Guesstimate – Annual income of a beggar in Bangalore
Annual income of a beggar in Bangalore
Guesstimate is asked in an interview to understand the analytical understanding of the candidate as well as to check his thought/approach diversity.
Guesstimates can range from finding the number of ‘Red’ Cars in Delhi to the number of trees in Bangalore.
In one such interview, the candidate was asked to estimate the income of a beggar in Bangalore. We received 22 responses on this question, you can read their diverse approach or can write your own
Link to question – http://thedatamonk.com/question/how-much-is-the-annual-income-of-a-beggar-in-bangalore/
Annual income of a beggar in Bangalore
Link to the question with all the approach – http://thedatamonk.com/question/how-much-is-the-annual-income-of-a-beggar-in-bangalore/
If you have a different approach then please add your answer, else upvote the one which you like

First Approach – Ognish Banerjee
Assumption :
1. A beggar meets 100 people per day out of that chance of converting is 50%
2. The beggar knows where to search for people , let’s say near offices or tech park to have a better conversion rate
3. The beggar knows the peak time of the day as well as the peak time during the evening
4. The beggar starts his day from 10 am in the morning till 10 pm till night
5. Average income from a person is Rs 20
Now to go about this.
I’m categorizing the daily hour for wekkdays
10 am to 1 pm – peak time
1 pm to 5 pm – medium
5pm to 8 pm – peak
8pm to 10 pm – medium
Number of people he meets in these hours
10 am to 1 pm – 40 people
1 pm to 5pm – 10 people
5pm to 8pm – 40 people
8pm to 10pm – 10 people
On average expected income would be
(40*20) + (10*20) + (40*20) + (10*20) = 2000
5 days for weekdays = 10000
50% conversion rate = 5000
On weekdays in a month his income is = 5000 * 4 ( 4 weeks in a month) = 20000
Now taking the week ends. His strategy would be different. The beggar won’t be roaming near the offices, rather he would roam near the neighborhood during day and shopping mall/theatre during night.
If I go with similar calculation (not mentioned here) his evening income is way higher, peak time 6pm – 11pm
He meets 50 people with 20 rs each – 1000
50% conversion – 500
Number of weekends 8 – 500*8 = 4000
Total monthly income = 24000
Total annual income : 24000 * 12 around (3 lacs ) taking holidays, special events all around the year.
I’m a Mu Sigman also, during my first year I also earned the same like a beggar!!! Wow
Second Approach – Nilanjan Kumar
In the 24 hours time, let’s assume that a beggar sleeps 5 hours a day and also assume 5 hours he is busy doing other pieces of stuff like eating, playing cards on the roadside, etc. so that makes our time as: –
24-5-5 = 14 hours.
The beggar divided his time as below(5 days of working) : –
Time Interaction with People(per day) Conversion rate
6 a.m – 10 a.m 50 80%
12 p.m – 4 p.m 30 50%
6 p.m – 10 p.m 40 70%
11 p.m – 1 a.m 25 30%
Reasons for taking the conversion rate like this:
6 a.m. to 10 a.m – People in a good mood going to start their day by offering something to needy people.
12 p.m to 4 p.m. – People will be in a hurry as they have got limited time from the office.
6 p.m to 10 p.m – Back from work if a day went well they will offer to make each day good.
11 p.m to 1 a.m – End of the day.
If on average they get Rs. 5 from a single person, then: –
Time People offering money(per day) Amount(avg Rs 5 per person)
6 a.m – 10 a.m 40 200
12 p.m – 4 p.m 15 75
6 p.m – 10 p.m 28 140
11 p.m – 1 a.m 10 50
Total = Rs 465 per day
This 465 per day will be for 5 days a week as on weekends the time between 12 p.m. to 4 p.m and 6 p.m to 10 p.m will have conversion rates more. But on the contrary morning conversion rate will be less. So taking that situation into count, this Rs. 465 per day will increase to Rs. 500 per day (considering an average increase of Rs. 35 ).
Hence, Calculating for per week: –
(465*5)+(500*2) = Rs. 3325
A month has 4 weeks, hence income in 1 month = Rs. 3325*4 = Rs. 13,300
For annual income, 12 months, Hence, 12* 13300 = Rs. 1,59,600/-
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