mckinsey & company case study

McKinsey recruiters reveal exactly how to nail the interview and case study to land a 6-figure job at the consulting firm

• The latest salaries report from Management Consulted, a consulting careers resource website, showed that McKinsey's hires with MBAs and PhDs make a base salary of $165,000.  
• The consulting firm is working to diversify their applicant pool and bring in more hires from non-Ivy League schools. 
• Business Insider spoke with two McKinsey recruitment directors on how to nail the interview and score a spot at the company. 
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Top management consulting firm McKinsey & Company offers some of the highest-paying salaries for recent grads. But it's hard to land a coveted six-figure role at the firm. 

According to the latest salaries report from Management Consulted , a careers resource website catered to job seekers in the consulting field, McKinsey's MBA and PhD hires make a base salary of $165,000 — and that's not including the $35,000 performance bonus for all employees, and the 50% MBA tuition reimbursement for returning interns. 

It's no surprise that management consultants are getting paid six figures from get-go. It's been that way for years. However, the report noted an emerging trend that serves as good news for those who might not have an Ivy League degree : Consulting firms are increasing recruitment from non-target schools — this means they're steering away from relying on Ivy League universities like Harvard for hires. In fact, these companies are holding up to 20% of their recruitment slots for those with non-target backgrounds, according to the report.

McKinsey, for example, hired about 8,000 people out of an applicant pool of 800,000 in 2018. Those employees were recruited from 325 different schools around the world, the company shared. 

Business Insider recently spoke with Kerry Casey , McKinsey's director of recruitment in the North American region and Caitlin Storhaug , McKinsey's global director of recruitment marketing and communications. 

The two experts shared insights on how to nail an interview with the company. 

When it comes to the case exercise: Don't wing it

Every McKinsey interview follows a standardized process that is broken down into two components. Prospective candidates are asked to complete a personal experience interview and a case study exercise.

" It doesn't matter if you're interviewing from San Francisco, New York City, or Shanghai — the interview process is standard," Storhaug said. "There aren't harder or easier countries for you to get in." 

Every business school graduate is probably familiar with case studies. Harvard Business School (HBS) developed the case method teaching practice , where students are required to read up to 500 cases during their two-year program. Other MBA schools also adopted this strategy to prepare students for tackling real-world businesses problems.

McKinsey's case interviews, in particular, take about 25 to 30 minutes, and it's an opportunity for candidates to showcase how they approach problem solving and think on their feet, Casey explained. When you're tackling a case exercise, focus on how you would go about solving the client problem and not what you think the recruiters want to see in your responses. 

The company provided a case exercise sample and encouraged applicants to practice so that they know the exact format and the type of answers the recruiters look for. 

When you're prepping for an interview with the firm, keep those samples in mind, Storhaug added. 

Emphasize on your soft skills

One of the most common mistakes that McKinsey's applicants make is that they focus too much on acing case exercises that they fail to really prepare for the personal interview, Casey explained in an email to Business Insider. 

"I encourage them to focus also on what are often referred to as soft skills — their aptitude for collaboration, team work, empathy, and leading others," she wrote. "In the long run, those are the qualities that make for success." 

Apart from those technical skills, a management consulting job requires collaborative and relationship-building skills. Ultimately, you can't get to the problem-solving component if you don't have a track record of working well with others. 

Additionally, Casey added that the personal experience interview doesn't have to be as formal as one might expect. In fact, she wrote that the best interviews are actually conversations rather than strictly planned questions.  

This second round is your opportunity to show your attributes beyond your résumé. What are some skills you're hoping to develop with this job? What are your own professional goals in five years? 

Casey recommends sharing your own career aspirations. That way, it shows that you know what you want.

Talk about your technical skills if you have them

Technical skills are in high demand, and it's beneficial to have employees who understand how tech can impact clients. 

"While not everyone is a tech-focused consultant, of course, we see tech and digital skills being more necessary as we grow and expand into new areas," Casey wrote. "We appreciate candidates who may have expanded their knowledge to include coding, programming and other tech aspects." 

Some other top tech skills that employers want are program languages like Python, C++, and JavaScript, Business Insider previously reported.

• Main content

McKinsey Case Interview & PEI - 6 Things You Need to Know

• Last Updated January, 2024

Rebecca Smith-Allen

Former McKinsey Engagement Manager

If you’re interested in a career in management consulting, McKinsey & Company is probably on your list of firms to apply to. It’s the oldest consulting firm, established in 1926 by James McKinsey, a University of Chicago professor and expert in management accounting.

Today, the firm employs 30 thousand professionals working in 130 cities around the world. McKinsey regularly ranks at the top of lists of strategy consulting firms and is hired by businesses, governments, and non-profit organizations to help solve their toughest problems.

It’s difficult to get a job offer from McKinsey.

Like its top management consulting competitors, Bain and BCG, McKinsey typically hires only 1% of candidates who apply. In particular, McKinsey case interviews are tough to crack…but not impossible.

If you’re interested in trying to beat the odds, this article will tell you what you need to know to succeed. We’ll tell you:

What’s different about McKinsey,

6 things candidates recruiting with McKinsey should know,

We’ll provide a mock McKinsey case interview video, and

Provide tips on acing your McKinsey interview.

Let’s get started!

What’s Different About McKinsey? 6 Things Candidates Should Know

1. consultants are hired for either the generalist track or a specialist track.

Generalists at McKinsey are consultants who could be staffed to help clients in any industry and dealing with any type of business problem. Specialists are consultants with a particular area of expertise.

Areas of specialization within McKinsey  include digital and advanced analytics, marketing and sales, business turn around, operations,  software development and design, and implementation.

2. Consultants Work On-Site At The Client 4 Days A Week.

Most consultants travel a lot and at McKinsey, this is definitely the case. Consider whether regular plane flights and hotel stays are right for you.

3. McKinsey Cases Are Interviewer-Led Rather Than Candidate-Led.

Candidates are still expected to identify key issues to be addressed to solve the business problem presented by their interviewer and outline a plan to explore these issues. After they do that, their McKinsey interviewer is likely to tell the candidate which issue they’d like to discuss first. Other management consulting firms, like Bain and BCG typically let candidates steer their case interview.

4. Interviewers Assess Fit As Part Of Every Interview With Personal Experience Interview (PEI) Questions.

While all strategy firms ask candidates Consulting Behavioral Interview Questions  to assess their fit with their firm, many have one interviewer focus entirely on fit while others focus entirely on a case study question. 

McKinsey interviewers split their interview time between the case and PEI in every interview.

5. McKinsey Looks For Personal Impact And Entrepreneurial Drive In Candidates.

This is in addition to the structured problem solving and leadership skills that McKinsey, as well as other top consulting firms, look for in candidates.

6. Mckinsey Recruiting Uses Solve - a Gamified Digital Assessment.

McKinsey’s Solve Game was launched to broaden the firm’s reach to find the best talent regardless of geography as well as provide deeper insight into candidates’ problem-solving skills.

Keep reading for a deeper dive into these topics.

Generalist versus Specialist Track Roles

When the management consulting industry was first founded, simply having an MBA and expertise in solving business problems was enough to set a consultant apart. Consultants hired by McKinsey could expect to be staffed on a case in any industry and solving any type of problem.

To help clients solve these types of business problems effectively, McKinsey hires people with years of experience in functional specialties. These include advanced analytics, marketing and sales, business turn around, operations, software development and design, and implementation.

