DISCLAIMER: This is not Financial Advice and I am not a Financial Advisor. This information is strictly for education purposes only. Always conduct your own research and make your own decisions.
Most small business owners who try ChatGPT ask it something like “how can I grow my business?” and get back a list that could apply to a lemonade stand or a law firm. Post on social media. Build an email list. Know your customer. Thanks.
The fix isn’t a smarter AI. It’s giving it your numbers and telling it what not to do. These five ChatGPT prompts for small business owners do exactly that, and they work in the free versions of ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini.
1. Find out if your prices actually make money
A lot of owners are underpaying themselves without realizing it, because they never count their own hours as a cost. This prompt does.
You are a plain-spoken business finance coach. Work out whether my pricing actually makes money, using MY real numbers, not industry averages. This is a working estimate; I’ll verify big decisions with a professional.
What I sell: [offer]
My price: [price]
Direct costs per sale: [materials, fees, shipping]
Hours of MY time per sale: [hours]
What I want my time to be worth: $[amount]/hour
Monthly fixed costs: $[amount]
Typical sales per month: [number]1. Calculate my true cost per sale, including my time. Show the math line by line.
2. Give me my real margin after my share of fixed costs.
3. Tell me plainly: does this business pay me fairly for my time? Yes, barely, or no.
4. Compare three scenarios: raise prices 10%, cut costs 10%, or double sales.No “charge what you’re worth” slogans without math. Just the numbers.
The “show the math” line matters. It lets you check the AI’s arithmetic instead of trusting it, and it will occasionally get a number wrong.
2. See a cash crunch coming before it hits
You are a cash-flow realist for small businesses. Build me a 90-day forecast from my actual numbers: conservative, not optimistic.
Cash in the business account today: $[amount]
Money I’m confident is coming IN for each of the next 3 months: [amounts]
Money going OUT each month, including rent, payroll, loans, taxes and big annual bills: [amounts]
My minimum safety buffer: $[amount]1. Build a month-by-month table: starting cash, in, out, ending cash.
2. Flag any month that drops below my buffer.
3. If there’s a crunch month, give me three things I can do before it hits, with the honest trade-offs.
4. Then redo the forecast with 15% less money coming in.
Step 4 is the one most people skip. Customers pay late. Planning for that before it happens is far less stressful than finding out in month two.
3. Follow up with leads without feeling pushy
You are a respectful sales follow-up coach. Build me a simple follow-up plan that stays useful without spamming or pretending there’s a deadline.
What I sell and how long people usually take to decide: [details]
Where my leads come from: [channels]
Questions and objections I hear most: [list]
How I sound: [three words, e.g. friendly, direct, local]Write a five-message follow-up sequence over [number] days. Every message must add something useful: an answer, a fact, or a clear next step. End with a polite “closing the loop” note, and tell me when to stop following up.
“Every message must add something useful” is what keeps you from getting five versions of “just checking in!”
4. Get more honest reviews (the right way)
You are a customer-review coach. Help me ask for more reviews in an honest way. Don’t suggest fake reviews, paying for reviews, or only asking happy customers.
My business and what customers buy: [details]
The moment customers seem happiest: [e.g. when the job is finished, when they first use it]
Where I want reviews: [Google, Facebook, etc.]1. Tell me the best moment to ask.
2. Write three short review requests: one email, one text, and one thing I can say in person. Ask for honest feedback, not a 5-star rating.
3. Give me a plan for handling an unhappy customer before it turns into a bad review.
Banning fake and paid reviews up front matters. Some review sites remove them or penalize the business, and AI will happily suggest shortcuts if you don’t rule them out.
5. Figure out where your week actually goes
You are an owner’s-time analyst. Use my real week to move hours toward the work only I can do. Don’t assume longer hours are the answer.
My typical week, task by task with hours: [paste]
Tasks someone else could do with training: [list]
My one priority for the next 90 days: [priority]1. Sort every task into: only I can do it, delegate, automate, batch, reduce, or stop.
2. Show me how my hours compare to my 90-day priority.
3. Design a realistic target week, including time off.
4. Give me a two-week plan for the five biggest changes.
Writing down a real week is the hard part. Even a rough list from memory will give you a more honest answer than “how can I be more productive?”
Why these work
Every prompt above does four things:
- Tells the AI who to be
- Gives it your real numbers and situation
- Bans the generic advice it would give by default
- Says exactly what to hand back: a table, a script, a plan
One honest caution: AI is good at organizing your numbers and thinking, but it isn’t your accountant or lawyer. For taxes, payroll, contracts or anything legal, use these prompts to get organized and to prepare better questions, then confirm with a professional. More on the structure in how to write a ChatGPT prompt that actually works.
Want the full set?
The AI Prompts for Small Business Owners pack has 30 detailed prompts covering money, customers, day-to-day operations and growth, including a break-even finder, an expense audit, a supplier negotiation planner and a first-hire planner. Want to try the format first? The Free Starter Prompt Pack is 12 prompts, no card needed.