Strategy
Porter’s five forces template
Map the competitive forces around your industry
What’s inside
- Nodes
- 11
- Packs
- BoardsCore
- Category
- Strategy
Works on the Free plan: 15 diagram nodes + 150 notes, text, stickers & mind map topics per diagram.
Porter’s five forces explains how much competitive pressure an industry puts on everyone in it: the threat of new entrants, the bargaining power of suppliers and of buyers, the threat of substitutes, and the rivalry between existing players. This template lays the five forces out as a cross, with rivalry in the middle and two sample notes in each force.
Seeing the forces side by side makes it easier to judge where the pressure really comes from. Replace the samples with the facts of your own industry, add notes where a force is strong, and keep the evidence next to the claim. The board grows as you add notes, and it can sit beside a SWOT analysis on the same canvas when the threats need a closer look.
When to use it
- Assessing whether a market is attractive before you enter it.
- Explaining pricing pressure or thin margins to stakeholders.
- Preparing a competitive analysis for a business plan or an investor deck.
- Studying industry structure in a strategy or economics course.
How to use it
Name the industry or market in the board title, so everyone analyses the same thing.
Replace the sample notes with real evidence for each force, one fact per note.
Judge each force as weak, moderate, or strong, and mark the strongest with a sticker.
Summarise what the forces mean for your strategy beside the board, then share or export it.
Questions
Where does rivalry go on the board?
In the middle. Rivalry among existing competitors is the central force, and the other four press on it from above, below, and both sides, which is why the template lays the board out as a cross.
Should I use five forces or SWOT?
Use five forces to understand an industry, and SWOT to understand your position in it. Many teams fill in the five forces first and use the result for the opportunities and threats of a SWOT.
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