Specialists work alongside generalists on projects to leverage their functional expertise across the work of the team. The specialist practices are growing faster than generalist roles and get fewer applications, so if you have the right kind of expertise and apply to the practice, you may have a better chance of landing an interview.

How McKinsey Interviews Differ from Bain and BC

There are two main ways that McKinsey’s interviews differ from those of other top management consulting firms. McKinsey uses interviewer-led case interviews while other firms use candidate-led case interviews.

In the “fit” portion of the interview, McKinsey uses the personal experience interview and each interviewer you meet with in all rounds will assess fit.

Interviewer-led Cases

At the start of any McKinsey case study, candidates need to go through 4 phases to solve the business problem the interviewer has given them in a structured manner: the opening, structure, analysis, and closing. 

In a candidate-led case interview, candidates will pick which part of the problem they want to dive into first and proceed with it. In McKinsey’s interviewer-led cases, the interviewer will pick the first part of the business problem they want the candidate to address.

Is the interviewer-led case interview easier or harder than the candidate-led one?

If you’ve structured the business problem well, breaking the problem down into the MECE  issues that require further analysis, it should not matter who picks which aspect of the problem to address first. What is helpful is knowing what to expect in your case interview so that you don’t start down one path just to be redirected by your McKinsey interviewer.  You don’t want anything to throw you in the middle of your case!

For more information on these 4 phases of answering a case interview question, see  Case Interview Prep .

Behavioral Interview Questions - The McKinsey PEI

As mentioned above, fit or personal experience interview (PEI) questions are part of every McKinsey interview. 

How else is the PEI different?

While other top management consulting firms focus on bringing the best creative problem-solving to their clients’ problems (BCG is notable here), McKinsey is interested in candidates’ personal impact and entrepreneurial spirit.

McKinsey interviewers look for these characteristics in answers to PEI questions. Because of this, it’s good to have some insight into why the firm thinks these characteristics are important.

Personal Impact

McKinsey says this about personal impact on its career website:

McKinsey does not want to create PowerPoint presentations with elegant solutions that sit on an executive’s shelf, not implemented.

Personal impact means that McKinsey consultants work shoulder-to-shoulder, on-site with client executives, developing solutions that don’t just solve a business problem in theory but also do it in practice. This can require facing resistance to change in the client’s organization head-on and persuading people to reassess long-held beliefs.

During the PEI, questions like the following will be asked to assess personal impact:

•   Tell me about a team you worked on when you needed to change someone’s mind on a topic that was important to them, or
•   Tell me about a time when you needed to rely on your communication skills to solve a difficult interpersonal situation.

This belief that personal impact is key to developing an implementable solution is what drives McKinsey consultants to spend 4 days a week on client site.

Entrepreneurial Drive

McKinsey says this about entrepreneurial drive on its career website:

McKinsey doesn’t hire consultants who can only implement solutions they’ve seen in previous businesses. They want people who are willing to try new things, take solutions to new industries or new types of problems.

The McKinsey problem solving approach treats each client problem as unique. Each solution should push thinking about best-practices.

In addition to personal impact and entrepreneurial drive, McKinsey also assesses leadership using the PEI. We won’t address this in detail because this is similar to other consulting firms, but you can find more about how McKinsey assesses leadership in our page on  McKinsey PEI Questions.

It also includes What McKinsey Is Looking For and provides a list of 11 Common PEI Questions.

Nail the case & fit interview with strategies from former MBB Interviewers that have helped 89.6% of our clients pass the case interview.

The McKinsey Interview Process - Traditional and Recent Changes

The traditional recruiting process.

For years, McKinsey focused on a group of core schools to find new analyst (undergraduate hires) and associate (MBA hires) candidates. 

While the firm now recruits from a broader set of schools as well as more diverse candidates, recruiting at these core schools still starts in much the same way. McKinsey consultants conduct on-campus presentations and coffee chats to talk to potential candidates about what it’s like to work in the management consulting industry and at McKinsey, in particular.

If the firm hosts an event at your campus, you should attend to make personal connections and to find out first-hand if a career at McKinsey is right for you. If there are no events at your school or if you’re already employed, check out the company’s career site for articles and videos that will tell you what it’s like to work at McKinsey and what it takes to get an offer.

Candidates submit their resumes (and optional cover letters) to the firm’s recruiting department via their school’s department of career services and on the firm website. Candidates who are invited to interview typically have their first round interviews on campus.

During first round interviews, candidates meet with 2 interviewers back-to-back. Candidates who pass first round interviews are invited to a McKinsey office for second round interviews.

In second round interviews, candidates meet with 3 interviewers. Unless a candidate’s interviewers are split in their decision, second round interviews are also final round interviews.

In each round of interviews, McKinsey interviewers walk candidates through a business problem and asks a series of  McKinsey PEI Questions , aimed at evaluating their potential fit with the organization. 

The Recruiting Process for Candidates at Non-core School and Experienced Hires

Candidates from non-core schools submit their resumes (and optional cover letters) directly to the recruiting department of the 3 offices they’d like to work in.

If they are invited to interview, candidates who live relatively close to a McKinsey office will be invited for in-person first round interviews. Others will be asked to do their first round McKinsey interviews via video conference.

Candidates already working in another industry or those working at another consulting firm submit their resumes (and optional cover letters) directly to the recruiting department of the three offices they’d like to work in. They will typically have a phone interview before the “first round” of in-person interviews.

In both cases, once candidates are passed to second round interviews the recruiting process is the same as for core school candidates.

Solve, The McKinsey Problem Solving Game

McKinsey is reaching out to more candidates outside of their traditional core schools to diversify its recruiting. As part of that, it’s launched  Solve , an online game  that assesses candidates’ problem-solving skills.  Solve is both more fun and gives candidates from non-core schools a better shot at getting a McKinsey interview than they’ve had in the past.

Example McKinsey Case Interview - Video

Below, we have 4 videos in which My Consulting Offer founder, Davis Nguyen, walks you  through each segment of a McKinsey case interview from beginning to end. 

Mock McKinsey Case Interview - Opening the Case

The key thing to do in the opening of a McKinsey case study is to repeat back the question so you’re sure you understand the problem you are solving. Then, ask questions to begin to get more information.

Mock McKinsey Case Interview - Structuring the Case

In the structure section of McKinsey Case Interviews, create a MECE list of important issues you will analyze to solve the client’s problem.

Mock McKinsey Case Interview - The Case Analysis

In the analysis section of a McKinsey case study, you’ll need to do analysis to evaluate the best option for your client. This may require interpreting data from charts or graphs provided by your interviewer or doing calculations based on numbers you’re given.

Mock McKinsey Case Interview - Concluding the Case

In the conclusion of McKinsey case interviews, you’ll need to pull your analysis together into a persuasive recommendation for the client. Restate the question you were asked to solve, lay out key findings from each section of your case structure, and show how your analysis points to the course of action the client should take.

Now that you’ve watched our sample McKinsey case interview, you should be ready to start practicing for your own interviews. 

Here are 5 tips on making the most of your preparation time:

5 Tips on Acing Your McKinsey Interview

• Practice casing with another person. Answering case interview questions does not come naturally and it is not enough to practice on your own since casing requires having a dialogue. Give yourself as much time to practice mock interviews as possible by starting early.
• Record yourself during mock interviews  using your computer or phone. Study these videos to see how you can improve your performance in each phase of the case interview. Aim to make your answers more fluent and conversational.
• Practice sample McKinsey interview-led case interviews. Use  McKinsey-specific case interview examples  below to make sure you’re not just familiar with cases, but with McKinsey cases. Make sure you are comfortable with being redirected at times. 
• Brainstorm several  stories to answer common personal experience interview questions. You can find a list of these common questions here .
• Find out more about the  McKinsey Solve Game  before you take it. 

