Porter's Five Forces

Analyze Your Competitive Environment

What is Porter's Five Forces?

Porter's Five Forces is a framework for analyzing the competitive intensity and attractiveness of your market. Developed by Michael Porter, it examines five key forces that shape competition and profitability.

For content creators, this helps you understand: how easy it is for new creators to enter your niche, what power your audience has, whether there are alternatives to your content, how much leverage platforms have over you, and how intense the competition is.

1. Threat of New Entrants

How easy is it for new creators to start competing?

2. Bargaining Power of Buyers

How much control does your audience have?

3. Threat of Substitutes

Can your audience easily find alternatives?

4. Bargaining Power of Suppliers

How much power do platforms/vendors have?

5. Competitive Rivalry

How intense is competition in your niche?

Progress Step 1 of 6

Step 1: Threat of New Entrants

How easy is it for new creators to enter your niche and compete with you?

Assess the Barriers to Entry Rate the Threat Level:

Example: High threat = "Easy to start a podcast" | Low threat = "Hard to build credibility in medical niche"

Step 2: Bargaining Power of Buyers

How much control does your audience have? Can they easily switch to competitors?

Assess Your Audience's Power Rate the Power Level:

Example: High power = "Free content, many alternatives" | Low power = "Loyal paid community"

Step 3: Threat of Substitutes

What alternatives exist? Can your audience get similar value elsewhere?

Identify Substitute Products/Content Rate the Threat Level:

Example: High threat = "Many other learning formats" | Low threat = "Unique live coaching"

Step 4: Bargaining Power of Suppliers

How much control do platforms, tools, or vendors have over your business?

Assess Your Dependency on Suppliers Rate the Power Level:

Example: High power = "100% YouTube dependent" | Low power = "Own email list, multi-platform"

Step 5: Competitive Rivalry

How intense is the competition in your niche? How crowded is the space?

Assess the Competitive Landscape Rate the Intensity Level:

Example: High = "Oversaturated productivity space" | Low = "Niche B2B SaaS tutorials"

Your Five Forces Analysis

Here's your competitive environment assessment:

Threat of New Entrants

Supplier Power

Your Competitive Position

Buyer Power

Threat of Substitutes

Competitive Rivalry:

Strategy Insights:

• High forces = Less attractive market (harder to be profitable)
• Low forces = More attractive market (easier to succeed)
• Focus on differentiating where threats are high
• Build moats to reduce competitive pressure

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