Choose your next business step.
Give your AI the goal, what you have already done and what is getting in the way. Ask it to choose one next step, explain why it matters and define what finishing it looks like.
Use this promptHow can AI help you decide what to work on next?
Your to-do list can grow faster than your business. There is always another page to write, feature to add or marketing idea to try.
This prompt helps you choose the piece that moves things forward today. It works when you have an idea and when you have launched but are still looking for customers.
Your AI needs the real situation. Tell it what you know, what you have tried and what happened. A confident answer built on missing information is still a guess.
Before you paste it
Give your AI this context:
- What you are building and who it is for.
- The result you want next: a usable first version, a first order or another concrete milestone.
- What is already done, what you have tried and what happened.
- The time, money or access you have available.
PASTE INTO YOUR AI
Help me choose my next move
Help me choose the next useful step for my business. What I’m building: [a few sentences] Who I think it’s for: [the person and the problem] Where I am today: [idea / building / live, finding early customers] The result I want next: [one concrete milestone] What I’ve already done or tried: [include what actually happened] My constraints: [time, money, access or skills] Start from this context. If a missing fact would change your recommendation, ask me one question at a time. Use each answer to decide whether another question is needed. Don’t make me repeat anything I’ve already answered. Work backward from the result I want. Separate what we know from choices I need to make and assumptions we still need to test. Point out a weak assumption when it changes the next move. Recommend one action I can finish within my constraints. Explain what it unlocks and why it comes first. If there is a meaningful alternative, compare the tradeoff briefly. Don’t add tasks just to make a longer plan. Finish with: - My next action, in one sentence. - Why this is the most useful move now. - The smallest version I can complete and a realistic effort estimate. - What I will have or observe when it is done. - The result that would make us change the plan. Keep it practical. Don’t invent customer evidence or predict sales. If the next step requires a real customer conversation or test, help me prepare it and leave that action with me. Don’t send messages, spend money or publish anything.
What you should leave with
One next action you can recognize and finish, with a reason, a realistic effort estimate and something concrete to check afterward. If the answer is “work on marketing,” ask it to name the person, the action and the evidence you need.
Illustrative example · not a customer result
You bring: You have a live bookkeeping offer for independent café owners. You have spoken with two owners who described a problem, but neither has agreed to try the offer. You have three hours this week and can reach both people again.
A useful result: Prepare a small paid-trial offer and ask those two owners whether they want it. Agree the result, scope and price before doing the work. Their response gives you more to learn from than another round of homepage edits. This recommendation depends on what they actually told you; different evidence can change it.
Then do this
Take the action. Save what happened, including a refusal or an inconclusive result, and give that evidence back to your AI before asking for the next move.
The prompt helps organize judgment. Customer demand still needs evidence from people who could buy.