After reading this article, you should have a good understanding of what McKinsey’s recruiting process looks like and how McKinsey case interviews are different from other management consulting firms. 

Still have questions?

If you have more questions about McKinsey case interviews, the PEI, or working at McKinsey, leave them in the comments below. One of My Consulting Offer’s case coaches will answer them.

People interested in this topic have also found the following pages helpful:

• Why McKinsey?
• McKinsey PEI Questions
• McKinsey Problem Solving Game
• Case Interview Examples

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We want you to be successful in your consulting case interviews too.

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3 Top Strategies to Master the Case Interview in Under a Week

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McKinsey & Company

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About The Author

Jay W. Lorsch

Related work.

• Faculty Research

McKinsey & Company

• McKinsey & Company  By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kathleen Durante

Hacking the Case Interview

It can be challenging to determine which resources are the best to use to prepare for your McKinsey case interview . There are a countless number of case interview articles, videos, prep books, courses, and coaching services.

So, which resources teach case interviews the quickest, most efficient way? Which resources teach the best McKinsey case interview strategies and techniques? What are the best free resources available?

If you have an upcoming McKinsey case interview, we have you covered. In this article, we’ll cover the best resources to prepare for your McKinsey case interview given your needs and budget.

We categorize these McKinsey case interview prep resources into the following categories:

• Free resources to prepare for your McKinsey case interview
• McKinsey case interview prep books
• McKinsey case interview courses
• McKinsey case interview coaching

If you’re looking for a step-by-step shortcut to learn case interviews quickly, enroll in our case interview course . These insider strategies from a former Bain interviewer helped 30,000+ land consulting offers while saving hundreds of hours of prep time.

Free Resources to Prepare for Your McKinsey Case Interview

Case Interview Videos

If you are completely new to McKinsey case interviews, you can watch our 80-minute complete guide to case interviews. This is the perfect introductory video for beginners because you’ll get an overview on:

• What is a case interview
• The eight parts of a case interview
• The six common types of cases
• Written case interviews and group case interviews
• 25 of the best case interview tips

Make sure to check out our YouTube channel and subscribe for free case interview lessons, tips, and practice cases.

McKinsey’s Website

You should also check out McKinsey’s interview preparation website because they provide four practice cases that you can work on without having to rely on a case partner.

The four cases are:

Diconsa case : Non-profit case focused on deciding whether to leverage a chain of convenience stores to deliver basic financial services to inhabitants of rural Mexico. You can watch a video walkthrough of how to solve the case below.

GlobaPharm case : Acquisition case focused on deciding whether a large pharmaceutical company should acquire a smaller startup. You can watch a video walkthrough of how to solve the case below.

Electro-light case : New product launch case focused on deciding whether a beverage company should launch a new sports drink.

National Education case : Non-profit case focused on helping an Eastern European country’s Department of Education improve their school system.

MBA Consulting Casebooks

Consulting casebooks are documents that MBA consulting clubs put together to help their members prepare for consulting case interviews. Consulting casebooks provide some case interview strategies and tips, but they mostly contain case interview practice cases.

You can download 23 MBA consulting casebooks with over 700+ free practice cases in our MBA casebook compilation .

Many of these cases come from previous McKinsey interviews, so they can be a great resource to get McKinsey case interview practice. We’ve included a few of our recommended consulting casebooks below:  

• Wharton (2017)
• Darden (2019)
• Kellogg (2012)
• Fuqua (2018)
• Sloan (2015)

You should know that a major caveat of using these consulting casebooks is that the quality of cases varies significantly. Some practice cases may not be representative of what an actual case interview is like. Other cases may provide poor explanations of the sample answers.

McKinsey Case Interview Prep Books

In the next section of this article, we’ll move onto the best paid resources to use to prepare for your McKinsey case interview. We’ll start by covering the best case interview prep books.

Case interview prep books are great resources to use because they are fairly inexpensive, only costing $20 to $30. They contain a tremendous amount of information that you can read, digest, and re-read at your own pace.

Based on our comprehensive review of the 12 popular case interview prep books , we ranked nearly all of the case prep books in the market.

The three case interview prep books we recommend using are:

• Hacking the Case Interview : In this book, learn exactly what to do and what to say in every step of the case interview. This is the perfect book for beginners that are looking to learn the basics of case interviews quickly.
• The Ultimate Case Interview Workbook : In this book, hone your case interview skills through 65+ problems tailored towards each type of question asked in case interviews and 15 full-length practice cases. This book is great for intermediates looking to get quality practice.
• Case Interview Secrets : This book provides great explanations of essential case interview concepts and fundamentals. The stories and anecdotes that the author provides are entertaining and help paint a clear picture of what to expect in a case interview, what interviewers are looking for, and how to solve a case interview.

McKinsey Case Interview Courses

Case interview courses are more expensive to use than case interview prep books, but offer more efficient and effective learning. You’ll learn much more quickly from watching someone teach you the material, provide examples, and then walk through practice problems than from reading a book by yourself.

Courses typically cost anywhere between $200 to $400.

If you are looking for a single resource to learn the best McKinsey case interview strategies in the most efficient way possible, enroll in our comprehensive case interview course .

Through 70+ concise video lessons and 20 full-length practice cases based on real interviews from top-tier consulting firms, you’ll learn step-by-step how to crush your McKinsey case interview.

We’ve had students pass their McKinsey first round interview with just a week of preparation, but know that your success depends on the amount of effort you put in and your starting capabilities.

McKinsey Case Interview Coaching

With case interview coaching, you’ll pay anywhere between $100 to $300 for a 40- to 60-minute mock case interview session with a case coach. Typically, case coaches are former consultants or interviewers that have worked at top-tier consulting firms.

Although very expensive, case interview coaching can provide you with high quality feedback that can significantly improve your case interview performance. By working with a case coach, you will be practicing high quality cases with an expert. You’ll get detailed feedback that ordinary case interview partners are not able to provide.

Know that you do not need to purchase case interview coaching to receive a consulting job offer. The vast majority of candidates that receive offers from top firms did not purchase case interview coaching. By purchasing case interview coaching, you are essentially purchasing convenience and learning efficiency.

Case interview coaching is best for those that have already learned as much as they can about case interviews on their own and feel that they have reached a plateau in their learning. For case interview beginners and intermediates, it may be a better use of their money to first purchase a case interview course or case interview prep book before purchasing expensive coaching sessions.

If you do decide to eventually use a case interview coach, consider using our personalized, one-on-one case interview coaching service .

There is a wide range of quality among coaches, so ensure that you are working with someone that is invested in your development and success. If possible, ask for reviews from previous candidates that your coach has worked with.

Final Thoughts on Preparing for McKinsey Case Interviews

We hope that you’ve found this article helpful in narrowing down which resources to use to prepare for your McKinsey case interviews.

Whether you choose to exclusively use free resources or purchase case interview prep books, courses, or coaching, we want to offer you these five critical McKinsey case interview preparation tips. Lastly, make sure that you perfect your McKinsey resume to ensure that you even get an interview.

