PEST Analysis: How to embrace changes to your business environment

Read time: 4 minutes

No matter how careful you are, things are happening outside your control that will significantly impact your success.

But that’s not as bad as it sounds.

Because significant changes to your business environment can (and likely will) present you with new opportunities to grow - if you’re paying attention.

Today, I’m introducing a workshop to help you spot new opportunities and easily manage impending threats.

Let’s dive in.

Introducing PEST Analysis

Most companies dread changes in their business environment. Fear them. Get utterly paralyzed by the idea of them.

But every change offers new opportunities that move you closer to your desired outcome.

So, how can you turn environmental change into gold?

Get a group of creative go-getters together and run a PEST Analysis workshop.

PEST is an acronym that stands for:

Political
Economic
Socio-Cultural
Technological

A PEST Analysis workshop helps you better understand the external forces impacting your business so you can seize any opportunities they present.

Here's how to run the workshop, step by step:

Step 1 - Brainstorm changes

First, explore the four areas of PEST – politics, economy, socio-cultural shifts, and technological advancements.

Here are some questions to stimulate the conversation (you can download these handouts for free at the bottom of this page):

Political Changes

Economic Changes

Socio-Cultural Changes

Technological Changes

Step 2 - Brainstorm potential opportunities

Now you've pinpointed the changes in your business, it's time to dive deep and explore the opportunities they bring. Let's get those creative juices flowing!

Step 3 - Brainstorm potential threats

The next step helps you address challenges and proactively protect your success.

Recognize potential obstacles early to steer clear of trouble or minimize their impact.

For example:

Step 4 - Prioritise & Action Plan

Are any threats so severe they rule out opportunities thought up in Step 2? If so, remove them from the pool.

Run a prioritisation of the viable opportunities. Give each person 3-5 sticky dots and ask them this question:

“Which of these opportunities has the biggest potential to double the size of our business?”

Build action plans for the top 1-3 opportunities.

PEST Analysis v SWOT Analysis

A word of note.

PEST Analysis is often confused with SWOT Analysis. They’re different, however, as they focus on other areas.

PEST Analysis looks at "big picture" macro factors that influence your products, market, or a potential new business.

SWOT Analysis explores these factors at a business or product level.

They complement each other nicely and are often used in combination.

Conclusion

Learning to embrace changes to your business environment (as opposed to fearing them) is a unique challenge, no doubt.

But remember this.

Your competition fears change just as much as you do.

So, if you can change your mindset to one that embraces change and even looks forward to it happening, you’ll put yourself at a significant advantage.

Well, that’s it for today.

I hope you enjoyed it.