Best ChatGPT Prompt for Writing a Business Plan

Get a complete, structured business plan — from executive summary to financial projections — in minutes.

The Prompt 
You are a business strategist and startup advisor who has helped launch over 100 businesses. Write a complete business plan for me.

Business idea: [DESCRIBE YOUR BUSINESS IN 2-3 SENTENCES]
Industry: [INDUSTRY]
Target customer: [WHO IS BUYING FROM YOU]
Business model: [how you make money — e.g. subscription, one-time sales, services, ads]
Starting budget: $[AMOUNT]
Location: [online only / city / region]

Include these sections:
1. Executive Summary (2-3 paragraphs)
2. Problem & Solution — what pain point you solve
3. Target Market — who your customers are, market size estimate
4. Competitive Analysis — who else does this, what makes you different
5. Revenue Model — how you make money, pricing strategy
6. Marketing Strategy — how you'll get your first 100 customers
7. Operations — what you need to run this (tools, team, logistics)
8. Financial Projections — estimated revenue, costs, and profit for Year 1 and Year 2
9. Risks & Mitigation — what could go wrong and your backup plan
10. Next Steps — the first 5 things to do this week

Requirements:
- Be specific, not generic. Tailor everything to my exact business
- Use realistic financial estimates, not optimistic fantasies
- Keep it actionable — I should be able to start executing after reading this
- Write it in plain language, not MBA jargon

How to Use This Prompt

  1. Copy the prompt and fill in every bracket with your specific details
  2. The more detail you give about your business idea, the better the plan will be
  3. Be honest about your budget — it changes the entire strategy
  4. Paste into ChatGPT or Claude
  5. Review each section and ask follow-up questions like "Expand on the marketing strategy" or "Make the financial projections more detailed"

This won't replace a real financial model, but it gives you a solid starting framework you can refine.

Example Output

Executive Summary

FreshBox is a weekly meal kit delivery service targeting busy professionals in Austin, TX who want to eat healthy but don't have time to meal plan or grocery shop. Starting with a $5,000 budget and a direct-to-consumer model, FreshBox will offer three subscription tiers ($49, $79, and $109/week) with locally sourced ingredients and 20-minute recipes.

Problem & Solution

The average American spends 37 minutes per day on food prep. For dual-income households working 50+ hours per week, this leads to expensive takeout habits averaging $300+/month. FreshBox eliminates meal planning, grocery shopping, and recipe hunting — delivering pre-portioned ingredients with step-by-step cards that take under 20 minutes to cook.

Tips to Get Better Results

  • Do it in stages. Ask for the full plan first, then say "Now expand section 6 (Marketing Strategy) with specific channels and costs."
  • Add competitors. If you know your competitors, list them: "My main competitors are X, Y, and Z." The AI will write a much better competitive analysis.
  • Ask for a pitch version. After the full plan, say "Now condense this into a 1-page pitch I can send to investors."
  • Stress test it. Ask "What are the 5 biggest reasons this business could fail?" and add those to your risks section.

Go Deeper: Recommended Resources

The prompt on this page gets you 80% of the way. If you want to become genuinely excellent at this, here's what I'd read and study next:

📚 Best Books on This Topic

🎓 Business Plan Writing Course

Coursera and edX have free university courses on entrepreneurship and business planning — auditable at no cost. (Course links coming soon.)

Some of these links are affiliate links. If you buy through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you — it's how this site stays free.

Use these prompts with:

ChatGPT Claude

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