ChatGPT Prompts That Think Like a Business Strategist

Help me create a concise, one-page business plan for:

Business idea: [describe your business idea]
Target market: [who you're serving]
Current stage: [idea / early revenue / scaling / pivoting]
Funding status: [bootstrapped / seeking investment / funded]

Create a one-page business plan with these sections:
1. **Problem**: What specific pain point does this solve? (3 sentences max)
2. **Solution**: What do you offer and why is it better than alternatives? (3 sentences max)
3. **Target Customer**: Specific persona with demographics, behaviors, and where to find them
4. **Revenue Model**: How you make money, pricing, and unit economics
5. **Market Size**: TAM, SAM, SOM with rough estimates and reasoning
6. **Competition**: Top 3 competitors and your differentiation
7. **Go-to-Market**: How you'll get your first 100 customers
8. **Team**: What skills you have and what you need
9. **Financial Projections**: Revenue and costs for months 1, 6, and 12
10. **Key Metrics**: 3-5 KPIs that determine if this is working

Keep each section to 2-4 sentences. This should fit on one page and be immediately useful, not a 50-page document that sits in a drawer.

Conduct a thorough SWOT analysis for my business and turn each finding into an actionable strategy.

My business: [describe your business — product/service, market, stage, size]
Main competitors: [list 2-3]
Current challenges: [what you're struggling with]
Recent wins: [what's going well]

For each quadrant, identify 4-5 items:

**Strengths**: What advantages do we have that competitors don't?
**Weaknesses**: Where are we vulnerable or under-resourced?
**Opportunities**: What external trends or market gaps can we exploit?
**Threats**: What external factors could hurt us?

Then create the TOWS matrix:
- **SO Strategies**: Use strengths to capture opportunities
- **WO Strategies**: Address weaknesses to enable opportunity capture
- **ST Strategies**: Use strengths to mitigate threats
- **WT Strategies**: Address weaknesses to reduce threat exposure

For each strategy, provide:
- Specific action to take
- Timeline (this week / this month / this quarter)
- Resources required
- Expected impact (high / medium / low)

Rank the strategies by impact-to-effort ratio. I want to know what to do first.

Help me design a pricing strategy for my product/service.

What I sell: [describe your product/service]
Current price (if any): [price or "haven't set one yet"]
Target customer: [who they are and their budget range]
Competitors' pricing: [what similar products charge, if you know]
My costs per unit/customer: [variable costs]
My fixed costs: [monthly overhead]

Analyze these pricing approaches for my specific situation:
1. **Cost-plus pricing**: What margin do I need to be sustainable?
2. **Value-based pricing**: What's the measurable value I create for customers?
3. **Competitive pricing**: Where should I sit relative to competitors and why?
4. **Tiered pricing**: Design 3 tiers (Good/Better/Best) with specific features at each level
5. **Psychological pricing**: Specific tactics (anchoring, charm pricing, decoy effect) I should use

For each approach, tell me:
- The recommended price point
- The target customer segment it serves best
- The biggest risk
- Monthly revenue projection at [X] expected customers

Finally, recommend which approach (or combination) I should use and why, given my stage and market.

Help me craft a compelling elevator pitch for different audiences and contexts.

My business: [what you do]
The problem you solve: [the pain point]
Your unique approach: [what makes you different]
Traction so far: [key metrics, customers, or milestones]

Create 4 versions:

1. **The 15-second version** (casual networking):
   One sentence that makes people say "tell me more"

2. **The 60-second version** (investor/partner meeting):
   Problem → Solution → Traction → Ask

3. **The text version** (email/LinkedIn intro):
   2-3 sentences that work in cold outreach

4. **The story version** (pitch competition/keynote):
   Open with a specific customer story, expand to the market opportunity

For each version:
- Write 2 options (one data-driven, one emotion-driven)
- Highlight the one sentence that should hook the listener
- Note which words to emphasize when speaking
- Include one question to pivot to a conversation (pitches should start dialogue, not be monologues)

Run a competitive analysis of my market position.

My business: [describe your product/service]
My key competitors:
1. [Competitor A — what they do]
2. [Competitor B — what they do]
3. [Competitor C — what they do]

Analyze across these dimensions:
1. **Feature comparison matrix**: List key features, mark who has what
2. **Pricing comparison**: Price points, models, perceived value-for-money
3. **Positioning map**: Plot competitors on a 2x2 matrix using [dimension A] vs [dimension B] (suggest the best dimensions)
4. **Customer sentiment**: Based on common review themes, what do customers love and hate about each?
5. **Distribution channels**: How does each reach their customers?
6. **Moat analysis**: What defensible advantages does each competitor have?

Then identify:
- **Blue ocean opportunities**: Where is nobody competing?
- **Weaknesses to exploit**: What do competitors consistently get wrong?
- **Differentiation strategy**: Given this landscape, what should my unique positioning be?
- **Counter-positioning**: How will competitors likely respond to my entry, and how do I prepare?

