ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Porter's five forces analysis

Porter's Five Forces Analysis is a tool used by grown-ups to understand how businesses make money. Let’s pretend you have a lemonade stand:

1. The first force is about your competition. You need to know who else is selling lemonade and how much they are charging. This is important because if there are a lot of other lemonade stands around, you might have to lower your price to make sure people choose YOU.

2. The second force is the power of your buyers. These are the people who will buy your lemonade. So, if your customers have a lot of other options in the area, they may not choose your lemonade stand unless you offer something special.

3. The third force is the power of your suppliers. These are the people who give you the lemons, sugar, and other things that you need to make the lemonade. If there are only a few suppliers around, they can charge you more money, which makes it harder for you to make a profit.

4. The fourth force is the threat of new entrants. This means that other people might start their own lemonade stand nearby and take your customers. If it’s easy for anyone to start selling lemonade, you might have to work harder to keep your customers.

5. The fifth force is the threat of substitutes. This means that people might choose something else to drink instead of lemonade. If there are a lot of other options nearby, you need to make sure your lemonade is tasty and special enough to keep people coming back.

In summary, Porter's Five Forces Analysis helps businesses, like your lemonade stand pretend business, to understand and react to the competition, customers, suppliers, new entrants, and substitutes to make sure they stay in business and make money.