1. Learn the right strategies the first time

It is very important to learn the right case interview strategies the first time. If you learn poor case interview strategies and then practice solving cases using these strategies, you’ll develop bad case interview habits. These habits will be difficult to correct later on when you decide to switch to using more effective case interview strategies.

If you learn the effective and robust strategies in the beginning, you’ll save yourself many hours of preparation time.

2. Practice with high-quality practice cases

When practicing cases, try to use the highest quality practice cases you can find. Ideally, these cases will come directly from McKinsey and be representative of an actual case interview in terms of difficulty and length.

You’ll find yourself improving much more quickly if you use high-quality practice cases versus low-quality cases.

3. Practice with a case partner whenever possible

While it may be helpful to practice solving cases by yourself in the beginning, you should practice with a case partner when you feel comfortable solving cases. Practicing with a case partner is the best way to simulate a real case interview.

4. Keep a list of improvement areas

Don’t just work through practice cases and stop once you have answered all of the questions. Take the time to go through exactly what you did to solve the case and identify areas you could have done better. Keep a list of everything you could have improved on after each case.

After doing a few practice cases, you’ll likely notice patterns on things that you consistently don’t do well. This is a great way to identify your weaknesses so that you can work on improving them.

5. Work on improving one thing at a time

Finally, focus on improving one thing at a time. Trying to work on all of your improvement areas at once is difficult to do and will likely be unproductive. Before each practice case interview, pick one thing that you want to work on. When you have mastered that one thing, move onto the next improvement area.  

Land Your Dream Consulting Job

Here are the resources we recommend to land a McKinsey consulting offer:

For help landing consulting interviews

• Resume Review & Editing : Transform your resume into one that will get you multiple consulting interviews

For help passing case interviews

• Comprehensive Case Interview Course (our #1 recommendation): The only resource you need. Whether you have no business background, rusty math skills, or are short on time, this step-by-step course will transform you into a top 1% caser that lands multiple consulting offers.
• Case Interview Coaching : Personalized, one-on-one coaching with a former Bain interviewer.
• Hacking the Case Interview Book   (available on Amazon): Perfect for beginners that are short on time. Transform yourself from a stressed-out case interview newbie to a confident intermediate in under a week. Some readers finish this book in a day and can already tackle tough cases.
• The Ultimate Case Interview Workbook (available on Amazon): Perfect for intermediates struggling with frameworks, case math, or generating business insights. No need to find a case partner – these drills, practice problems, and full-length cases can all be done by yourself.

For help passing consulting behavioral & fit interviews

• Behavioral & Fit Interview Course : Be prepared for 98% of behavioral and fit questions in just a few hours. We'll teach you exactly how to draft answers that will impress your interviewer.

Land Multiple Consulting Offers

Complete, step-by-step case interview course. 30,000+ happy customers.

• The 1%: Conquer Your Consulting Case Interview
• Consulting Career Secrets
• Cover Letter & Resume
• McKinsey Solve Game (Imbellus)
• BCG Online Case (+ Pymetrics, Spark Hire)
• Bain Aptitude Tests (SOVA, Pymetrics, HireVue)
• Kearney Recruitment Test
• BCG Cognitive Test Practice
• All-in-One Case Interview Preparation
• Industry Cheat Sheets
• Structuring & Brainstorming
• Data & Chart Interpretation
• Case Math Mastery
• McKinsey Interview Academy
• Brainteasers

Case Interview Examples (2024): A Collection from McKinsey and Others

Last Updated on January 11, 2024

Whenever you prepare for case interviews, you have to practice as realistically as possible and mimic the real case study interview at McKinsey , BCG , Bain , and others. One way to do this and make your preparation more effective is to practice real cases provided by the firms you apply to.

It will help you to understand what the differences are across firms, how they structure and approach their cases, what dimensions are important to them, and what solutions they consider to be strong.

Below is a steadily expanding selection of real case interview examples provided by different management consulting firms.

Before wasting your money on case interview collection books that use generic cases, use original cases first. Additionally, use professional case coaches, who interviewed for the top firms , to mimic the real interview experience and get real, actionable feedback to improve.

Please be aware that cases are just one part of a typical consulting interview. It is equally important to prepare for behavioral and fit interview questions .

McKinsey Case Interview Examples

• Loravia – Transforming a national education system
• SuperSoda – Electro-light product launch
• GlobaPharm – Pharma R&D
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – Diconsa financial services offering
• Beautify – Customer approach
• Shops – DEI strategy
• Talbot Trucks – Electric truck development
• Conservation Forever – Nature conservation

We have written a detailed article on the McKinsey application process, the McKinsey interview timeline, the typical McKinsey case interview, and the McKinsey Personal Experience interview here . You can expect similar cases regardless of your position (e.g. in a McKinsey phone case interview or interviewing for a McKinsey internship as well as a full-time BA, Associate, or Engagement Manager role).

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Case interview Examples

• Consumer Goods – Climate strategy
• Banking – Client satisfaction
• Consumer Goods – IT strategy
• Chateau Boomerang – Written case

Bain and Company case interview examples

• NextGen Tech
• FashionCo .

Ace the case interview with our dedicated preparation packages.

Deloitte Case Interview Examples

• Federal Agency – Engagement strategy
• Federal Benefits Provider – Strategic vision
• Apparel – Declining market share
• Federal Finance Agency – Architecture strategy
• MedX – Smart pill bottle
• Federal Healthy Agency – Finance strategy
• LeadAuto – Market expansion
• Federal Bureau – Talent management

Strategy& Case Interview Examples

• Strategy& tips and examples  (case examples included )

Accenture Case Interview Examples

• Accenture interview tips and examples (case examples included )

Kearney Case Interview Examples

• Promotional planning

Roland Berger Case Interview Examples

• Transit-oriented development Part 1
• Transit-oriented development Part 2
• 3D printed hip implants Part 1
• 3D printed hip implants Part 2

Oliver Wyman Case Interview Examples

• Wumbleworld – theme park
• Aqualine – boats

LEK Case Interview Examples

• Video case interview example (currently unavailable)
• Market sizing video example
• Brainteaser (scroll to the bottom of the page)

Simon Kucher Case Interview Examples

• Smart phone pricing

OC&C Case Interview Examples

• Imported whiskey in an emerging market – business strategy
• Leisure clubs – data interpretation

Capital One Case Interview Examples

• How to crack case interviews with Capital One (includes case examples)

Bridgespan Case Interview Examples

• Robinson Philanthropy – Strategy
• Reach for the Stars – Student success
• Home Nurses for New Families – Expansion strategy
• Venture Philanthropy – Charity

Consulting Clubs Case Interview Books

Contact us at [email protected] for a collection of consulting club case interview books (from Harvard, ESADE, LBS, Columbia, etc.).

How We Help You Ace Your Case Interviews

We have specialized in placing people from all walks of life with different backgrounds into top consulting firms both as generalist hires as well as specialized hires and experts. As former McKinsey consultants and interview experts, we help you by

• tailoring your resume and cover letter to meet consulting firms’ highest standards
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• showing you how to ace McKinsey interviews and the PEI with our video academy
• coaching you in our 1-on-1 sessions to become an excellent case solver and impress with your fit answers (90% success rate after 5 sessions)
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Florian spent 5 years with McKinsey as a senior consultant. He is an experienced consulting interviewer and problem-solving coach, having interviewed 100s of candidates in real and mock interviews. He started StrategyCase.com to make top-tier consulting firms more accessible for top talent, using tailored and up-to-date know-how about their recruiting. He ranks as the most successful consulting case and fit interview coach, generating more than 500 offers with MBB, tier-2 firms, Big 4 consulting divisions, in-house consultancies, and boutique firms through direct coaching of his clients over the last 3.5 years. His books “The 1%: Conquer Your Consulting Case Interview” and “Consulting Career Secrets” are available via Amazon.

