AI Prompts for Small Business: The Ten That Do Most of the Work

A prompt is just a clear instruction. The reason most people's prompts fail isn't the wording. It's that they never said who they are or what finished looks like.

These are the ten I reach for most. Everything after the bold name is the prompt itself. Fill in the brackets and paste it into any assistant.

The ten

1. The reply that sounds like you. Here is an email I wrote before: [paste it]. Here is the message I need to answer: [paste it]. Write a reply in the same voice, under 120 words, that gets to [what you want].

2. The difficult customer answer. A customer is upset because [what happened]. I want to keep them, fix the real problem, and not admit fault I didn't have. Write two versions: one warm, one firm.

3. The follow-up that doesn't annoy. This person hasn't replied in [how long]. Write a short follow-up that assumes they're busy, not uninterested, gives one reason to answer, and can be read on a phone in ten seconds.

4. One post, five pieces. Here is something I already wrote: [paste it]. Turn it into five short posts for different platforms, each starting with the most useful line, none of them starting with "In today's world".

5. The plain-English explanation. Explain [topic] to a customer who has never heard of it, in under 150 words, with one everyday comparison and no jargon.

6. The quote skeleton. Build a quote for [job] using this structure: what they have now, what I'll do, how long it takes, what it costs, what I need to start. Leave the prices blank for me to fill in.

7. The week in five lines. Here are my notes from the week: [paste]. Give me five lines: what shipped, what's stuck, what's late, what I should do first on Monday, and what I should stop doing.

8. The question I'm afraid to ask. Here is my situation: [describe it]. What am I missing, what am I getting wrong, and what's the one thing I should do next? Be blunt.

9. The thing you've been avoiding. I need to write [the thing] and I've put it off for [how long]. Ask me five questions, one at a time, that would give you everything you need to draft it.

10. The check before you send. Here is what I'm about to send: [paste]. Tell me what's unclear, what's too long, what a customer might misread, and the one line to cut.

Why these work when most prompts don't

Each one does three things that a bare request doesn't.

It gives the AI your words. Real material beats a description of your material. Paste the actual email, the actual post.

It sets a limit. Under 120 words, five lines, two versions. No limit means a wall of text you have to trim.

It asks for one thing. "Write something about my business" is not a task. "Write the reply" is.

How to keep them

Put all ten in a note on your phone and stop retyping them. Add your standing instructions once at the top of the note: who you are, who you serve, what you never say, how you sign off. Then the prompts do most of the thinking for you.

If you'd rather not write them

The free Prompt Playbook has 45 of these: 25 for everyday life and 20 for small business. The 10 Claude AI Automation Prompts is the shorter, sharper set for email, follow-ups, and daily busywork, already written and tested.

Pick one of the ten and use it on a real message today. That's worth more than saving two hundred prompts you never open.