Fifteen prompts for running the business side of a small business — plans you'll actually follow, marketing that doesn't need an agency, and the hiring and customer emails that eat your week.
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I run a {{business type}} with the goal of {{goal}} in the next 90 days. Current situation: {{current state}}. Build a 90-day plan broken into 3 monthly phases, with the top 3 priorities per month, one metric to track per priority, and the single biggest risk to watch. Realistic for a small team, not a corporate roadmap.
Should-I-do-this decision analysis
I'm deciding whether to {{decision — hire, expand, add a product line, etc}}. Here's the context: {{context}}. Play devil's advocate: give me the 3 strongest reasons to do it, the 3 strongest reasons not to, what would have to be true for it to work, and what I should test cheaply before committing fully.
Competitor analysis from public info
Based on what's publicly visible about {{competitor}} — their website, pricing, reviews — analyze: what they seem to do well, where customers complain, their likely pricing strategy, and one gap I could exploit. Be specific, not generic 'they have good branding.'
Pricing a new product or service
Help me price {{product/service}}. My costs are {{costs}}, competitors charge {{competitor prices}}, and my target customer is {{customer}}. Give me 3 pricing options (value-based, cost-plus, competitor-anchored) with the reasoning for each, and which one you'd recommend and why.
Marketing
Local marketing plan on a small budget
Build a local marketing plan for a {{business type}} in {{location}} with a monthly budget of {{budget}}. Prioritize channels by likely ROI for a business like mine (not a generic list), give me one specific action per channel I can start this week, and flag anything that's a waste of money at my size.
Email to announce a new product/service
Write an email to my customer list announcing {{new product/service}}. Lead with the benefit to them, not the feature. Include one clear reason to act now ({{offer/deadline if any}}), and a single clear call to action. Keep it under 150 words — my list skims.
Responding to a negative online review
Draft a public reply to this negative review: {{review text}}. Acknowledge specifically what they're upset about (no generic apology), briefly state what we're doing about it, invite them to continue the conversation privately, and stay professional even if the review feels unfair.
Social media post ideas for the month
Give me 15 social media post ideas for a {{business type}} for the next month, mixing: behind-the-scenes, customer wins, educational tips, and promotional. For each, give a one-line hook and which platform it fits best.
People & Operations
Job posting that attracts the right hire
Write a job posting for a {{role}} at a small business. Be honest about what the day-to-day actually looks like (not corporate boilerplate), list the 3 must-have skills vs nice-to-haves, mention pay range or 'competitive, discussed on call,' and end with what makes working here genuinely good.
Interview questions for a small-team hire
Give me 8 interview questions for hiring a {{role}} at a small business where this person will wear multiple hats. Mix skills-based and situational questions, and include what a strong vs weak answer sounds like for each.
Standard operating procedure from how I currently do it
Turn how I currently do {{task}} into a written SOP a new employee could follow without me: numbered steps, tools/logins needed, common mistakes to avoid, and who to ask if stuck. Write it as if I'm explaining it out loud, then you clean it up.
How I currently do it:
Difficult conversation with an underperforming employee
Help me prepare for a conversation with an employee about {{issue}}. Give me an opening line that's direct but not harsh, 2-3 specific examples I should reference (from what I tell you), a clear ask for what needs to change, and a follow-up timeline to check in.
Context:
Customers & Cash Flow
Chasing a late-paying customer
Write a message to a customer whose payment is {{days}} days late, amount {{amount}}. Professional, assumes good faith first, restates the payment terms clearly, and states the next step if unpaid by {{date}} — without threatening, just factual.
Customer win-back email
Write a win-back email to a customer who hasn't ordered/booked in {{timeframe}}. Acknowledge the gap without guilt-tripping them, remind them what they liked before (if known: {{context}}), and give one genuine reason to come back — new offering, fixed issue, or a small incentive.
Explaining a price increase to customers
Write a short, honest message to customers explaining a price increase from {{old price}} to {{new price}}, effective {{date}}. One real reason (costs, quality investment, etc — not vague), no over-apologizing, and what stays the same (quality/service they can count on).
Tips
Give it real numbers, not round guesses. Pricing and planning prompts get dramatically more useful advice when you paste actual costs, current revenue, or real competitor prices instead of vague ranges.
Ask it to argue the other side. For big decisions, explicitly ask ChatGPT to argue against your instinct — it catches blind spots a one-sided answer won't.
Turn your best customer emails into reusable templates. The late-payment, win-back, and price-increase messages get sent over and over — save the version that worked as a PromptDock prompt with {{variables}} instead of rewriting from scratch each time.
Insert these with two keystrokes instead of copy-paste
Download the pack, import it once into PromptDock, and every prompt above is // away inside ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and 7 more — with fill-in-the-blank {{variables}} that ask for the specifics as they insert.
Do these prompts work for any type of small business?
Yes — retail, services, restaurants, trades, whatever you run. Swap the {{business type}} and specifics; the underlying structure (plan, pricing, hiring, customer comms) applies broadly.
I'm not a 'tech person' — is this hard to use?
No. Copy a prompt, fill in your details where you see {{brackets}}, paste into ChatGPT. No setup, no account needed to try it.
How is PromptDock different from just bookmarking these?
PromptDock lets you insert any saved prompt by typing // directly inside ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other AI chats — no tab-switching or copy-paste, and it fills in your {{variables}} as you insert.