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McKinsey Case Interview Prep (process, questions, tips)

McKinsey interviews are among the hardest job interviews in the world. The questions are difficult, specific to McKinsey, and the interviewer can sometimes seem intimidating.

But the good news is that with the right preparation it can actually become relatively straightforward to succeed at a McKinsey interview. We have put together the ultimate guide to help you maximise your chances of success.

Here's an overview of what we'll cover:

• Interview process and timeline
• Case structure and example questions
• Behavioural interview questions (PEI)
• Preparation tips
• Specialist roles

Click here to practise 1-on-1 with McKinsey ex-interviewers

1. interview process and timeline  ↑, 1.1 one in ten interview candidates get a job offer  ↑.

First, you need to understand the different stages of your interview process with McKinsey and your chances at each step. In most countries, McKinsey uses four filters to select candidates:

• Resume and cover letter screening
• McKinsey  Problem Solving Game
• First round of interviews
• Second round of interviews

First, recruiters will look at your resume and assess if your experience matches the open position. This is the most competitive step in the process—we’ve found that 90% of candidates don’t make it past this stage.

You can use  this free consulting resume guide  and this  free consulting cover letter guide  to help tailor your application to the position you’re targeting. 

And if you’re looking for expert feedback, you can also get input from our  team of  ex-MBB recruiters , who will  cover what achievements to focus on (or ignore), how to fine tune your bullet points, and more.

After that, you must complete a difficult interview process. In a  recent interview , Dominic Barton, McKinsey’s ex-Global Managing Director, revealed that about 1% of the 200,000 candidates applying to the firm every year receive a job offer.

Assuming a 33% success rate at the four steps of the recruiting process described above, we estimate that McKinsey interviews about 21,000 candidates every year and that they extend a job offer to about 2,200 of them. If you have been invited to a first round interview with McKinsey, you therefore have a 10% chance of getting an offer.

• Filter 1 / Resume and cover letter: 200,000 candidates
• Filter 2 / McKinsey digital assessment: ~65,000 candidates
• Filter 3 / First round of interviews: ~21,000 candidates
• Filter 4 / Second round of interviews: ~6,800 candidates
• Job offers: 2,200 candidates

The good news is that the first and second round interviews are really manageable when you know how to prepare. Your interviews will usually last between 45 and 60 minutes and consist of two parts: 

• Case Interview – for 75% of the interview time
• Personal Experience Interview (PEI) – for 25% of the interview time

We will cover both types of interview questions in detail below, but let's first briefly discuss the interview timeline you can expect at McKinsey.

1.2 McKinsey interview timeline ↑

When preparing for your McKinsey case interview, it can be difficult to know when to expect each stage of the interview process. To help illustrate a typical timeline, we've created the below overview of McKinsey's recruitment schedule.  As a rule of thumb you can expect the whole process to take 5 to 8 weeks.

Please note: this is meant to give you a general overview, and may not reflect your specific interview timeline. Actual interview timelines depend on a number of factors (e.g. Experience hire vs. University hire). The below is based on the expected recruitment timelines at the University of Chicago (an MBB target school). You can find the original document from the University of Chicago here . 

Now that you have a clear picture of what to expect in terms of recruiting process and timeline, let's turn our attention to the skills that McKinsey will be testing you on during case interviews.

1.3 Skills tested by McKinsey case interviews ↑

McKinsey uses case interviews to test three types of skills that are used by consultants in their daily work:

• Problem structuring and maths skills
• Creativity and business sense skills
• Communication skills

1.3.1 Problem structuring and maths skills

First, McKinsey already started testing your maths and logic skills with its  Problem Solving Guide . This skill will continue being tested during case interviews and you will be expected to perform mental maths both quickly and accurately .

In addition, your interviewer will ask you to solve the problem in a structured way. In simple terms, that means you will be expected to solve questions with a clear step-by-step approach, that is easy for your interviewer to understand.

1.3.2 Creativity and business sense skills

Second, McKinsey case interviews are designed to evaluate your business sense and creativity. That means your interviewer will assess your ability to come up with a range of ideas that make business sense to solve the client issue at hand. For instance, you could be asked to find innovative ideas for a restaurant to grow sales, or to decrease costs.

An important nuance is that interviewers will not assess your business knowledge per se. In other words, you are not expected to have any knowledge of the industry your case will be about.

For instance, you could get a case about re-insurance and not know anything about the re-insurance industry. This is perfectly normal. In these situations, your interviewer will expect you to ask questions about the industry and will help you understand its specificities.

The only expectation is that you know basic business concepts such as revenues, fixed and variable costs, etc. We have summarised the finance concepts you need to know for consulting interviews here .

1.3.3 Communication skills

Finally, your interviewer will also test your soft skills. This includes how you communicate your ideas and interact with others. As a consultant working with clients, good soft skills will be critical to your success.

So you'll want to show your interviewers that you can communicate well. You should try to communicate your ideas in a clearly structured way, and to speak confidently and professionally. This will have a big impact on the impression you make.

Take a look at the following excerpt from one of our McKinsey live case interview videos to find out what a good, consistent approach to answering case interview questions sounds like.

As you prepare for your interview, if you'd like to learn more about the type of work and the career path at McKinsey, check out our in-depth blog post about McKinsey Careers .

2. Case structure and examples  ↑

2.1 mckinsey case study structure  ↑.

During your McKinsey interviews, you will be presented with a case study about a company facing an issue. For instance, your case could focus on an industrial facility facing a profit challenge, or a company that needs help to make a strategic decision on a new product. Cases are usually a simplified version of real projects your interviewer worked on in the past.

Your interviewer will tell you about the situation the company is facing and will ask you questions about the situation. She may also provide you with documents such as graphs and tables with figures about the company. You will be allowed to use scrap paper to structure your thoughts and perform calculations. However, you will not be allowed to use a calculator.

Most McKinsey case interviews use the following structure:

• Framework question
• Quantitative question
• Creativity question
• Recommendation

First, your interviewer will introduce you to the company’s situation and business problem. Then, the interviewer will ask you to identify the areas you would look at to solve the problem -  this is the framework question . You will then be asked to solve one or more quantitative questions, and afterward you will be expected to outline some initial conclusions. 

In addition, at some point during your interview, you will be asked a creativity question. These are usually open-ended questions such as “what other areas should the company explore to increase its online sales?”.

Finally, at the end of the case, your interviewer will ask you to make an overall recommendation for the company based on the analysis you have just carried out.

Although the format and order of questions may vary from one case to the next, you will almost invariably come across these types of questions during your McKinsey interviews and should therefore prepare for them. To find out more about the format of case interviews, check out our  Free McKinsey Case Prep .

An additional exercise we would recommend doing is to take a look at the different case interviews available on McKinsey's website . As you go through each case, you should try to map each question to the 5 types of questions we have listed above.

2.2 Differences between McKinsey and other cases ↑

All consulting firms use case interviews during their recruiting process. But McKinsey interviews are different in two regards.

