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PESTEL Analysis Tool
Scan the outside forces in two or three markets you could enter, side by side, and rank the few that would change the answer.
This tool also runs as a stage in a playbook, which takes you through several tools in order:
- Expand into a new market Stage 1 of 6: what is shifting in the markets we could enter? Start at stage 1
Not following the playbook?
The markets you could enter
Two or three is plenty. A scan of ten markets becomes a spreadsheet nobody reads.
Your starting point
Growing into a new kind of customer in your own country? The outside forces are the ones you already live with, so this stage can be skipped.
Your notes never leave your browser
Market names, forces and notes stay on your computer and in your progress file. To write the diagnosis, only the ratings and the places of the forces in your list are sent to our server. How it works
Scan the forces
One row per outside force. In each market: a few words on what you found, its impact on your decision, and whether it helps or hurts.
- Look for the few forces that would change the answer, not one for every box. A rule, a tariff or a buying habit usually matters more than a dozen general trends.
- Choose "Doesn't apply" where a force plays no part in that market.
The balance of outside forces
The forces, ranked in each market
Ranked by impact; a tie keeps the order of your list.
The scan, side by side
Save your progress
Download your progress file to continue from this point any time, on any computer: choose it under "Coming back?" at the start of the tool. Each new file includes everything so far, including the earlier stages when they are connected, so keep the latest one. Your work stays in this browser only until you close it.
Not saved yet.
Take your results with you
A PDF of the balance and the ranked forces in each market, the scan side by side, and the diagnosis.
About the tool
Why it exists
Find the few forces that change the answer
PESTEL scans six kinds of outside force: political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal. Run on the markets you could enter, side by side, it shows which forces separate them and which you have never had to handle at home.
This tool works on its own, and as stage 1 of our playbook for expanding into a new market, where the ranked forces go on to Five Forces in stage 2. For the method, see our guide to PESTEL analysis.
The method
How the tool works
One grid. Forces down the side, one column per market. Each cell holds a short note, an impact (high, medium, low, or doesn't apply) and a direction (helps, hurts, or both ways).
The ranking. In each market, forces are ranked by impact; a tie keeps the order of your list. A force rated the same in every market is marked, because it doesn't help you choose between them.
The balance. Each force counts 3 when high, 2 when medium and 1 when low; one that helps adds, one that hurts subtracts. The market with the highest balance is the leaning, unless the top two are within 2 points. It weighs outside forces only: the competition in each market, judged next, can reverse it.
Home as a baseline. If you add your home market, a force that is high and against you abroad, but low or absent at home, is marked: it is one your team has never had to handle.
Suggestions. "Suggest forces people often miss" adds the names of common forces, one or two for each letter. It never rates them.
What leaves your computer. Names and notes stay in your browser and your progress file. To write the diagnosis, the page sends our server only the ratings and the places of the forces in your list, and the server keeps nothing.