Try to answer the following questions before you plan to build MVP of your marketplace website:

• What kind of marketplace business model do you have?
• What is your initial budget?
• Are you technically skilled, if not, what kind of resources do you need to build a marketplace website?

The concept of MVP is to build a marketplace platform that delivers the minimum features set to solve the problem of your target users. You must learn quickly from early adopters to make further changes to the marketplace.

At the same time, an unfinished look of the marketplace will give extremely bad perception and discourage users. So, instead of focusing on just being minimum or viable, you should design MVP that aims to delight the users and encourages them to use it –this should still be done with the least effort.

Here, let’s learn about some options you have to successfully build the MVP of your marketplace website.

1. Bring in a Technical Partner

A technical partner or technical co-founder is a developer who can be brought on board to develop the MVP of your website. But choosing the right technical partner could be tricky. Also, approaching a technical partner is difficult as you will have to convince them to work with your business concept that may have some uncertainties.

Advantages of bringing in a technical partner: 

• You will not need to spend too much money on the development of marketplace website
• You may be able to go for better product development and build the site the way you want

Disadvantages of hiring the technical partner:

• You will end up giving up your equity in your company
• The co-founder/partner may not be able to build the MVP at all

Working with a technical partner may be the best way of building your MVP. Try looking within your friend’s network for technology partners. You can also look for someone with whom you have worked earlier so that there is mutual trust that is already established.

Technical partners must have the technical knowledge – from front-end web, backend, and data science and maybe even on the platform you are planning to develop the marketplace on. You can iterate your product as many times as you want, quickly to catch up with your marketplace growth.

Having the co-founder may make your journey less lonely when you face challenges while launching your marketplace – trust us, they will be numerous of them!

2. Hire an external agency or a developer

Working with an external agency is one of the popular and the most efficient ways to build your MVP. Services offered by external agencies are extensive which would help you in transforming your ideas into one of the best MVPs. Though it offers you the best quality MVP, it could require you to spend some money to get your MVP operational.

Advantages of hiring an external agency or a developer:

You retain 100% equity in your company

• The quality & technical standards of your MVP would be at par with other MVPs in the market
• It is easier to find a suitable external agency to help develop the MVP 

Disadvantages of hiring an external agency or a developer: 

• You need to budget development costs
• You may not be able to alter the project plan easily because agencies generally bind you in contracts

Building a marketplace is a long-time project. Therefore, you should be sure to choose a competent agency before investing money. Also, watch out for the developers/freelancers who carry out projects at the lower cost as they may deliver sub-standard work leading to loss of time and money invested. Furthermore, there are also chances freelancers may not get your website requirement right, resulting in a below-par website.

3. Get investors on board

Investors provide funding and support your marketplace plan financially if you can convince them that your startup idea is the next big thing. The probability of them investing in your startup is low even if you have a good idea.

Here are some merits and demerits of getting investors:

Advantages of getting an investor on board:

• You get strategic guidance, resources, knowledge, and capital
• Investors are likely to remain on board for a longer because of greater rewards later

Disadvantages of getting an investor on board:

• You are never in full control
• You end up diluting significant equity in your company and might need to please investors all the time
• You will need to shell out dividends all the time while you draw a meager salary

Investors are in the business of earning money. They would want to see you working day-in and day-out while they reap benefits. This might put a lot of pressure on you.

Conclusion

Marketplace website development is a daunting job for the time and effort it takes to build one. The three options mentioned above are the most preferred ways to build MVP. Among the three, hiring an external agency is one of the most popular options small business owners favor. One of the reasons is that it takes coding pressure off them so that they could focus more on marketing efforts.

Our Verdict: Take the help of a professional web development agency to build successful MVP of your marketplace business. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact us.