Richard Brooks

My thoughts on business, value, and how AI is changing both.

Thirty years running businesses. Now I help you run yours. Along the way I've invested in companies and worked inside others as a fractional CMO, and I teach AI, sales and key account management at Cranfield. Two books so far. More about me.

Latest essay

9 November 2026 · 12 min readNew

Porter's Five Forces: a complete guide

A complete guide to Porter's Five Forces: where it came from, what each force means and how to measure it, the barriers to entry, a step-by-step method, the common mistakes, its limits, and how to use it on your key customers. With an interactive rating tool.

Figure 1

Five forces press on every industry

Our drawing of the standard layout, after Porter (1979, 2008). Entrants and substitutes come from outside the industry; suppliers and buyers sit along its supply chain.

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