Help me build realistic financial projections for my business.

Business model: [how you make money — subscription, one-time purchase, marketplace, SaaS, etc.]
Current monthly revenue: [$ or $0 if pre-revenue]
Current monthly costs: [rough breakdown]
Growth rate so far: [% month-over-month, or "pre-launch"]
Pricing: [your price points]

Build projections for months 1-12 with these components:

**Revenue model**:
- Customer acquisition rate (conservative, moderate, aggressive scenarios)
- Average revenue per customer
- Churn rate (for recurring models)
- Seasonal factors

**Cost model**:
- Fixed costs (rent, salaries, tools, subscriptions)
- Variable costs (per customer/order)
- One-time costs (equipment, setup, launch)
- Marketing budget as % of revenue

**Key metrics to track monthly**:
- MRR/ARR (if subscription)
- CAC (customer acquisition cost)
- LTV (lifetime value)
- Burn rate and runway
- Break-even point

Present in a month-by-month table for the conservative scenario, with notes on what changes in the moderate and aggressive scenarios. Flag any month where cash flow goes negative.

Help me build detailed customer personas for my business.

My product/service: [what you sell]
Who currently buys from me (if applicable): [describe your existing customers]
Who I think my ideal customer is: [your assumption]
My price point: [what you charge]

Create 2-3 distinct customer personas with:

**Demographics**: Age, gender, location, income, education, job title
**Psychographics**: Values, fears, aspirations, frustrations
**Behavior**: Where they spend time online, what they read, who they follow, how they make purchasing decisions
**The trigger moment**: What specific event or pain point drives them to search for a solution like mine?
**Decision process**: Who else is involved? What objections arise? How long does the decision take?
**Alternative solutions**: What are they currently using instead of my product?
**Language**: Exact phrases they'd use to describe their problem (for ad copy and SEO)
**Where to find them**: Specific channels, communities, publications, events

For each persona, also write:
- A one-paragraph "day in the life" narrative
- The one sentence that would make them stop scrolling and pay attention to my product
- The #1 objection they'd have and how to address it

Fill out a Business Model Canvas for my business idea.

My business: [describe what you do or want to do]
Industry: [your sector]
Stage: [idea / MVP / early revenue / growth]

Complete each of the 9 blocks with specific details:

1. **Customer Segments**: Who are the distinct groups you serve?
2. **Value Propositions**: What unique value do you deliver to each segment?
3. **Channels**: How do you reach, communicate with, and deliver to customers?
4. **Customer Relationships**: What type of relationship does each segment expect?
5. **Revenue Streams**: How does each segment pay and how much?
6. **Key Resources**: What assets are essential to make this work?
7. **Key Activities**: What must you do exceptionally well?
8. **Key Partnerships**: Who are your critical partners and suppliers?
9. **Cost Structure**: What are your biggest cost drivers?

After completing the canvas, provide:
- The 3 riskiest assumptions in this model (what could invalidate the whole thing)
- A quick experiment to test each risky assumption before investing heavily
- How this model compares to the typical business model in this industry
- One non-obvious revenue stream I might be overlooking

Help me estimate the market size for my business using both top-down and bottom-up approaches.

My business: [what you sell]
Target geography: [local / national / global]
Target customer: [who]
Price point: [what you charge]

**Top-down approach**:
- Start with the total addressable market (TAM) for the broader industry
- Narrow to the serviceable addressable market (SAM) for your specific segment
- Calculate the serviceable obtainable market (SOM) you can realistically capture

**Bottom-up approach**:
- How many potential customers exist in your target geography?
- What % are aware of the problem you solve?
- What % would consider a solution like yours?
- What % can you realistically reach with your marketing budget?
- What's your expected conversion rate?
- Multiply by your average revenue per customer

**Sanity checks**:
- How does this compare to competitor revenue (if known)?
- Is the market growing, flat, or declining?
- What market share would you need to hit $1M ARR?

Show your math clearly so I can adjust the assumptions. Flag which assumptions are the weakest and would benefit from research.

Help me craft a compelling partnership proposal.

My business: [what you do]
Potential partner: [the company/person and what they do]
Why I want this partnership: [your strategic goal]
What I can offer them: [your value to them]

Write a partnership proposal that includes:

1. **Opening hook**: Why this partnership makes strategic sense for THEM (lead with their benefit, not yours)
2. **The opportunity**: Specific market data or customer insight that shows mutual value
3. **Proposed structure**:
   - What each party contributes
   - Revenue/benefit sharing model
   - Timeline and milestones
   - Exclusivity terms (if any)
4. **Proof of concept**: A small pilot project to test the partnership with minimal risk
5. **Case study**: Reference a similar successful partnership in adjacent industries
6. **Next steps**: Specific ask with a clear, easy first action

Also write:
- The subject line for the initial outreach email
- A 3-sentence LinkedIn message version
- The key objection they'll likely have and a pre-emptive response