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xinlu

on Oct 18, 2021

Global

Question about

The business model of wine cellar is difficult to come up

When I was mocking with my partner, I assumed wine will be bought by consumer at year 1, and didn't come up with the possibility of wine appreciation. What kind of questions should I ask to get interviewer to give me these informations. How will I think structurally to avoid such mistake?

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Top answer

Pedro

Coach

on Oct 18, 2021

Bain | EY-Parthenon | Former Principal | 1.5h session | 30% discount 1st session

When you have a business you don't understand/know much about, you should directly ask “what's their business model? How to they make money?” as a clarification question.

You are not being asked to guess the business model of the company. So just ask it. It's that simple! ;)

Ian

Coach

on Oct 18, 2021

Top US BCG / MBB Coach - 5,000 sessions |Tech, Platinion, Big 4 | 9/9 personal interviews passed | 95% candidate success

Hi Xinlu,

It is indeed but it's not uncommon for you to face unfamiliar industries!

You need to get comfortable with the “unknown”. Identify what you don't know about the industry and just ask! In other words, turn your known unknowns into known knowns.

To practice, conduct research on various industries. Setup an industry deep-dive template and go ahead and fill it out. This should get you use to understanding the varioues levels/dynamics within various industries.