First, McKinsey interviewers tend to control the pace of the interview much more than other interviewers. They will have a list of questions about the case they want to go through with you, and will take you from one question to the next. If they feel you spend too much time on one question, they might interrupt you and ask the next question.

Some people call this “interviewer-led” case interviews. At other firms such as Bain or BCG, interviewers give you more control over the pace of the interview. Some people call this “interviewee-led”, or "candidate-led" case interviews. The skills tested in both types of cases are the same, but you should expect slightly different behaviours from your interviewers.

Second, there is a lot of competition to get into McKinsey, and your interviewer will probably challenge the quality and logic of your answers more than at other firms. That being said, interviewers are instructed to always be well intentioned and will not try to “trip you up” or misguide you.

2.3 Differences between 1st and 2nd round interviews ↑

Another important thing to understand is the number of case interviews you will have and how they will differ. Typically, you will have two rounds of interviews. The number of interviews by round may vary but it is usually between 2 and 4. In total, you will therefore have between 4 and 8 interviews before getting a McKinsey job offer.

First and second round interviews are similar in format and difficulty. However, your first round interviewers will usually be more junior than your second round interviewers.

Associates (2+ years of experience) or Engagement Managers (4+ years of experience) usually lead first round interviews, while the second round is led by Partners (10+ years of experience). If you'd like to learn more about the different levels in the consulting hierarchy, check out our post on the consulting career path .

In theory, McKinsey takes into account your performance at both first and second round interviews when making final offer decisions. However, in practice, your performance during the second round carries more weight.

This is simply because Partners will have a stronger voice when the recruiting group discusses your application. It is therefore particularly important that you do well at your second round interviews.

2.4 McKinsey phone case interviews ↑

One aspect of the process that's quite specific to McKinsey is that 1st round interviews are sometimes conducted over the phone, or a video-conferencing software.

There are a few additional things you need to consider, when preparing for a phone case interview. Specifically, you should:

• Expect phone interviews earlier in the interview process
• Do everything you can to avoid a bad connection
• Pay special attention to your communication

We go into greater depth on the 3 points above, in our  article about phone case interviews.  Now let's go through a few interview question examples you can use in your preparation.

2.5 McKinsey interview questions examples ↑

One of the best things you can do to prepare for your McKinsey case interviews, is to practice with realistic case questions. McKinsey has made several example cases available, which are modeled after real-world consulting scenarios.

Important note: feel free to open the below practice cases for reference, but open them in a new tab. You'll want to keep this page open, because the sections below will help you be more strategic with your preparation, including your practice with sample cases.

You can find the available cases from McKinsey below:

• Electro-Light
• Transforming a national education system

In addition, we've put together the ultimate list of free practice cases , with materials from the world's leading consulting firms. The article includes practice case books from university consulting clubs, like Harvard, MIT, London Business School, and more.

Next, we'll turn our attention to behavioural interview questions.

3. Behavioural interview questions (PEI)  ↑

The PEI part of your interview will last about ten minutes. It is fairly different from a typical “CV interview” mainly because your interviewer will only assess you on a single topic. Interviewers at other firms tend to cover a large range of topics during a “CV interview” but that is not the case at McKinsey.

The good news is that the topics on which you will be assessed are very predictable. They are made relatively clear on McKinsey’s career website : personal impact, leadership abilities, entrepreneurial drive and problem solving skills.

For instance you could be asked: “Tell me about a time when you led a group of people through a difficult situation” or “Tell me about a time when you had to solve an extremely difficult problem”. 

Our recommended approach to prepare for these questions is to craft a story for each of the four skills McKinsey will test you on. You can then use and adapt these stories depending on the exact question your interviewer will ask. There are different structures you could use to tell your story but we recommend keeping it relatively simple:

• Context: start by giving the necessary context on the example you are using
• Problem: outline the problem you and your team were facing
• Solution: explain the solution you came up with to solve the problem outlined
• Impact: if possible, quantify the impact you had in solving the problem
• Lessons: finish by any lessons you might have learned in the process

There are two common mistakes candidates make when answering McKinsey PEI questions . First, a lot of candidates spend too much time on setting the context when telling their story. Second, some candidates forget that the question is about them.

When responding to PEI questions, focus on what you  did, and what your  impact was on the situation. This is an important step in presenting your qualifications well. When you craft your four stories you should keep these common pitfalls in mind and try to avoid them.

For more details and example answers, you should read the following blog post on how to impress your interviewer when answering Personal Experience Interview questions .

4. Preparation tips ↑

In this section, we're going to cover the most important things you can do in order to prepare for your McKinsey case interviews. Let's begin with maths preparation.

4.1. Become really confident at maths

You don't have to have a perfect GPA or GMAT score to succeed at case interview maths. However, during your McKinsey  interviews, you will be expected to quickly perform accurate mental maths. 

In order to do this, it’s essential to know the formulas for common metrics, like return on investment or breakeven point. And it’s also helpful to know a few maths shortcuts to help you solve problems more quickly. To learn more about these topics, check out our free guide to case interview maths . 

In our experience, the most successful applicants start their interview preparation by practising maths skills, so make sure you prioritise this step.  

4.2 Develop a consistent method to crack cases

One of the biggest challenges of interviewing with McKinsey  is solving cases that you’ve never seen before. Each case can be difficult, and you’ll have to perform well across multiple case interviews in order to get an offer.

As a result, it’s critical for you to have a consistent approach for solving cases. McKinsey  uses interviewer-led case interviews, which can be broken down into the following types of questions:

• Framework development
• Quant question – Data provided

If you can crack each type of question (within a case), then you can crack the overall case.

4.3 Practice cases out loud

How you solve each case is important, but your interviewers will also be evaluating how you COMMUNICATE your answers. It's important to speak in a structured way that makes it easy to clearly understand your points.

The best way to hone your communication skills is to practice interviewing out loud, and you can do that in three main ways:

• Interview yourself (out loud)
• Practice interviewing with peers
• Practice interviewing with ex-interviewers

To help you with this process, here is a broad  list of consulting interview questions  you can practice with. Practicing by yourself is a great way to get started, and can help you get more comfortable with the flow of a case interview. However, this type of practice won’t prepare you for realistic interview conditions. 

After getting some practice on your own, you should find someone who can do a mock interview with you, such as a friend or family member.

We’d also recommend that you do mock interviews with ex-interviewers from McKinsey. This is the best way to replicate the conditions of a real interview, and to get feedback from someone who understands the process extremely well. You may not have the connections to do this on your own, but we’ve made the connections for you. Book your McKinsey mock interview now .

5. Differences for specialist roles

The advice we've given in this article is aimed at candidates for general consulting at McKinsey, but much of it is also relevant for candidates applying for other roles (e.g. McKinsey Digital Labs, Implementation Consultant, Data Scientist, etc.) although as you'd expect, there are some differences.

Below, we've summarised our general guidance which will help you understand the differences at a high-level view. If you are currently in the interview process, your HR contact should be able to provide the details for your specific interview track.

5.1 McKinsey Digital Labs

Broadly speaking, there are two types of roles at McKinsey Digital Labs: consulting roles and specialist roles (e.g.: software developer).

• Consulting roles: if you're applying for an Analyst or Associate role, the interview process will follow the normal consultant interview track. You should therefore prepare for McKinsey-style case interviews, as well as McKinsey PEI questions .
• Specialist roles: specialists have function-specific interviews. For instance, software engineers / data scientists typically have a mix of technical questions (coding), and personal experience interview questions. Some of the data scientists we've worked with were also asked to solve a case in later rounds of interviews.

