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It's time to create your minimum viable product, also known as the MVP. An MVP is a product you create that has just enough features to satisfy your early customers to the point where they'd want to buy your product. We started out by testing our product with friends and family. When we continued to get great feedback, we knew we wanted to start testing the product out with real consumers. We started out by signing up for a food show that was a couple of months away. This gave us a deadline by which we needed to come up with a packaged product that we could sell.
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Having a deadline like this is a great way to motivate yourself to get started. We knew our product was much higher quality than what was available in stores, so we made sure our packaging reflected that as well, like using glass bottles instead of plastic. We also did a lot of research on the rules and regulations required for our product labels. We started off by printing labels off from our computer that we bought from an online label supplier. We later realized that this wasn't an ideal solution because the ink on the label would smear off if you touched the bottle with wet or dirty hands, which happens when you're cooking.
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So, realize that the product you have at this stage does not need to be perfect. You simply want to create something that will allow you to validate your idea. People loved the food we sampled at our first show and we sold about 3000 dollars' worth of product in two days. We also won an award for one of the best products at the show. From there, we knew that we had something people would pay money for. So, again, it's important to just get started. You'll learn as you begin building your business.
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If you are not yet making your product and are still in the idea phase, now is the time to develop a plan on how to create your MVP. It's time to roll up your sleeves and learn everything you can about your industry.
