What Your SaaS MVP Actually Needs, and What Can Wait
A practical checklist for a minimum viable SaaS product: the essentials customers expect, and the features that belong in version two.
A minimum viable product (MVP) should be small enough to launch quickly and complete enough that customers trust it with their work and money. For SaaS, finding that balance is easier with a checklist.
Essential from day one
- The core workflow that solves the main problem, done well
- Secure sign-up, login, and password reset
- Organisations or workspaces, if customers work in teams
- Basic roles, such as admin and member
- Payments, or at least a clear path to paying
- Data separation between customers
- Basic settings and profile management
- Error tracking and backups
- A simple way for customers to contact you
Usually fine to postpone
- Advanced reporting and dashboards
- Integrations beyond the one or two customers need most
- Single sign-on and complex permission models
- Mobile apps, if the web app works well on phones
- Extensive customisation and theming
- Public APIs
Do not skip quality
An MVP is minimal in features, not in quality. Bugs, slow pages, and confusing flows make early customers leave before they experience the value. Test the core journey thoroughly.
Build foundations that last
Some foundations are cheap to get right at the start and expensive to change later: tenant separation, how plans and limits are modelled, and authentication. Invest in them early even if the interface is simple.
The goal of an MVP is learning. You cannot learn from customers who leave because the basics do not work.
Plan version two from feedback
Keep a list of postponed features and let early customer feedback decide their order. MOKRIN helps founders define an MVP that is focused, trustworthy, and built on foundations that scale.
