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Santizer

Evaluation
New answer on Apr 05, 2022
3 Answers
573 Views
Anonymous A asked on Apr 04, 2022

How much santizer was used yesterday in France? 

Overview of answers

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Best answer
Ian
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Apr 05, 2022
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi there,

You'll get the best out of this exercise if you try it yourself and post here for feedback.

How to think about Market Sizing

It's very simple: Do the approach the is the easiest for you given the question.

Are they asking you to estimate something where you don't even know where to begin from the top (maybe you have 0 clue as to the market size of the industry, the GDP of that country, etc. etc.)? Then do bottom-up!

Alternatively, does it seem impossible to do a realistic from-the-ground-up estimation of something (perhaps it requires just far too many steps and assumptions)? Then do top-down!

Fundamentally, you need to take the approach that just makes the most sense in that circumstance. Quickly think about the key assumptions / numbers required and whether you 1) Know them or 2) Can reasonably estimate them. If you can, go ahead!

Remember that there's rarely a "best" answer with market sizing. What's important is that you break down the problem the way it makes sense to you. Importantly, break it down so that the assumptions you make are the ones you're most comfortable in.

For example, do you know all the major brands? Great go with that. Do you understand all the segments of that country's population (either age or wealth or job breakdown)? Go with that. Do you know the total market size of the tourism (or hotel) industry? Then break it down that way.

Some tips:

  1. Just like in a case, make sure you understand the question - what are you really being asked to calculate
  2. Decide whether a top-down or bottom-up approach is best
  3. Figure out what you know you know, and what you know you don't know, but could estimate
    1. This helps you determine how to split out buckets
  4. Stay flexible - you can start with a "high-level" market sizing, but gauge your interviewers reaction....if it looks like they want you to do more...then go along level deeper in terms of your splits

An Example

Take a look here for additional practice! https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/brain-teaser/intermediate/taxis-in-manhattan-market-sizing-229

And here's a practice Q&A:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-would-you-solve-this-market-sizing-question-from-roland-berger-7631

This one could be answered top-down (as I did) by estimating population of the city, # of drivers/ cars, etc. etc.

OR, it could be answered bottom-up by estimating # of stations you see per block (or # of gas/petrol tanks), % increase this might be over time (or # of EV stations that would be needed per gas tank given EV stations take 10 times as long), and # of blocks you'd estimate the city to have.

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Charlotte
Expert
replied on Apr 05, 2022
Empathic coach, former McKinsey Engagement Manager |Secure offers from top consulting firms

Dear client,

this is essentially like a market sizing problem, which you can approach from various ways such as supply and demand. One approach may be:

a) Define the uses of santizers you want to consider

b) Define the demand for it (for example, population, segment size of usage group, adoption rate, frequency of use, amount of use)

Best regards

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Andi
Expert
replied on Apr 05, 2022
BCG 1st & Final Round interviewer | Personalized prep with >95% success rate | 7yrs coaching | #1 for Experienced Hires

Hi there, 

Agree with Ian - it would be much more effective for you, if you could try first and post proposed solution - we'll be happy to then share our thoughts and give specific feedback on what and how to improve.

If not clear where to start typical sizing questions like this, feel free to reach out to me or any of the coaches for some specific pointers. That's what we are here for.

Regards, Andi

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