If you've been in a tech field for any amount of time, you're probably familiar with building what's called a Minimum Viable Product, or an MVP, which is the most basic version of a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers and provide feedback for future product development.
But startups, especially consumer-facing fintech ones, can benefit even more by first creating a Minimum Viable Offer, or an MVO.
While both concepts have a similar purpose - to help validate product ideas - they are distinctly different. An MVP is a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers and provide feedback for further product development. An MVO is a customer offer that is designed to validate a customer need and market potential before even building a product.
Creating a minimum viable offer (MVO) for your fintech software product is a crucial step in the product development process. An MVO is the minimum set of features and functionality that your product needs to have in order to be viable in the market. It is important to create an MVO because it allows you to test your product idea with real users, get feedback, and iterate quickly.

Step 1: Identify the Problem You Are Solving

The first step in creating an MVO is to identify the problem you are solving. This is important because your MVO should focus on solving the most critical problem that your target customers are facing. To identify the problem, you can conduct user research, analyze market trends, and talk to potential customers. Once you have identified the problem, you can move on to the next step.

Step 2: Define the Core Features

Next, you need to determine the core needs of your target customers. What are the most important features that your customers need in order to use your product? These are the features that your customers must have in order to use the product and which will provide the most value to them.
You also need to consider the competitive landscape. What features do your competitors offer and which ones do they lack? This will help you to identify features that you can include in your MVO that will give you an edge over the competition.
By taking all of these factors into consideration, you can develop an effective MVO for your fintech product that meets the needs of your customers while also helping you stand out in the competitive landscape.

Step 3: Create a Prototype or Landing Page

Once you have defined the core features, you can create a prototype of your product. The prototype should include only the core features and should be designed to solve the problem you identified in step 1. The prototype can be a simple mockup or a working prototype, depending on the complexity of your product.

Domain Money used this landing page to gauge interest in a new concierge tax assistant.

Step 4: Test with Real, Invested Users

The final step is to test your MVO with real users. This is important because it allows you to get feedback on your product and iterate quickly. You can test your MVO by conducting user interviews, usability tests, and surveys, all before you actually build anything.
Based on the feedback you receive, you can make changes to your product and iterate until you have a product that meets the needs of your target customers.

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