# PESTLE Analysis Template
**Businessman Talk · businessmantalk.com/strategy/pestle-analysis/template/ · v1.0 (August 2026)**
Paste into Google Docs, Word, Notion, or a spreadsheet. Fill it in one sitting. Every line must carry a date or a number; a line without one is a mood, not a factor.
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## 1. The decision this scan serves (fill this first)
**Decision:** ____________________________________________ (e.g. "Renew the lease for ten years?" — never "understand our environment")
**Date of this scan:** ____ / ____ / ________ **Filled in by:** ________________ **Horizon:** the next ____ months **Review date:** ____ / ____ / ________
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## 2. The six factors
For each factor: three lines, each with a date or a number, then mark it O (opportunity), T (threat), or W (watch: real, but not yet decided either way). Delete the prompts once a line is in.
| Factor | Your lines (date or number in every one) | O / T / W |
|---|---|---|
| **Political** — what government is doing that reaches your trade
*Prompts:* Which budget line, grant, or public-spending direction touches us? · Which public body has changed its enforcement priorities? · Is a trade rule, tariff, or licensing regime changing on a known date? | 1.
2.
3. | |
| **Economic** — the prices and rates you do not set
*Prompts:* Which wage, rate, or tax rises on a date already announced? · What has happened to our customers' disposable income or budgets in the past year? · Which input cost moved more than 10% in twelve months? | 1.
2.
3. | |
| **Social** — who your customers are becoming
*Prompts:* How is the age, household, or working pattern of our customers shifting? · What do customers now expect as standard that was optional three years ago? · Which habit or preference is visibly growing or fading in our trade? | 1.
2.
3. | |
| **Technological** — what has become cheap, possible, or expected
*Prompts:* Which tool or platform has dropped in price enough to change our sums? · What can a competitor now do at a distance that used to need a local presence? · Which manual step in our work has a proven automated version? | 1.
2.
3. | |
| **Legal** — rules you must obey, with their dates
*Prompts:* Which regulation, standard, or contract rule changes in the next 24 months, and when? · Which compliance cost is rising? · Which right have customers or staff gained that changes how we operate? | 1.
2.
3. | |
| **Environmental** — energy, weather, waste, and the rules around them
*Prompts:* When does our energy contract end and at what rate? · Which weather or seasonal pattern hit us harder in the past two years? · Which packaging, waste, or emissions requirement applies to us by a known date? | 1.
2.
3. | |
*Test each line by asking "so what, and by when?" If neither has an answer, cut it.*
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## 3. Rank the lines
Copy every O and T line here. Score **Effect** on the decision (1 small, 2 material, 3 decisive) and **Likelihood** within the horizon (1 possible, 2 probable, 3 certain or already law). Multiply.
| # | Line | Factor | O / T | Effect (1–3) | Likelihood (1–3) | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | | | | | |
| 2 | | | | | | |
| 3 | | | | | | |
| 4 | | | | | | |
| 5 | | | | | | |
| 6 | | | | | | |
| 7 | | | | | | |
| 8 | | | | | | |
**Lines scoring 6 or more go to the SWOT. Lines scoring 2 or less come off the scan.**
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## 4. Hand-off strip (into the SWOT grid)
| Into the SWOT | Lines (from the table above, scoring ≥ 6) |
|---|---|
| **Opportunities** (external, helpful) | |
| **Threats** (external, harmful) | |
*The internal half of the grid (strengths and weaknesses) does not come from a PESTLE. Fill it from inside the business, on the SWOT template.*
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## 5. Decision and next scan
**On the decision above, this scan says:** ____________________________________________
**The two lines that settled it:** 1. ______________________ 2. ______________________
**Next scan:** ____ / ____ / ________ (quarterly for a fast-moving trade; annually otherwise)
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*Factors explained, the method, and a second worked example: businessmantalk.com/strategy/pestle-analysis/ · SWOT template: businessmantalk.com/strategy/swot-analysis/template/ · Free to copy and adapt for your own business; please keep the source line if you share it.*