I just had an interview last week, which did not go well, as my estimations for the guesstimates were off. My structure was correct, but the estimations were weak. Any advice on how to improve estimations? I also have a background in biochemistry and was wondering how I could increase my business sense?
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indeed - even if your structure is solid, weak numbers can hurt a guesstimate.
good news is that it's just a muscle you can train;
estimations
- keep simple benchmarks in your head: e.g., a small city ~1m people, average coffee spend ~$10/week, revenue per store ~$1m/year
- round numbers to make math easier (47,300 → 50,000)
- sanity-check your final number. e.g., 2m cups/week for 1m people? probably off.
- practice different types of guesstimates. since you have a biochemistry background, try healthcare/science ones: “how many vaccines needed per year?” or “how many lab tests in a hospital per day?”
business sense
- read short articles or reports: McKinsey Insights on consumer goods, BCG Perspectives on healthcare, FT summaries
- pay attention to key metrics: growth, revenue, margins. e.g., startup with $1m revenue and $0.5m costs → 50% margin—does it make sense?
- think like a scientist: form hypotheses, test assumptions, draw conclusions
- practice cases with a peer or coach. e.g., “should this pharma company launch a new drug?” estimate market size, pricing, competition
small daily exercises and a few focused cases go a long way to strengthen both your estimation and business intuition.
