing you can do is build a smaller version first. In the software world, this is called an MVP, which stands for "minimum viable product." It's the simplest version of your idea that still works and still solves the main problem.
Why Does This Matter?
Because building software is expensive, and building the wrong thing is even more expensive. Every week you spend building features nobody ends up using is a week of wasted time and money.
When you start with a smaller version, you get to put something real in front of actual people. Their feedback tells you what's working, what's confusing, and what features they actually care about. That information is worth more than any amount of planning.
What It Looks Like in Practice
Let's say you want to build a booking platform for local service businesses. The full version in your head has online scheduling, payment processing, automated reminders, a review system, analytics dashboards, and a mobile app.
A good starting version might just be online scheduling with email confirmations. That's it. Because if people won't book appointments through your platform, none of the other features matter.
You build that, get some businesses using it, learn what they need, and then add the next most important thing. Maybe that's payment processing. Maybe it's something you didn't even think of. You won't know until real people are using it.
The Money Side
A full-featured product can take 6 to 12 months and cost six figures to build. A focused first version? Usually 6 to 10 weeks and a fraction of the cost.
That means you can start generating revenue and learning from users while still having money left to invest in the next round of features. Compare that to spending your entire budget on a product that might miss the mark.
When You Don't Need This Approach
Not every project needs a phased approach. If you're building an internal tool for your own team, and you know exactly what they need because you've watched them struggle with the current process for years, you can probably build it right the first time.
But for anything facing external users or a market you're still figuring out, start small. You'll save money, build a better product, and sleep better at night.
How We Handle It
When someone comes to us with a big idea, the first thing we do is help them figure out what the core version looks like. We sit down together and separate the "must have on day one" features from the "would be nice eventually" features.
Then we build that core version, get it in front of users, and plan the next phase based on real feedback. It's less glamorous than building everything at once, but it works a whole lot better.
If you've got an idea and you're not sure where to start, that's the kind of conversation we have every week. Reach out and let's figure out what your version one looks like.