One of our coaches is a former consultant from McKinsey Digital Labs. We have interviewed him in the following blog post, which you can read if you want to learn more about the interview process at McKinsey Digital Labs.

5.2 Implementation Consultant

Implementation Consultant is a consulting role. As a result, McKinsey interviewers will test the same skills as for other consultants, including problem solving, leadership and communication skills.

In addition, it's likely that McKinsey interviewers will also test specific implementation skills, such as the lean and six-sigma methods. They may cover it with a PEI question, by asking you to provide an example of how you led the implementation of a six-sigma project. Or, they may cover it during a case interview, by asking you to solve an implementation-related case.

5.3 Research Analyst and Data Scientist

In our experience, the interview process for Research Analyst is quite similar to the one for Consultant. Candidates for Research Analyst roles regularly prepare with our coaches.

For a Data Scientist role, the interview process is probably quite different, including coding interviews with statistics and computer science questions.

For any of these specialised roles at McKinsey, we would also encourage you to double check with your HR contact to understand the exact format.

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Increasing agent empathy with digital transformation in insurance

5 ways mobile tech can enhance employee experience for insurance companies

How insurance claims adjusters can boost efficiency with mobile tech

Insurance is more than just a financial product. It’s an invaluable tool for protecting things people hold most dear — like their family, business, and home.

When searching for an insurance policy, customers need expert guidance and personalized, empathetic service tailored to their unique needs. As more companies turn to automation to streamline operations, forging human connections with customers has never been more important. By leading with empathy, agents can ensure customers feel understood and valued in every interaction.

Barriers to empathy in the customer experience

The insurance industry faces several challenges as it tries to deliver more empathetic customer experiences.

In an IDC white paper sponsored by Samsung “ Bridging the Digital-Human Gap: Strategies for Branches and Intermediaries – Insights from US Study on Modernization in Banking and Insurance 1 ,” 33% of insurers surveyed said their biggest challenge is ensuring customer satisfaction and retention through empathetic connections. Customers still grapple with too much complexity as they wade through insurance options. Confusing terminology, lack of transparency, and perceptions around limited coverage and customization are contributing factors.

There are also inherent issues with how work is structured in the industry. A customer may talk to a different agent every time they call. McKinsey research indicates 1 in 6 insurers never follow up after an initial call, and 40% of customers typically interact with two or more people. This may be because insurance providers face challenges in facilitating better internal collaboration.

In an IDC infographic sponsored by Samsung , Shaping the Future of the Insurance Agent: From Order Taker to Caregiver 2 , 49% of U.S. insurers highlighted ineffective communication and collaboration among agents as a major challenge. Digital collaboration and communication platforms that facilitate seamless interaction between agents should be a top priority for insurance organizations. Yet only 40% of C-level insurance professionals acknowledged them as such.

The research also suggests the digital channels insurers use don’t fully address customers’ needs. In fact, 38% of insurers had concerns about customizing insurance policies to fit customers’ needs, and more than 30% of customers were not satisfied with their insurance company’s digital channels. They prefer guidance from a human agent, which further demonstrates how central empathy has become to the customer experience.

The value of empathy in insurance

Empathy is crucial for insurance agents because it can lead to positive customer outcomes.

Bridging the digital-human gap in banking and insurance

Find out the expectations of banking and insurance customers in this IDC whitepaper sponsored by Samsung. Download Now

Insurance is about reducing risks, but this can’t happen if an agent doesn’t understand a customer’s concerns. Asking the right questions can help agents identify what to incorporate into a policy to ensure a customer is adequately protected. This personalized experience can lead to greater customer satisfaction.

Empathy and personalization can also improve complex processes such as claims after a difficult life event. In these moments, empathy is vital for guiding them through the process as efficiently as possible and ensuring effective communication. In the IDC infographic, 38% of consumers perceived agents solely as sellers, citing they lack proactive support in post-deal closures. Agents who deliver detailed information, follow up with timely communication, and direct customers to additional resources can help shake off that seller stereotype.

The connection between agents and customers

Today, insurance companies seek technology and innovative solutions to automate tasks, allowing agents more time to address customers’ claims, answer policy questions faster, and deliver consistent results no matter who the customer speaks with. The shift aims to drive empathy, thus transforming agents from sales/claims to trusted advisors.

Using emerging technologies enables agents to be more agile and flexible, creating a better experience and removing some of the barriers previously stated. For example, there are solutions that boost productivity for agents, whether they use a desktop, mobile device, or both.  Access to customer data and guided workflows, wherever the agent is, can contribute to better customer engagement. Having access to customer profiles and policies at their fingertips allows agents to understand customers better and deliver a personalized touch.

To ensure consistent follow-up after initial calls, agents can utilize solutions for timely communications such as sending an email reflecting the initial conversation and offering policy recommendations that align with the customer’s concerns. Currently, nearly 4 in 10 policyholders say their policy doesn’t fit their needs, but technology can help agents address these concerns and deliver a more consistent and personalized customer experience — even if the customer has interacted with more than one agent.

When technology enables both agent and customer experiences, it drives more meaningful human connections and empowers agents to use their unique skills to solve problems. Customers want to feel their insurance provider cares about them and their needs. By prioritizing empathy in customer interactions, insurers can deliver a personalized experience that makes customers feel they aren’t just a policy number, but truly valued.

Looking to deliver a better customer experience throughout the insurance process? Contact one of our industry experts here. Sign up for our newsletter, INSIGHTS: Banking , a monthly update from Samsung on banking trends and technology’s role in the financial services industry. For a complete overview of all Samsung technology solutions for financial services, click here .

1 IDC White Paper, sponsored by Samsung, Bridging the Digital-Human Gap: Strategies for Branches and Intermediaries – Insights from US Study on Modernization in Banking and Insurance,#US52011624,May 2024.

2 IDC Infographic, sponsored by Samsung, Shaping the Future of the Insurance Agent: From Order Taker to Caregiver,#US51998324,April 2024.

Brian Avila

As Sr. Manager of Business Development Solutions in the Financial Services Industry at Samsung Electronics America, Brian Avila specializes in creating innovative solutions to address Samsung’s customers’ real-world challenges and deliver the outcomes they are looking to achieve. With experience in consultation, business development and strategic planning globally across B2B verticals focused on insurance and finance, Brian works closely with his clients to co-create solutions that drives their business growth.

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• mobile technology

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More From Forbes

4 case studies of businesses that scaled to greatness.

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Joe Camberato is the CEO and Founder of National Business Capital , a leading FinTech marketplace offering streamlined small business loans.

Have you ever wondered why some companies succeed in unimaginable ways while others fade into obscurity? The best way to understand how to scale a company is to look at how the most successful companies have done it. Let’s look at four companies that started out small and become global players in their industries.

Amazon is one of the best-known companies in the world, so it’s easy to forget that founder Jeff Bezos started the company out of his garage . In 1994, Bezos financed Amazon, which began as an online bookseller, with $10,000 of his own money.

Amazon experienced many losses during its early days, but its revenue quickly grew from $4.2 million to $8.5 million in 1996. The company went public in 1997, and the following year, it expanded beyond books.

One of its biggest game changers came in 2005 when the company launched Amazon Prime, its subscription service. There are 180 million Prime members in the U.S. alone.

