Most MVPs fail before a single line of code gets written. They fail in the scoping phase, when a founder tries to describe “the app” to a developer and the conversation spirals into a feature list that would take six months and $50K to build.
I have reviewed hundreds of project briefs from non-technical founders. The pattern is consistent: the initial scope is 3-5x larger than what their budget and timeline can support. Not because founders are unrealistic, but because nobody taught them how to scope a first release.
Here is the framework we use at Buldtech to take a founder from “I have an idea for an app” to “here is exactly what we are building in the first release.”
The one-user-one-workflow framework
Every MVP answers one question: can one specific user complete one specific workflow and get value from it?
Your MVP is not Uber. It is the part of Uber that lets one person request one ride in one city. Your MVP is not Airbnb. It is the part of Airbnb that lets one host list one property and one guest book it.
The framework has three steps:
Step 1: Name your one user. Not “users” in general. One specific person with one specific problem. A freelance graphic designer who needs to send invoices. A gym owner who needs to schedule classes. A landlord who needs to collect rent from three tenants. Write their name, their role, and the one problem you are solving for them first.
Step 2: Map their one workflow. Write out, in plain sentences, every step this person takes to get from “I opened the app” to “I got the result I needed.” For the invoicing example: open app, create invoice, add line items, send to client, get notified when paid. That is five screens, not fifty.
Step 3: Cut everything that is not on that path. A settings page with 12 customization options? Cut. Multi-language support? Cut. An admin dashboard with analytics? Cut. If removing a feature does not break the one workflow, it does not belong in your MVP.
What most founders get wrong about scope
The most expensive mistake is treating an MVP like version 1.0 of a finished product. It is not. An MVP is a hypothesis test. You are spending $4K-$8K to answer one question: will real people use this thing to solve a real problem?
Three scoping traps I see repeatedly:
Trap 1: “We need it for iOS AND Android AND web.” Pick one platform. The one where your target user already spends time. A single well-built web app costs $4K-$8K. The same thing across three platforms costs $15K-$25K and takes three times longer.
Trap 2: “We need user roles: admin, manager, user, guest.” For your MVP, you need one role. Maybe two. Every role multiplies your screens, your permissions logic, and your testing surface. Start with one.
Trap 3: “We need integrations with Stripe, Mailchimp, QuickBooks, and Zapier.” Pick the one integration that is essential to your workflow. For most MVPs, that is payments (Stripe) or email notifications (a simple SMTP sender). Everything else can be added after you validate demand.
How to write a brief your dev team can build from
A good brief is not a 30-page document. It is a one-to-two page scope sheet that answers seven questions:
- Who is the primary user? One sentence. “Independent landlords managing 1-10 rental units.”
- What is the core workflow? A numbered list of 5-8 steps.
- What is the primary success metric? One number you can measure. “Tenant completes first rent payment.”
- What platform? Web app, iOS, or Android. Pick one.
- What are the non-goals? List 3-5 features you are explicitly deferring. This is the most important section because it prevents scope creep during development.
- What is the budget range? Be direct. “$4K-$8K” is useful. “We will figure it out later” is not.
- What is the timeline? “We need a working version in 3 weeks” gives a dev team something to plan against.
If you can answer those seven questions in writing before you talk to a developer, you will have a more productive first conversation than 90% of founders who come to us.
The scope boundary test
Before you lock your scope, run every feature through this test:
- Does removing it break the one workflow? If no, cut it.
- Can you validate demand without it? If yes, cut it.
- Does it require more than 2 days of dev work? If yes, and it is not core, defer it to version 2.
This test is deliberately aggressive. The goal is not to build a minimal product. The goal is to build the minimum product that lets you learn whether your idea works, so you can invest your next $8K-$12K based on evidence instead of assumptions.
What happens after scoping
A well-scoped MVP does two things: it gives your dev team a clear target, and it protects your budget from the incremental feature additions that turn a 3-week project into a 3-month one. If you have already been through a failed outsourced project, you know exactly how expensive unclear scope can be.
When you are ready to move from scope to build, the next step is choosing the right team. That decision has its own set of traps, and most of them have nothing to do with technical skill. Read our guide on how to evaluate a dev agency when you can’t read code to make sure you are asking the right questions before you sign a contract.
Your next step
Download the MVP Scope Clarity Checklist. It walks you through the one-user-one-workflow framework, the seven-question brief, and the scope boundary test in a format you can fill in and hand directly to a dev team. Or, if you already have a scoped idea and need a fixed-price build quote, book a free scope call with our team at Buldtech.