Small business prompt guide: 100 completely FREE prompts to improve your workflow
Here’s a totally free guide designed just for small business owners.
Running your own business means wearing all the hats (eg: scheduling, marketing, customer service, and everything in between). This guide gives you 100 ready-to-use ChatGPT prompts you can copy, paste, and tweak to save time, get organized, and boost results.
Each section covers a key area of small business life, with 10 prompts each. Simply copy and paste them into your ChatGPT - that’s all there is to it!
Don’t have time to train a bot? Check out this pre-trained Small Business bot. It’s ready to go. Just ask a question and watch it simplify your life.
1. 📅 Scheduling & Time Management
Create a weekly schedule that balances customer appointments, marketing tasks, and bookkeeping.
Suggest a daily routine for a bakery owner that includes production, customer service, and rest breaks.
Help me draft a staff shift schedule for 5 employees working alternating weekends.
Remind me of recurring weekly tasks like ordering supplies and sending invoices.
Suggest time-blocking strategies for a salon with walk-ins and scheduled clients.
Create a one-page checklist of opening and closing duties for my café staff.
Generate a prioritized to-do list for my busiest sales days.
Help me plan a monthly team meeting agenda in under 30 minutes.
Suggest ways to avoid overbooking when managing multiple service appointments.
Outline a workflow for balancing customer-facing hours with behind-the-scenes admin.
2. 💵 Budgeting & Finances
Draft a simple monthly budget for a flower shop, with categories for rent, supplies, wages, and marketing.
Create a cash flow forecast for a seasonal landscaping business.
Suggest cost-cutting ideas that won’t hurt customer experience.
Explain how I can set aside 10% of profits for emergency savings.
Help me compare the pros and cons of leasing vs. buying equipment.
Generate a step-by-step guide to track expenses in a simple spreadsheet.
Suggest financial KPIs I should track monthly as a boutique owner.
Draft an annual budgeting template tailored for a business with holiday peaks.
Give me 3 ways to negotiate better terms with my suppliers.
Create a checklist to prepare my small business finances for tax season.
3. 📈 Marketing & Sales
Write three email subject lines to promote a spring sale at my clothing boutique.
Suggest five ways to upsell customers at a coffee shop.
Create a one-month marketing calendar with weekly promotions.
Help me draft a script for answering sales inquiries on the phone.
Suggest slogans for a new pet grooming service.
Write a product description that highlights the eco-friendly aspects of handmade soaps.
Give me five low-cost ways to advertise a new yoga studio.
Suggest creative ways to collect customer emails in-store.
Write a thank-you email template to send to repeat customers.
Outline a referral program for a local gym.
4. 📱 Social Media Management
Create a 2-week Instagram content calendar for a small restaurant.
Write three TikTok script ideas for showing off our best-selling products.
Generate hashtags to promote handmade jewelry to a local audience.
Suggest Instagram Story ideas for behind-the-scenes bakery content.
Write a month’s worth of Facebook captions in a friendly, conversational tone.
Help me plan a holiday social media giveaway campaign.
Draft a customer appreciation post that feels authentic and heartfelt.
Generate ideas for reels that showcase transformations in a hair salon.
Suggest posting times for maximum engagement on Instagram and TikTok.
Write a short, witty caption for a photo of fresh flowers arriving at my shop.
5. 🤝 Customer Service & Support
Write a professional response to a customer upset about delayed shipping.
Draft a cheerful thank-you message to include in all online orders.
Suggest FAQ questions and answers for a candle shop website.
Create a polite script for answering the phone during busy hours.
Write a response to a 5-star Google review thanking the customer.
Write a response to a 1-star review that apologizes and offers a solution.
Generate an email template to confirm customer appointments.
Help me write an automated email for abandoned carts in my online store.
Create a customer service training checklist for my new hires.
Draft a message offering store credit for a damaged product return.
6. 👩💼 Employee Management & Performance
Write a performance review for an employee who excels in customer service but struggles with punctuality.
Suggest interview questions for hiring a barista.
Draft a one-week training plan for new staff at a clothing boutique.
Write a staff appreciation message to boost morale.
Create a clear job description for a part-time cashier.
Draft a polite email reminder about staff dress code.
Help me design a staff recognition program with monthly awards.
Suggest ways to handle scheduling conflicts between employees.
Write a script for giving constructive feedback to an employee.
Draft a message announcing a team meeting about new policies.
7. 📦 Inventory & Product Ordering
Create a restock checklist for a bakery’s daily ingredients.
Write a polite request email to a supplier asking for faster shipping.
Suggest a simple system to track which products sell out fastest.
Generate reorder reminders for top-selling products.
Write a template for requesting quotes from multiple suppliers.
Suggest low-cost ways to reduce inventory waste.
Create a weekly inventory log template for my shop.
Help me write an email to cancel an order with a supplier politely.
Draft an order form for wholesale purchases.
Suggest inventory tracking software suitable for very small businesses.
8. 🔍 Competitive Market Research
Summarize what my top 3 competitors are posting on Instagram.
Draft a side-by-side comparison of my café menu vs. a competitor’s.
Suggest ways to highlight my eco-friendly products compared to big-box stores.
Write prompts I can use to analyze competitor reviews on Yelp.
Create a competitor pricing analysis template.
Help me identify market gaps in my local fitness studio industry.
Generate ideas for promotions my competitors aren’t offering.
Summarize the marketing tone competitors use on social media.
Draft 5 questions I should ask customers to see why they pick us vs. competitors.
Suggest free tools I can use to monitor competitor activity online.
9. 🌟 Customer Experience & Loyalty Programs
Suggest 5 low-cost ways to increase repeat visits to my café.
Create a punch-card loyalty program for a nail salon.
Write a thank-you script for staff to use with regulars.
Suggest surprise-and-delight ideas for long-time customers.
Draft a follow-up email after a first purchase to encourage a second.
Help me design a referral program with discounts.
Create a survey to measure customer satisfaction.
Write a holiday message template to send to loyal customers.
Suggest small free gifts that encourage brand loyalty.
Draft a loyalty rewards email campaign for my boutique.
10. 📊 Business Growth & Strategy
Create a 6-month sales projection for a seasonal gift shop.
Suggest 5 low-cost marketing strategies for a business with a $500 budget.
Help me outline the steps to expand into a second location.
Write pros and cons of offering delivery services for a restaurant.
Suggest collaboration ideas with other local businesses.
Draft a plan to test a new product before a full launch.
Suggest ways to grow an email list without spending much.
Write a one-page SWOT analysis for my handmade jewelry brand.
Help me create a roadmap for increasing online sales.
Generate growth strategies for scaling from one employee to five.
🎯 Takeaway
Running a small business doesn’t have to be lonely or chaotic.
With these 100 prompts, you can:
Save time on everyday tasks.
Stay organized across marketing, scheduling, and finances.
Strengthen relationships with both customers and employees.
Get fresh ideas for growth and strategy.
👉 The more you practice giving AI clear, specific instructions, the more useful it becomes. Think of this guide as your starter kit for turning ChatGPT into your behind-the-scenes business partner.