Netflix’s Best New Movie Arrives With A Perfect 100% Critic Score

Trump reposts ai-generated images claiming taylor swift fans support him, microsoft issues mandatory 2fa login deadline alert.

Amazon’s continued commitment to innovation has led it to be one of the world’s most successful companies. Amazon provides its customers with almost unparalleled convenience.

Under Armour

In 1996, Under Armour was founded with the idea of creating a T-shirt that wicks sweat away more efficiently and keeps athletes dry. The company started small , with founder Kevin Plank selling T-shirts out of the trunk of his car and to his former teammates on the University of Maryland’s football team.

Under Armour made several iterations of its original prototype, and the T-shirt was a huge success. The company began growing organically. Plank wanted to increase the company’s growth, so in 1999, he decided to take out an ESPN ad for $25,000 . It was a risky move at the time, and employees agreed to go without pay for a couple of weeks so the company could afford the ad. However, the risk paid off, and Under Armour generated $1 million in sales the next year and dramatically increased its brand recognition.

Under Armour’s initial funding came from Plank , but the company went public in 2005 . Under Armour began to diversify and release new products, but it never lost focus on its central mission—improving the performance and comfort of all athletes.

In 2007, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia couldn’t afford the rent for their San Francisco apartment, so they decided to rent out their loft space to earn some extra money. They didn’t want to post an ad on Craigslist , so they decided to create their own rental site.

In 2009, they were accepted into Y Combinator and received $20,000 in funding . Airbnb later received another $600,000 in funding in a seed round, despite receiving a lot of early resistance. By 2014, Airbnb had more than 550,000 properties listed worldwide and 10 million guests.

One of its keys to success is its focus on the user experience. By allowing people to rent out their homes, the company gives the average person a way to earn an additional stream of income.

In 1997, Netflix was started as a DVD rental service to help customers avoid getting hit with late fees. Customers selected the movies and TV shows they wanted online and could then have them delivered to their homes.

In 1999 , founder Reed Hastings introduced a subscription-based model. Once customers were locked into a monthly subscription, they were more likely to rent more movies. In 2000, Netflix released its Unlimited Movie Rental program, which allowed customers to rent an unlimited number of movies each month for a monthly subscription of $19.95.

In 2007, Netflix launched its online streaming service, and that was the first year the company surpassed $1 billion in revenue. The company later began entering into content licensing deals with television studios and, in 2011, started producing its own original programming.

Netflix has been a success because the company is flexible and able to adapt quickly to changes in the marketplace. And Netflix’s founders were able to see the long-term vision for what the company could become, unlike companies like Blockbuster.

Tips On Scaling Your Business

Scaling a business is the ultimate goal for most entrepreneurs, but how can you make it happen? First, it’s important to understand the difference between growth vs. scaling. Growing businesses focus on getting bigger and acquiring more customers and more team members. In comparison, scaling focuses on efficiency. Scalable companies can serve more customers without significantly more effort.

It’s near-impossible to scale a company by yourself, so you should ensure you have the right team in place. This isn’t just about bringing on more employees. It’s about finding those few, highly specialized employees who can help you move the company forward.

Research from McKinsey found that the highest performers are 800 times more productive than average employees in the same role. Focus on finding and keeping the right staff of people who believe in the company’s mission.

My company started with me. I worked as hard as I could and made some great progress in the beginning, but a business can only reach a certain level with only one person. It started with one hire, then two, then three. Before long, I was surrounded by amazingly talented people, and the business started to grow beyond what I was able to achieve on my own.

You also need to focus on understanding your customers and maintaining quality customer service. As companies start to scale, maintaining a high level of customer service becomes increasingly difficult. Ensure you’re meeting your customers’ needs by creating standard operating procedures, automating what you can and investing in 24/7 live chat.

Scaling your business requires investing in technology and systems, which aren’t cheap. Even if you don’t need the funds yet, start identifying potential banks or online lenders where you can access a loan or ongoing line of credit. Finding the right financing opportunities allows you to build the infrastructure necessary to scale.

Forbes Finance Council is an invitation-only organization for executives in successful accounting, financial planning and wealth management firms. Do I qualify?

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Client goal

Our client is Beautify. Beautify has approached McKinsey for help with exploring new ways to approach its customers.

Situation description

Beautify is a global prestige cosmetics company that sells its products mainly inside high-end department stores such as Harrods and Shanghai No. 1. It also has a presence online with specialty retailers like Sephora. Beautify produces a number of makeup, fragrance, and skin care products sold under several different brands.

In department stores, beauty consultants play a critical role with consumers:

• approaching “passive” customers
• demonstrating their knowledge of the products
• actively selling the products
• maintaining a loyal customer base of repeat buyers

These consultants are hired directly by Beautify or through specialist, third-party agencies that find new recruits for a fee. Beautify is then responsible for selecting, training, and paying the consultants. Within Beautify, beauty consultants are managed independently by each brand in each country. For example, this may mean a consultant might be part of the Chanel team in a store. However, consumers are shifting more to online shopping, and too many beauty consultants are left working in empty department stores.

McKinsey study

Beautify’s president and COO engaged McKinsey to help evaluate if training the majority of beauty consultants to use virtual channels to connect with customers could be profitable for the company.

Helpful hints

• Write down important information.
• Feel free to ask the interviewer to explain anything that is not clear to you.

Question 1:

Beautify is excited to support its current staff of beauty consultants on the journey to becoming virtual social media-beauty advisors. Consultants would still lead the way in terms of direct consumer engagement and would be expected to maintain and grow a group of clients. They would sell products through their own pages on beautify.com, make appearances at major retail outlets, and be active on all social media platforms.

What possible factors should Beautify consider when shifting this group of employees toward a new set of responsibilities?

• Take time to organize your thoughts before answering. This will help show your interviewer that you have a logical approach and can think in an organized way, regardless of the accuracy of the outcome.
• Develop an overall approach before diving into details.

Reveal Answer

Question 2:.

One of the key areas that Beautify wants to understand is the reaction of current and potential new customers to the virtual social media-beauty advisors.

Imagine you are a current Beautify customer and you mostly shop at your local department store because you enjoy the high-touch service offered by in-store consultants. What features would make you consider switching to a mostly virtual sales experience?

Helpful hint

Consider the issues raised in the question and group your thoughts around them. This will ensure you are giving the most relevant answers.

Question 3:

The discussion about virtual advisors has been energizing, but you’d like to ground the discussion in some analysis. You’ve always found it helpful to frame an investment in terms of how long it will take to turn profitable, such as when incremental revenues are greater than the cost of the project.

You sit down with your teammates from Beautify finance and come up with the following assumptions.

• With advisors, you expect ten percent overall increase in incremental revenue—the team assumes that Beautify will gain new customers who enjoy the experience as well as increased online sales through those engaged, but it will also lose some to other brands that still provide more in-store service. The team assumes this will happen in the first year.
• In that first year, Beautify will invest €50 million in IT, €25 million in training, €50 million in remodeling department store counters, and €25 million in inventory.
• All-in yearly costs associated with a shift to advisors are expected to be €10 million and will start during the first year.
• Beautify’s revenues are €1.3 billion.

How many years would it take until the investment in advisors turns profitable?

• Don’t feel rushed into performing calculations. Take your time.
• Remember that calculators are not allowed - you may want to write out your calculations on paper during the interview.
• Talk your interviewer through your steps so that you can demonstrate an organized approach; the more you talk, the easier it will be for your interviewer to help you.